We're Back
by Miss Ginevra Magdalene Darcy
Summary: The Light Side are returning, Lily, James and others who died by Voldemort in the first or second wizarding war are returning. It's wonderful and magical but Teddy's not adjusting well.
1. Prologue

_I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, J.K. Rowling does. For those of you who have read this story before (because I know there's some who have read it a few times now) this has been edited, this chapter a lot, simply because I didn't feel like it fitted with the feel of the rest of the story and to be honest I didn't really like it all that much, some of the others not so much. I've also split some chapters up to make them shorter and more readable. Thank you to all those who have stuck with me and for all your reviews! I hope you think it's better too :/ _

_Before you start – there are a few things that aren't canon and I don't want loads of reviews telling me so because all I'm doing is taking a bit of creative licence! For example – the ones I can think of right now are Neville and Luna being married and Dementors still being at Azkaban._

_Anyway hope you enjoy it! xx_

The Auror Office in the Ministry of Magic was situated on the second floor, it wasn't the most impressive space in the world either. Not really what you'd expect for the elite, highly trained officers in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was basically like any other office – cubicles for each individual auror that were lined with clippings of a variety of things: newspaper clippings and maps being the main things. At one end on a large blank wall were the photos of the most notorious dark wizards (Voldemort's had long since been taken down) were presented. Next to that was a brown door – the Head Auror Office.

The Head Auror was in the office at that moment – the reason that the main office area was buzzing with activity – but behind the door was quiet. He was sat at his desk attempting, and failing drastically, to read a report that had just been sent in. However he hadn't moved his eyes in the last 15 minutes – not surprising since he had been called into work on his day off (to the fury of his wife).

He was a man known by everyone in the wizarding world – loved by them – and he'd lived such a life that no one was surprised when he became the youngest head auror at the age of 26. He'd fought Basilisks, Trolls and Voldemort; he'd stolen a dragon's egg and flown one; he'd even been on the run from the most famous dark wizard, Voldemort, and was almost killed by him. Despite all of this, Harry felt like the last year of his life had been the most confusing and strange for him.

The door creaked open and he didn't bother looking up – it had been opening every five minutes recently just for people to drop forms in and occasionally to have a chat. He was just praying that no one brought work with them.

Work at the moment was different and unexplainable. It was going against all the laws of magic or at least the one that everyone accepted – people, under no circumstances could come back from the dead. Expect that they were. They had the other departments as well as their own trying to find out why it was and who was going to come back when. Till they did all the office had to do was check people's identities and explain to them everything that had happened.

Of course there were trends that had been picked up. It was only people on the light side of the war (something everyone was extremely grateful for), only those who had died in the first or second war, and only if they were killed by Voldemort or his Death Eaters. The rates they were coming back were also speeding up.

Harry had been called in at nine and he'd seen 15 people already at half past ten. None of them were people he knew and though he hated feeling such a way, it annoyed him that no-one he loved or knew well had returned yet.

However over in a sleepy village in the West Country, two people were sitting up next to their graves – one male with scruffy black hair and a female, his wife, with beautiful curling red hair and the most enchanting green eyes.


	2. Chapter 1 - Godrics Hollow

Lily Potter groaned as she opened her eyes to the light, _it's too bright_ she thought, as she shut her eyes again. The result of it caused memories and thoughts to come flooding into the forefront of her mind.

_'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!_

_'Avada Kedavra!'_

Lily cringed remembering that terrifying green light filling the hallway as she ran with Harry, leaving her beloved husband behind. The pain of losing her husband gripped her as it had done as she took the stairs two at time and she swallowed trying to push the tears away – there was no way her husband, her James, was still alive, not after that.

_'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'_

_'Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now.'_

_'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –'_

_'This is my last warning –'_

_'Not Harry! Please ... have mercy ... have mercy ... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything ...'_

_'Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!'_

Lily could remember dying – she could remember that same green light that killed James rushing towards her as she stood defiant in front of her son. She could remember falling to the ground and everything going black. She forced herself not to think about James, that if she was still alive maybe he would be still. Instead she focused on pushing herself up and looking around. It was a while until she noticed the messy mop of dark hair beside her as she was more focused in the distance, on the surroundings. A thing she never noticed was the gravestone behind her.

"James?" she whispered softly, reaching out towards him as she inwardly prayed that she wasn't seeing things. "James."

She spoken louder and gave his shoulder a shake. Waiting as he ground and opened his multi-coloured hazel eyes, those orbs quickly looking on her own.

"Lily," her name was a breathed sigh of relief as he sat up, fixing his glasses and looking around confused – though his gaze could not stay off her face for long. Both of their voices croaked when they spoke as though they had sat in silence for a very long time. James cleared his throat before speaking again. "You – you didn't die too, did you, Lils?"

Lily debated how to answer – she was sure she had died but she also sure that she was alive right now.

"Look around, James. Properly," she instructed him.

James picked up on the seriousness of her voice straight away and gave his surroundings a closer look than he had when he first sat up. It didn't take him long at all to realise that they were in the Godric's Hollow graveyard. He drew a deep breath in before standing up – he limbs screaming at him in agony as he did so – and turned to help Lily up.

"Let's go look at the house," he suggested in a vain attempt to have something to do. "Talk to no-one."

They walked out the graveyard and through the kissing gate hand in hand, trying to appear normal and stay out of sight. A different job seeing as their clothing, though muggle, was torn and dusty and though for James it made no different their hair looked like they had just crawled out of bed.

It didn't take them long to wander the familiar route to their home, which outside looking liked very little had changed except a ginger-haired lady gardening with three children messing around not far from her and a teenager reading a book, sprawled out under a tree.

James following his instincts of war began to back away but Lily moved forward blatantly disregarding what he'd said in the graveyards.

"Excuse me?" she called politely.

The other woman looked up from where she was digging at some soil; she was pretty, her hair tumbling down her back like a mane and her eyes a warm, welcoming brown. Dressed in well-fitting jeans, a light purple tee-shit with only a small circular locket and wedding ring she looked like the perfect countryside mother.

"Can I help you?" she smiled in response as she stood up. "I haven't seen you around, I thought my husband and I knew everyone! I'm Ginny, by the way, Ginny Potter."

Lily glanced back at James and they both turned to stare at Ginny, noting the wand sticking out her boot. James stepped forward to be a Lily's side.

"First, are you really giving your name out to strangers in times like this," he frowned incredulously. "and did you just say Potter?"

"Times like these?" Ginny laughed and James and Lily shared a second look, Ginny turned to look at him and her laugh stopped abruptly. "Oh Merlin."

"What is it?" Lily asked concerned, looking between the two of them – did this woman know James?

"Harry" – both Lily and James cringed at the name but Ginny either didn't notice or paid it no heed – "warned me this might happen…" she was still staring at James looking lost for a few moments as she trailed off. "Kids!"

She'd clearly decided what to do and the three children ran over to her grinning, covered in grass stains and mud, whilst the teen came over calmly. The two small boys looked a great deal like James, Lily couldn't help notice, both with that scruffy Potter black hair, the younger one even had glasses. The teen had the same hair too just turquoise in colour. The girl however clearly had her mother's looks with the same red/ginger hair that instead went cascading down her back in curls right to her waist.

"What have you three been doing?" Ginny scolded looking down at her three young children. "Go clean up before your father see's you!"

"Mummy!" giggled the little girl seeming around 6 or 7 years old. "Daddy won't care, you know that!"

The sigh that Ginny elicited clearly said that the little girl was right and Lily could help smiling.

"Is your father in the house?"

The eldest child replied, "Nope, he told me to tell you that he had to rush to work."

Ginny looked lost again for a second, biting down on her lip.

"Thank you, Jamie," she smiled eventually. "Come in the house with me – all of you."

She added the last bit looking back at Lily and James as she waved them through the gate and began to walk in the house. They followed her cautiously in their home. She had a husband name Harry Potter, their baby's name, and four kids, two of which were boys who looked a great deal like James. It was right for them to be cautious.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Head Auror

The Potters all made their way into the cosy sitting room and again Lily and James looked around noticing little changes her and there. It had the homely feel to it, the layout was similar although of course the furnishings were different. Ginny had sent the kids to play upstairs which they did without question and then she left them to get them some food. Something of course they were immensely grateful for.

"What's going on, James?" Lily spoke up after they sat in silence for a while. "What are these people doing in our home?"

"You know, love, I don't think this house belongs to us anymore," James replied in a low voice. "What I have on my mind, however, is how many Potters do you know?"

"In the wizarding world? Just you but in the Muggle world it's quite a common surname."

James frowned and looking around the familiar room – taking in the moving photos, the pot of floo powder and remembering the wand sticking out from under Ginny's top. These people were definitely not Muggles. He opened his mouth to say so to Lily when Ginny returned.

"Here we are," she almost sang placing a plate of sandwiches and drinks on the coffee table. "Figured you'd be hungry after being dead for 34 years."

James dropped the sandwich he'd picked up, "dead?"

"…34 years?" Lily added. Ginny didn't respond and they feel into silence. "That's impossible; no spell can revive the dead!"

Ginny shook her head sadly, "don't ask me, the ministry would have my neck…"

"We won't tell," James sent her a grin.

Ginny laughed but still shock her head, "my husband won't be pleased either, which reminds me, I better take you there."

She began to move before she'd even finished the sentence towards the fireplace. Lily and James glanced at each other but she wasn't gone long enough for them to discuss this new bit of information. James had barely opened his mouth when she returned with a bushy-haired woman and two small children.

The new woman stared at them for a few seconds, broken only by Ginny's nudge as she walked back to her seat. Then she smiled.

"Hello," she greeted her brown eyes sparkling happily. "It's so nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Weasley. These are my children Rose and Hugo."

James was still reeling at this new information so Lily was left to smile and greet the new comers. Ginny interrupted though, a smile still fixed on her face though Lily could see a hint of worry burning in her eyes.

"Okay, we can all have a chat if everything's goes well," she turned to Hermione. "Thank you for doing this!"

Hermione beamed in response, "of course! Good luck."

The last bit was to Lily and James who both frowned wondering why on earth they would need luck. She left without explanation though taking her kids out the room and up the stairs. They turned towards Ginny who was back by the fireplace.

"We need to go to the Ministry," she explained. "You need to see the Head Auror."

Smiling at some secret joke, she stepped into the fire place. Lily and James copied her moments later. As soon as they were all through Ginny wasted no time in heading off again that secret smile still lodged on her face. It didn't take them long to reach the Auror Office and Ginny continued straight through without pausing only looking back every now and then to check the were still there. Occasionally she stopped to say hello and answer a few people's questions.

"Hello Ma'am."

"Hey Mrs Potter."

"Good morning, Ginny."

"Hello Mrs Potter," one man stopped them. "How are you today?"

"I'm well thank you, Dave, how are the kids?"

"Nutcases," Ginny laughed.

"My husbands in his office right?"

The man glanced past her at Lily and James but then nodded, "Yes ma'am, he is. Has been all morning."

"Thanks," Ginny smiled before gesturing them along.

Ginny didn't bother knocking when they reached the office door, instead walking straight through leaving Lily and James to follow her warily inside, scrutinising the Head Auror as they did so.

The most they could see of him sat at his desk was that he had the same scruffy black hair as his sons and was, of course, dressed in his auror robes. He only bothered looking up when Ginny stopped in front of his desk causing a wide smile to slip across his face. Standing up to greet her, Lily and James caught sight on his eye. Brilliant emerald green – the same as Lily's. Old eyes though, aged in comparison to the rest of him, like they had seen far too much for their age. To Lily especially it seemed some much more than being an auror.

But that's not possible, Lily thought, Harry died, I know he did, I failed to protect him, but she couldn't help the hope rising in her, no matter how hard she tried to push it down. James knowing exactly what his wife was thinking and having a similar war inside of himself wrapped a strong arm around her waist.

The Head Auror was too focused on his wife to have noticed them yet. Of course, Harry was aware there were people in the room but he was just waiting a little while – Ginny had brought them in, she'd explain. He'd rather greet her first.

She hugged him as he got into her reach.

"Hello, love," he chuckled.

"Hi…" she breathed, he went to pull back but she tightened her grip around him. "Don't freak but your parents have appeared."

Harry tensed in her arms and pulled back glancing at them quickly over her shoulder. They sure as hell looked like his parents but Harry had had more than enough mistakes and people trying to complete an identity theft in here than was right. He couldn't get his hopes up – even if he could feel them going crazy inside of him. His lips twitched up and Ginny pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Can I stay?"

Harry's smile widened and he laughed – Ginny here would keep him grounded. "Yes, you can stay."

Her face now neutral, Ginny went a sat herself on a cabinet at the side of them so she could watch her husband at work. Harry took a deep breath and turned towards his parents, taking in their expressions. They clearly weren't hundred per cent who he was either.

"You two, why don't you come take a seat," he suggested, _treat them like anyone else _he told himself firmly.

With yet another shared glance, Lily and James did as the Head Auror said. James thought he might just explode when his said the sign placed on the front of the desk '_Harry James Potter, Head Auror'_ though there was that snide little voice in the back of his head telling him that it was a trick. His heart and Lily's plummeted when the Auror spoke again – his tone was not what James would have except his this was his son.

"Who are you?" Harry asked bluntly, planting himself behind the desk.

"Lily and James Potter," Lily answered after a quick glanced at her husband. The Auror nodded and sent a note flying out the room. Harry launched into an edited version of his regular speech "Okay, I'm sure you're both very confused about what's happening and what's going on. Ginny told me you appeared at our house, well your house."

"So!" James couldn't help jumping up and pointing a finger at him – only to receive a raised eyebrow.

"James," Lily whispered softly.

"Mr Potter, sit down," the Head Auror (James refused to think of him as Harry) said in a commanding tone. "Let me explain. For the last year many people have been returning from the dead, and before you interrupt me Mrs Potter, I know there is no spell to reawaken the dead. It's just happening and we're it as a gift."

Lily couldn't help interrupt none-the-less, "A gift?! But what about the Death Eaters that the Or-that everyone else has killed? What if the join Voldemort again?"

"I assure you, that's not possible," the Head informed her quickly and then smiled – Lily felt so much better with him smiling at her, something about his neutral, professional face bothered her immensely. "And you're safe to take about the Order of the Phoenix to me and my wife."

Lily smiled back but James questioned why it was.

"He's dead."

Lily let out a short laugh and James just gaped at the Head Auror who was rather sure was his son before he started to laugh to. Harry just leant back in his chair and let them laugh. The last time they'd been alive had been in the middle of war, it was hard to laugh then.

As they calmed down he continued speaking, "The Wizarding World is in its most resting time – or it was until you started showing and making my life difficult."

He sent them both warm smiles that left James and Lily both praying that this was Harry and not just some trick.

"Difficult!" Ginny breathed half-laughing behind them but no one could respond when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Harry called


	4. Chapter 3 - Truth

Lily and James turned to see who had knocked on the door. A man that they assumed was around the Head Aurors age opened the door. With his round face, bright cheeks and blue eyes he reminded Lily of her friend Alice. His Hogwarts teachers robes waved as he walked towards Harry leaving people hovering in the door way

"I'm sorry to overload you like this, Harry," he said, dumping seven files down on Harry's desk. "This lot just turned up at Hogwarts."

Harry peered into the shadows of the door but couldn't make out the people.

"Who are they, Neville?"

"They _say, _I'm not saying if they are or not that's your job, but they say their Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Sirius Black and Fabian and Gideon Prewett."

Harry stared at him for a second and glanced at the people who claimed to be Lily and James – with the way they were looking, Harry was pretty sure they would past their identity tests and he couldn't help the wide grin that slipping across his face.

"Send them in," he swallowed conjuring a few more chairs.

They filled in slowly and Harry was glad his work mask was already gone but it would have crumbled watching Remus, Tonks and Sirius fill into the room. The way that Remus and Sirius' face light up when they saw Lily and James was amazing. Sirius was also giving him powerful looks.

"Keep calm, please," everyone's heads snapped towards Harry's authoritive voice. "You'll have time for heartfelt greetings afterwards."

Neville laughed awkwardly and gestured towards the folders, "Henderson gave me Lily and Ja- your pare- gave me everyone's folders on my way up."

Harry looked over a Lily and James who were once again staring at him and he shot them a smile almost causing Lily to break down into sobs. "Thanks Neville."

Said man nodded and left and Harry turned back to his loved ones – he'd almost forgotten about Ginny perched at the side of the room until she caught his eye.

"Okay?" she mouthed and Harry gave a kinda shrug in return.

He guessed he was okay. He had people he had loved so much in one room after they died, he was almost 100% sure he had his parents back, he would have his godfather back if everything went according to plan, Teddy would have his parents, the marauders would be back together without the traitor. Only, however, if they past the test.

"Okay…" Harry dragged it out slowly.

Remus seemed to realise his predicament.

"We know the basics, who's allowed to come back," he smiled at Harry, "But not how long we've been dead."

Harry returned the smile.

"Thanks, Re – Mr- Professor," Remus grinned in return and Harry began to open a few of the folders. "So as I was explaining the year is 2015 and you have returned from the dead. For some reason during this time people age differently, slower, so whilst you four" - he gestured to his parents, godfather and Remus - "were once the same age since you died at different times and have been dead for different lengths of time you no longer are.

"Generally it works that if you died at 30 and it's been 10 years, you come back at the age of 35. So it's the amount of time you've been dead halved and then taken away from the age that you should be. It's all very confusing and we're not entirely sure why it's working like but it is…

"So Da-Mr and Mrs Potter, you're 38. Re-Mr Lupin you're 46 and Mrs Lupin you're 34. Mr Black, you're 45 – thank heavens you didn't come back the eldest because that simply wouldn't have worked."

James snorted and Lily smiled. Her son had his father in him then. For he had to be her son – Remus and Sirius knew him and he knew them, well it would seem. It was taking all she had not to reach across the desk and hug her baby boy. She and James both were revealing at his slip up. Every time he went to call James 'Dad', James' heart pulled. He'd never been 'Dad', he'd been 'Dada' but never 'Dad'.

"Misters Prewett, you're both, still twins you'll be pleased to here, at the age of 49.

"Ginny," Harry turned to look at her whilst inwardly celebrating that he'd made his mum smile and his dad laugh. It was childish that he took so much pleasure out of it. He really wanted to hear his parents laugh properly now, "could you do me a favour?"

"What do you need, love?"

Sirius' head snapped up at the affectionate name and grinned a dog like grin, his head going between the two of them like he was watching a tennis match.

"I'm out of Veritaserum…" he let it trail of suggestively and Ginny smiled at him, leaping off her perch. Harry called after her as she left the office. "Thanks!"

Everyone's faces besides Sirius who was too busy contemplating over his godson's love life pulled faces at the thought of the serum. It didn't take Ginny very long to return with the vial of potion and a load of glasses. The recently alive eyed her and the glasses warily and she filled them up and added the potion.

"Sorry," Harry said, attempting to put his work mask back on. "Standard procedure – Mu-_Mrs Potter_ would you mind going first?"

Feeling less uncomfortable now being so confident that Harry was her son, Lily took the potion without complaint and the people in the office waited for it to take effect. Harry shuffled some papers around to make sure her folder and questions were the ones on top and the ones he was reading from.

"Can you I have your full name, please?"

"Lily Felicity Potter nee Evans.

"Your Patronus is?"

"A Doe," and Harry smiled a little bit as he wrote it down.

"And how did you find out you were a witch?"

"My best friend at the time told me…"

"That was?"

"Severus Snape."

Harry watched as his godfather's and father's face crinkled with disgust.

"Can I – Can I ask," Remus looked at Harry warily, it was odd for the boy to stutter. Harry bounced his pen on the question a few times wondering why he had decided to put this specific one as one of her identity questions. "What Voldemort said to you that night in the nursery?"

James' head snapped from his son to his wife – what could Voldemort have said to a mother protecting her only child?

"He told to step aside, that I didn't need to die," Lily's voice, unlike Harry's rather quiet questions, was strong.

Harry swallowed as he shut her folder and placed it to the side, "thank you."

He reached under his desk and pulled out the antidote, pouring it into the glass for Lily, for his _mother_ he realised with a start, to drink.

"Did it go all right?" she asked as soon as she was aware again.

Harry gave her a tight smile, "Yes…Mum. It- it went fine. You can be welcome back into the world of the living."

Lily beamed at him, tears already leaking out of her eyes before she flew around the desk to hug him. Harry hugged his mum as tightly as she squeezing him, trying not to cry himself. He caught his father's gaze when he opened them and beamed. If Lily was Lily, James had to be James.

"I didn't fail," she sobbed into his shoulder and Harry pulled back, breaking eye contact with his father, in surprise.

"Of course, you didn't fail, mum," Harry said completely confused – she had to know she was her. "What could you have made you think that?"

"I thought I didn't protect you," she gasped through her tears.

Harry not sure what to do, just held his mum while she cried, he knew it wasn't the right time to be smiling but he couldn't help himself, he hadn't felt this happy since his kids were born.

Once she calmed down, Harry spoke again, "Go to Ginny, and get to know her. I need to work."

Lily squeezed him tighter for a second before placing a kiss on his cheek. Slowly she headed over to Ginny, wary now of the woman who had been so kind to them so far. It was different now. She was her daughter-in-law not just a strange stranger. Ginny was the one to hug her and mutter that everything's okay now causing Lily to smile and squeeze her tightly too. She'd always wanted a daughter if she and James survived the war.


	5. Chapter 4 - Secrets

Harry smiled as he turned back towards his father.

"Dad," he said enjoying how it sounded on his tongue. "Do you want to go next?"

The smile James gave him told him everything and the process started again. James' folder had been harder for people to put together – what secrets did James Potter have that Peter Pettigrew would not have told the Death Eaters. Things like his animagus form and his secrets jaunts into the woods/shrieking shack even his saving of Snape's life were all things Wormtail knew.

"You told Remus something in your 6th year of Hogwarts, something you never told anyone – not Sirius or Peter or Lily – regarding Severus Snape. What was it?"

Harry heard Remus whistle and Sirius turned to his best mate.

"That I didn't hate and I never had. He had Lily, he was easy target and I needed someone to let my anger out on at times – it spiralled out of control. I just hoped that our tormenting him wasn't what led him towards the dark arts – even if he did give it back in tenfold."

Lily breathed out heavily, staring at her husband in surprise. He had never hated Snape, she could hardly believe that. Sixth year though was when he started to mature, when he started walking away from Snape's taunts and deflating his head. She smiled at the side of his head as he drunk the antidote in one shot.

James followed his wife's example and asked how it went and Harry respond in the exact same way with a wide smile on his face. His words caused the warm feeling to spread through James and, like Lily, he walked round the desk to hug his son only just having enough control to not let the tears that were in his eyes fall – Sirius would probably never let him live it down if he did. Eventually though he released Harry and went back to Lily who wasted no time pressing a kiss to his lips.

Harry looked away and turned to Sirius.

"Mr Black, please drink."

The sentence brought a smirk to Sirius' face from being addressed so formally by his own godson. Once the name was done Harry looked at his folder for the security questions.

"How did you escape the dementors kiss back in 1994?"

"You and Hermione Granger went back in time and broke me out of Flitwicks office before Fudge could bring the dementors over. You also saved a hippogriff which aided my escape."

"Buckbeak," Dora chuckled fondly.

Harry smiled at her, "what do Ron, Hermione and I call your dog room when we realised that _Padfoot _was no longer safe?"

"Snuffles."

A snort came from James and Harry grinned back him, filling a glass of antidote for Sirius. The hug Sirius bestowed upon Harry was quick but tight before he rushed to Lily and James. Harry shared a smile with Remus. Once he was done crying on them, he spoke to Ginny wrapping her in short hug.

"So you and Harry, huh?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"As good as it is to have you back, Sirius," Ginny said with a Weasley blush, "shut up."

"Yes, Lady Potter," he gave her mock bow only to be kicked by James and give a help of pain.

Before they could really start going at it and Remus knew they would he, pick up a glass.

"Shall I?"

"Please," Harry chuckled. "Okay, full name?"

"Remus John Lupin," he replied without missing a beat.

"What did you say to me third year about my Boggart?"

Remus replied sounding very much like the professor he was, "that suggests that what you fear most of all is – fear. Very wise, Harry."

"Thanks Remus," Harry breathed pushing the antidote towards him whilst that took affect he turned to Ginny. "What time is it, Gin?"

"12," she grimaced sympathetically and at the curious looks explained, "it's meant to be his day off."

"Ouch," Fabian muttered and Harry looked over at the twins – they were unusually quite for people who were meant to be relatives of Fred and George especially since Harry knew that they knew most the people in the room.

"Right, Mrs _Nymphadora _Lupin, please drink," taking the one opportunity to call her her full name that he would probably ever get without being hexed in return.

Practically a test in itself which she passed by screeching, "don't call me Nymphadora!" before she took her serum.

"Right, full name?" Harry asked.

"Nymphadore Cassandra Lupin nee Tonks," she replied with the undertone of Sirius muttering how he couldn't believe Remus had married his baby cousin.

"Do you like it?" Harry said with a smirk and both Sirius and Remus leaned forward in anticipation.

"No," Tonks replied strongly even through the serum. "It's Tonks or Dora."

"How boring," Sirius muttered, kicking his feet. "I was hoping she would say she liked it."

"So was I," Harry grinned at his godfather. "In the orders house what did you keep knocking over?"

Her face dropped into a scowl, "that stupid elephant umbrella stand."

"And," Harry caught Ginny's eye with a smile, "What did you teach Ginny Weasley" – the Prewetts heads snapped over to Ginny – "to do in the summer we were all staying there?"

"How to check if a door had an Imperturbable Charm on it – by flinging objects at the door in questions," Tonks said. "I think she threw dungbombs at it."

Harry looked back over at Ginny who laughed and nodded before giving Tonks the antidote. She quickly gave Harry a wink and Ginny a hug before moving out the way.

"Right, Ginny" Harry said, filling through the last two folders, "Give me a hand, they're your uncles. There's nothing in here, the ministry doesn't seem to know much about them…"


	6. Chapter 5 - The Prewetts

"Sorry, Harry, love," Ginny said. "I don't know anything that isn't known by everyone. Mum misses them so much that she doesn't really like to talk about them, just a few comments here and there, we learned most from their old friends."

Gideon and Fabian stared at her, looking her up and down, as though looking for the baby they had seen before they died. Eventually they spoke.

"You're Ginny?" Fabian began to ask

"Our niece?" finished Gideon.

Ginny smiled at the twin talk, which she hadn't heard for many years, and nodded, although her smile was a sad. Harry knew she was thinking of George, how he and Fred had loved to twin talk, finishing each others sentences, and, now, poor George couldn't do that.

George was distraught after the war, for a while he just sat in his room, only letting his mum into give him meals, but once he came out and started joking again, he would say something expecting Fred to finish it and looking so sad when he looked at the empty space that Fred usually filled. It was odd to begin with to hear Georges laugh without Fred's, when you think of George you automatically think of Fred, they're a package deal, there was no George without Fred, except now there was - Harry hoped Fred would return soon.

"How about we bring my mum in?" Ginny suggested. "Her or Dad."

"Molly?" said Gideon.

"Yes, Molly, I want –" said Fabian

"- to see –" interrupted Gideon

"- my sister," they finished together.

They, along with Ginny, looked at Harry with hopeful eyes, but Harry wasn't sure. He didn't want to get Molly's hopes up either, just as he hadn't his. What if they turned out to be impostors? It was highly unlikely, considering that everyone else in this room was who they said they were, but there was a chance. He didn't want Molly to be upset as he knew she would, she'd be heart-broken to see them and then discover that it wasn't them really. Ginny, as was normal, seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Harry, you're right, there is a chance that they could be Death Eaters,' Ginny began; Harry looked at her and tried to stop his thoughts to concentrate on her voice. 'But they haven't attacked any of us yet -"

"But what if the Death Eaters want to avenge your mum for killing Bellatrix?"

"Molly killed –" Fabian began.

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Gideon finished.

"Hell yeah!" Sirius laughed.

Harry and Ginny continued their conversation as though they hadn't been interrupted: "Death Eaters know that the best way to hurt Mum is through her family that, love, is common knowledge. Please, Harry, just explain it to her."

Harry looked at her for a while, thinking it through in his head, she smiled at him, Dora, Lily and James nodded, Remus and Sirius looked like they weren't sure and the twins looked hopeful. Harry sighed.

"Fine," he said eventually and Ginny gave him a dazzling smile. "I want to get this done today, maybe they'll let me have the day of tomorrow."

"I hope so," Ginny said, as she moved to the fireplace. "You said you'd go flying with the boys, they were really looking forward to it."

She picked up some Floo Powder before chucking it into the fire and disappearing. Harry frowned thinking how he could make it up to them.

"Boys?" Sirius asked.

"Teddy, Jamie and Al," Harry replied smiling slightly.

"Teddy?" Dora said, leaning forward.

"Yeah who is fine and happy," Harry said smiling at her and Remus. "I need to make it up to them, I've been working overtime with everything going on - I'll take them out or something."

Dora smiled, "so he lives with you?"

"Since his grandmother died, I'm sorry about that, Dora."

"Will someone please tell me who Teddy is?" James asked annoyed cutting of Dora as she went to respond.

"My son," Remus said quietly. James, Lily and Sirius stared at him, but before they could say anything about it he quickly turned to Harry. "The other two boys? Your sons?"

"Yes," Harry said shortly about to continues with more when the flames turned green and Ginny stepped out.

"Mum'll be here in a minute," Ginny said smiling, "she's just telling Dad were she's going, he's in his shed again. I told her not to get he hopes up."

"Thanks, Gin," he replied as the flames turned green once again and a slightly plump woman with hair the same colour as Ginny's stepped out.

"Molly," Fabian and Gideon breathed so quietly that only Harry, who was sitting across the desk from them, heard.

"Fabian! Gideon!" she cried a smile breaking out on her face.

"Mum," said Ginny. "What did I tell you?"

Molly nodded and turned to Harry with her usual motherly smile.

"Hello, Harry, dear," she said smiling. "Enjoying your day off?"

"Hello, Molly," Harry said also smiling and rising from behind the desk, "and considering that I'm at work, I'm enjoying my day off more than thought I would."

He glanced at the people he'd checked and Molly followed his gaze to only gasp in response. To distract so they could get to work he walked round the desk to hug her before gesturing to the seat next to his behind the desk.

"Ginny's filled you in?" he asked as he sat down

"No not really, just told me not to get my hopes up, but now I see why," she said watching the twins warily.

"Okay, I've checked everyone else, these are the last two," Harry said gesturing to those sitting with Ginny and then to her brothers and continues his sentence at a speed. Molly was used to his speed talking to fill people in by now. "The ministry doesn't know anything that isn't known to the world so Ginny thought it would be a good idea to have you check them. Are you okay with that?"

The last question was said slowly, in his normal voice with a hint of concern. He didn't want Molly doing anything that would upset her after all she'd done for him over the years.

"Just fine," Molly smiled.

"Okay Gideon you first, Fabian it might be hard but don't say a word, alright?"

They both nodded before Gideon drank his Veritiserum, Harry waited a while before beginning.

"Full Name?" he asked as he picked up his pen.

"Gideon Mick Prewett," Harry then nodded to Molly who gulped and took his hand. He squeezed it as comfort.

"When I was six and Mum and Dad had gone out for Halloween and left me in the care of you two, one: what did you want to dress as? Two: what did you want to dress me as?"

"I wanted to dress me and Fabian as Siamese twins and you as a cat," he said, sounding as though he was bored which was an effect of the serum. "We were going to make you a cat with two heads so you matched us but when mum and dad went out we couldn't."

Molly smiled, "What was dad's last words to you?"

"Don't go doing anything stupid now, you here, you and Fabian may not care about you lives enough but me, your mother and Molly do, so be careful, both of you." he answered.

"Is that enough?" Molly asked Harry.

"That's perfect," he smiled and nodded.

Harry poured out the antidote once again and pushed across the desk. As soon as the effects were over Molly flew across the desk at Gideon. His eyes had barely returned to the normal brightness - the potion made them dull - before they had their vision observed by a large of amount of red hair. He hugged her tightly sensing she needed it before Harry cleared his throat, although there was an apologetic look on his face.

"Molly, I'm really sorry to stop the reunion but we have all the time in the world left and you can catch up at home, with _both _your brothers, as soon as we clear Fabian," he really sounded sorry so Molly let go of her brother and sat down next to him and Gideon went to sit with the other people who had been cleared. "Right Fabian, you know what to do by now."

"Yeah," he said before downing his truth serum.

"Name?" Harry said, repeating the process.

"Fabian Eric Prewett," he replied.

Molly asked him a series of question before Fabian got to take the antidote. Molly threw herself at Fabian this time and hugged him. They stayed locked in an embrace for a little while before Gideon came and wrapped his arms around both his siblings.

Eventually Molly called Ginny over.

"Yes, Mum?" she asked as she walked away from Harry who was putting all their folders away.

"You probably don't remember your uncles do you?"

"Not at all," Ginny told her sadly.

"Oh well, little one," Gideon grinned.

"We'll just have to make up for lost time," Fabian added.

Harry glanced up and laughed at Ginny's worried expression – she had reason to of course growing up with Fred and George.

"Gin," he called and she drifted back over to him. "I've got to do some paperwork for this lot are you going with your mum and uncles or back to the kids?"

"Back to the kids," Ginny smiled at him watching the way his eyes left her every now and then to jump over to his parents who were locked in an embrace laughing the Remus, Sirius and Tonks. Though their eyes drifted to him just as often. "I'll left Hermione there. I'll take our lot back with me and won't tell the kids anything till you get home. When you do, you're taking them out flying or something to wear them out."

"Yes, dear," Harry smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

Quickly they all left in a whirlwind of hugs and kisses – his parents and Sirius had a hard time letting go of him as did he – but eventually office looked as if nothing had happened and he was sat filling in all the paperwork. He'd caught Molly just before she left to whisper her news.

"I don't want to get your hopes up but," he paused and she stared up at him with his wife's eyes, "blood relatives often come back within a few days of each other…"

Molly gave him a sad smile, "we can hope."

With that said she had disappeared with her brothers. It was only a couple of hours, just as Harry was putting away the last of the paperwork that another knock sounded on the door.

"Come on in!"

Neville was back through the door and Harry smiled – it was lucky it was a Saturday or he'd have had to send an Auror to collect all the dead appearing there. There was only one person this time- Fred Weasley.

He walked in with an impish grin on his face, "Head Auror, Harry, nice job!"

"Thanks, Fred," Harry couldn't help but chuckle – if Fred turned out to actually be Fred then it would make Molly's week.

"Here's his folder, Harry," said Neville. "I grabbed it on my way in again, save someone a bit work."

"Thanks, Neville," Harry said taking the folder from him. Neville nodded and left. Leaving Harry to gesture Fred to the seat opposite his desk; "take a seat, Fred."

Fred sat without question and looked at Harry as he opened the folder.

'So now what?' he asked. 'Neville said that I had to come to the Head Auror to be checked?'

"Yeah," Harry said pouring the truth serum once again into cup. "You need to drink this so I can check you are who you say you are."

"Right-t-o," Fred grinned, taking the serum from Harry and drinking it in one.

'Name?' Harry said picking up his pen for hopefully the last time today.

"Fredrick Fabian Weasley," said Fred having the same bored tone as the others – it was extremely odd coming from a Weasley twin.

"What did you do to make your brother, Ronald Billius Weasley, scared of spiders?" Harry asked.

"I turned his teddy bear into a giant spider because he broke my toy broomstick."

"And how did you know about all the secret passages at Hogwarts?"

"The Marauders Map," Fred said shortly.

"Which is?"

"A enchanted, detailed map of all of Hogwarts, made by Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."

"Sirius Black - innocent or guilty?"

"Innocent framed by Peter Pettigrew," Fred said but his eyes were returning to normal, the potion was wearing off - it was obviously a weak batch. After a few minutes he was completely back to normal. "Did I pass?"

"Yeah," Harry said grinning. "Yeah, you did."

"So what now?"

"You come back with me. I'm going to do your paperwork another day."


	7. Chapter 6 - Potter Manor

"Ginny! I'm home," Harry called loudly as he and Fred entered the house, "and I have a surprise!"

"I'm in the lounge, love," she replied back at normal volume.

"Love?" Fred questioned his impish grin returning knowing full well that was his sister.

"Umm," Harry said suddenly feeling very awkward. "Yeah, we're married."

"Brilliant!" Fred exclaimed

"Brilliant?" Harry repeated. "Your brother's were all but ready to skin me alive."

"I bet George that you two would end up married," he replied as Harry led him into the living room. "You guys are made for each oth-"

"Fred!"

Harry and Fred had just walked into the crowded living room. Lily and Dora were sitting with their husbands on the sofa. Sirius in an armchair and Ginny sitting on the floor by the fire or at least she was. She had stood up when Harry and Fred entered; she ran forward and threw herself at him, sobbing into his shirt. Fred sank to the floor by the door, with Ginny in his arms, he held her until her sobs stopped. Everyone had waited in silence, smiling slightly.

"I missed you so much," she said.

"Yeah the better looking twin," Fred teased.

"You're identical, silly," Ginny said laughing weakly.

"I'm still better looking," Fred said.

Ginny laughed as she pulled away to stand up and walked towards Harry and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him before saying; "Welcome home, love."

"Hello, honey," Harry kissed her again before turning to everyone else. "Hello everyone."

Everyone either said (Lily, Dora and Remus) or cheered (Sirius and James) hello and then sat watching him.

Lily spoke first; "so how was your day?"

"Boring, it was just paperwork until Fred here turned up," Harry grinned. "He decided to make a few jokes on the way. He's Ginny's brother, by the way."

"And see that clears up her reaction," James chuckled grinning at Ginny who was back in Fred's hug.

"Harry?" Remus asked. "If I remember this house correctly, and I think I do, we won't all fit here, even with some of us sharing rooms."

"Don't worry," Harry said. "I thought about that while I was doing the paper work - it was really easy paperwork it didn't need much brain work." he added quickly as Lily opened her mouth. "Since all the rooms here are taken, we'll all, including the kids, go to Potter Manor. There's more than enough room there. Fred?"

"Yeah, Harry?" he looked away from Ginny.

"You'll be staying with us too, okay?" Harry said, Fred nodded.

"Why?" Ginny asked, looking between her husband and brother.

"It's a surprise, Gin," Harry said.

Ginny groaned, "but I hate surprises."

"But that's because you're impatient," Ginny huffed and Sirius tried not laugh – he was sure Lily and James this conversation daily.

"Go take those boys out flying," she said smiling knowing Harry was teasing her

"Gone," Harry said walking out the door and up the stairs.

Ginny looked out the window then and only then realised it was dark; she got up and ran to the door and yelled after him. "Don't you dare take them flying in the dark, Harry Potter!"

"I wasn't planning on it!" he called back. "Ginny Potter."

Shaking her head at her husband, she turned to see everyone looking at her amused.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," most mumbled. Ginny huffed.

"Lily, James I think you might find some of your old clothes in the basement, they may be slightly too small but they'll do for now," Ginny took charge and they nodded. "Conjure a trunk and put two-three days of clothing in."

"Okay," Lily said before she and James disappeared from the room.

"Fred," she turned to her brother. "Something tells me that Harry doesn't want mum to see you yet, so I'll quickly nip over to the burrow and steal some without her noticing."

Fred nodded although he looked confused.

"Sirius, Remus, Dora," she said turning to them when she noticed her husband standing in the doorway with Teddy, James and Albus standing just behind. Ginny could see Remus and Dora trying not to run to their son and hold him. They quickly turned away before he could recognise them.

"There's some in the basement for them too," he smiled and led the boys into the back garden.

"Well, there you go," Ginny said. "I'm sure you two remember where it is?"

Remus and Sirius nodded, and left - Remus taking Dora's arm to bring her with him. Ginny went upstairs with Fred to pack her own, Harry's and the kids.

"Sooo," said Fred.

Ginny looked at him once she closed her bedroom door. Fred was sat on the bed looking at her with wide eyes.

"You're married to Harry and have three boys?" he asked. "Although the eldest looks way too old to be yours."

Ginny started putting things in a trunk but still answered him, "No, the younger two boys are mine and Harry's: James and Albus."

"Good names" he teased. "So who's the other kid?"

"Harry's godson," Ginny replied smiling slightly as she added some of Harry's clothes. "Teddy Remus Lupin."

"Oh, I remember him, funny little kid" said Fred, looking slightly relieved. "So you have your own two children and your husband's godson to look after."

"Yes and no," she said, looking a bit nervous. She stopped packing and sat down next to him, taking his hand. "I take care of them, with Harry's help, but I don't have two children. I have two _boys_, well, three if you count Teddy, which I do."

Fred looked confused so she kept talking.

"We have a little girl, Lily; she's younger than the boys. So technically Harry and I have four children."

Fred stared at her wide eyed as she let go of his hand and continued packing. Somehow he'd never imagine Ginny as a Mum of many children. Maybe one or two but certainly not four.

Soon everyone was ready; Ginny had gone to the Burrow and gotten Fred some clothes without raising her mothers' suspicion, which was a challenge. They were gathered in the living room with a trunk per couple - Sirius and Fred had their own - they were all going to Floo to Potter Manor, a trunk at a time. The kids stood to the side, watching everyone carefully. Lily Luna holding onto Harry's hand in a death grip, something everyone thought was adorable.

"She's a Daddy's girl?" Lily asked

"Since day one," Ginny laughed, "and she has him wrapped around her finger."

No one knew the kids names yet, except Fred, Harry hadn't had time to explain it all to them yet, adults and kids, he planned to do that at the Manor, so to them Lily Luna was Little Red Riding Hood (Lily's idea), James Sirius was JJ (Sirius's idea) and Albus was HJ, (Dora's idea). Teddy, Teddy was RJ, keeping with the theme, (Dora's idea again). Right now with Teddy falling asleep on Harry's other arm, even though he was sixteen, he did look like Remus, it was the only time you could tell what his real appearance was. His eyes you couldn't see with him falling asleep but when he was younger he had Dora's eyes but with amber flecks in them. James and Albus were leaning on each other; it was a rather cute scene.

When it was time to leave Ginny woke the two Potter boys up and took their hands. They went first followed by Harry, Lily Luna and Teddy, but by that time Teddy was fast asleep so Harry picked him up, how Harry managed to pick a sixteen year old boy up, no one could understand, but Harry was glad that Teddy was still light and that he was stronger because of being an Auror, while Lily Luna held her father's elbow. Lily and James came next, followed by Remus and Dora who smiled at their son fast asleep in Harry's arms, then Sirius and Fred.


	8. Chapter 7 - Worry

The next morning when Harry woke up in the master bedroom of Potter Manor with his arm curled around Ginny it took him a rather long time to understand his surroundings and why they were there before everything came rushing back to him. His parents returning, the Lupins returning, Sirius, the Prewett's, Fred. By the time he'd gotten his thoughts together Ginny had woken. He kissed her good morning before getting dressed and going down stairs. It was still early so no-one was up yet but there was an owl sitting on the dining table, a ministry one.

Harry ripped open the letter quickly, it was written in a rush;

_Head Auror Potter_

_We need your help in the death eater catch today, we know you had to work yesterday despite it being your day off and the Minister said that you could take today off but we need you get here now!_

_Auror Headast_

Harry sighed before quickly scribbling an apology to everyone, changing into his Auror robes which were in the cupboard and apparated to the Ministry. Knowing Ginny would not be happy.

When she did arrive downstairs, perhaps ten minutes later, she wasn't happy. She frowned at the absence of her husband who would usually be sat reading The Daily Prophet but it was sat on the table looking as though it had not been touched, his robes that he had put on that morning were thrown quickly over a chair and note, hastily scribbled was placed on the table.

_Whoever reads this I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye but I'm need at work. Tell Gin don't kill me and I'm sorry. I'm need for a capture. I don't know when I'll be home, so don't wait up. I love you all, tell the kids and Ginny._

_Harry. _

Ginny sighed heavily placing the letter on the side.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked coming up behind her with Dora.

"He's been called to work," Ginny said. "Again."

"Regular occurrence?" Dora asked sympathetically.

"Not since just after Voldemort was killed," Ginny sighed. "The world's calm now."

"Well when James -" Lily began.

'What about me?' James asked as he, Sirius and Remus entered.

'Harry's been called to work to round up Death Eaters,' Ginny explained. 'This stop happening 5-6 years after Voldemort was killed. Lily was just telling me something when you interrupted.'

"Oh I'm so sorry, daughter-in-law," James said doing a mock bow.

"It's quite all right, father-in-law," Ginny said curtsying but then she turned serious. "I just worry, that's all."

"Ginny," Remus began, smiling slightly. "Harry can take care of himself, you know that."

"That didn't stop you from worrying last time," Ginny smiled at him and Remus chuckled, nodding his agreement.

"Plus," Dora took over. "He wouldn't do anything stupid because that would mean not coming home to you and the kids."

Ginny smiled, "Thanks guys. Kreacher!"

Sirius looked round in shock as she called the name, there was a loud crack and an old house elf appeared.

"Good morning, Mistress Ginny," he said in a bow. Sirius was surprised to see that it wasn't mocking in the slightest. "May Kreacher ask a question?"

"Of course you can, Kreacher," Ginny said smiling and trying not to laugh at James and Sirius's faces. "What is it?"

"Why is Mistress Ginny in Potter Manor? Kreacher knows that Mistress Ginny hasn't been here for many years."

"You're right Kreacher but our house in Godrics Hollow just isn't big enough for us and all our guests," Ginny gesturing to everyone, as they were now all here except the kids. Fred mouth was hanging open as was James and Sirius's. "Now, could you make breakfast for 11 people and then go wake the kids."

"Yes mistress, whatever mistress wishes," Kreacher said bowing, but then he looked around. "Will Master Harry not be joining?"

"No, Kreacher, he wont," Ginny said, her smile dropping slightly.

"Has Master eaten?" Kreacher asked looking worried.

"No, I don't think he has," she said slowly. "It looks like he left in a hurry."

"Kreacher will take Master Harry something," he said,

"Thank you, Kreacher," he bowed again and left.

Sirius, James, Fred, and even Dora and Remus stared at the place where Kreacher had stood with wide, shocked eyes. Slowly they turned to look at Ginny, who shrugged and said "Harry did something in that year away that changed him."

Soon everyone was sitting at the dining table Harry's seat at the head of the table empty , Ginny sat at the other end, the two chairs around the corner from her was empty - the kids were yet to arrive - as was the ones next to Harry's. Everyone else spread themselves around. Eventually two tired looking boys and one teenager walked in mumbled good morning and sat down. The black messy haired ones on either side of their mother and the sandy haired one to the left of what should have been Harry's seat, next to Remus, who sucked in a breath at being so close to his son. None of them noticed Harry's absence, being too tried. A few minutes later a girl with red hair wandered in, looking more awake than the boys, and took her seat opposite Teddy, on the right of Harry's seat.

"Good morning everyone. Good morning, Mummy," she said and then looked around to say good morning to her dad, realizing that he wasn't there. "Mummy, where's Daddy?"

"Good morning, sweetheart," Ginny said. "Daddy's at work."

"Why?" Teddy asked.

"Death Eater's, RJ," Teddy nodded and looked worried, while the other three kids looked confused.

"When will Daddy be home?" Albus asked.

"I don't know HJ," Ginny smiled sadly. "I didn't see him, he left a note but didn't know."

The kids and Teddy sighed while the adults excluding Ginny smiled in amusement - these kids loved Harry.

When the food arrived, Teddy just nibbled on a piece of toast while everyone else chatted and ate. Dora noticed that he wasn't eating and caught Ginny's eye, she knew it would be strange if she started to worry plus it would draw attention to her and Remus. Ginny nodded and got up from her seat to knell next to Teddy.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I know he did it loads of times when I was younger, Uncle Harry going after Death Eaters, I mean," Teddy said, "And I don't remember any except one. Remember when I was five and he went out?" Ginny nodded the memory of that one still causing her pain everyone else stopped talking to listen. "One of my earliest memories is Uncle Harry lying in the hospital looking pale and d-dead. What if that happens this time? I don't want to lose him as well; he's the closest thing I've got to a father."

Remus looked down and Dora wrapped an arm around his waist while every else excluding the kids stared at Teddy.

"It won't all right," Ginny said, hugging him close, although she was worrying about the same thing. "Your Godfather's even better now than he was then."

"But what if it does?" Teddy asked, Lily Luna had caught on and tears filled her eyes. James Sirius got up from his seat followed by Albus; they hugged their little sister as they listened with everyone else to their mothers words.

"It won't alright," Ginny said, sounding more confident than she felt and leaning back to look in his eyes. Teddy opened his mouth but she kept going, "but if something happens to your godfather, you've got me and the rest of the Weasleys, and when Harry gets home he has something to tell you. Because he will come home, he wouldn't put himself in mortal danger because it means not coming back to his family, to you, to your 'siblings' or 'cousins' whatever you call them."

"Siblings," Dora smiled as did the kids at Ginny and Teddy's words. "What is it?"

"No, no, no," Ginny said. "That's for your Uncle, and RJ, I want you to tell him how you feel and about the hospital, alright?"

He nodded and wiped away a tear that no one had noticed away, Ginny kissed away one that he missed before standing up and kissing his messy hair, which had changed into Harry's as he talked, it always did. Whenever Teddy was scared or upset his hair and eyes would match Harry's, he had more control over it now, but sometimes it still happens. Everyone except the kids in the dining room knew this was because he felt safe with Harry, something that Harry knew as well, and it made him happy that his godson trusted him so much.

"You're our brother, too," said Lily Luna. "You're part of the family just as much as me, Ja-"

"Little Red Riding Hood," Ginny said sternly. "Don't say any names. Daddy's explaining tonight."

Lily Luna cocked her head to the side but said, "Okay Mummy."

Ginny smiled and return to her seat, Teddy and the rest of the kids ate at their normal pace but Ginny's and the adults were a bit slower.

Despite her words Ginny still worried herself through most of the day, glancing at the clock that her mother and father gave Harry and her as a wedding present - she'd brought it with her. It was similar to the one in the Weasleys kitchen, pointing to things to do or where people were, not the time. At the moment five hands were pointing to home but Harry's, instead of pointing to work as it did when he was doing paper work, pointed to Mortal Peril. Lily and Dora had to keep her away from it and keep her busy. Lunch was a quiet affair, all the adults getting more worried, although they weren't showing it in front of the kids and Ginny.

By the time Harry walked through the door at 6 o'clock, Ginny nerves were wound so tight she was near breaking point and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard his tired voice call through the manor.

'Gin, I'm home!' he called.

Ginny jumped up from her seat in the family room and ran from the room, the kids just behind her and the adults walking slowly. She paused in the hallway a distance away from him as her eyes looking up and down him looking for any sigh of injury. When she found none she ran down the hallway as fast as she could and threw herself into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her feet an inch or two of the floor; Harry wrapped his arms around her waist before she could fall, and bent down so her feet were on the floor. He kissed her quickly but soundly before burying his face in her hair.

'Daddy!' Lily Luna called as she ran down the hallway towards him.

Ginny and Harry let go of each other and Lily Luna flew into her dads arms, he spun her around in a circle before setting her on her feet. He tried to get up but Lily Luna threw her arms around him again and he knelt down to hug her.

The boys soon ran over and Lily Luna moved to stand by her mother when they had let go Harry stood up and looked at them all.

'What was that greeting about?' he said smiling.

'They were worried,' James said while his eyes repeating what Ginny had done.

'I'm fine,' Harry said noticing, but they didn't looked convinced, especially those who'd known him for a while. 'Really. It was an easy job, just a big one.'

Ginny raised her eyebrows slightly but said nothing. James hugged him before Lily came forward and kissed his cheek as well as hugged him. Sirius hugged him as did Remus. Dora did the same as Lily.

'Uncle Harry?' Teddy said quietly. 'Can I talk to you?'

Harry made a noise of agreement.

'What's up?' Harry said, leading him into the reception room. Ginny smiled at their backs before turning everyone back.

'We're in the family room, love,' she called over her shoulder.

Once in the reception room Harry shut the door and sat down next to where Teddy had perched himself on the sofa. Once he had Teddy leaned again him acting far younger than he usually did. Harry wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Come on, Teddy, what's up?" Harry asked.

"Aunt Ginny said that you had something to tell me," he began.

"Which I do," Harry interrupted, "but with the others as well."

"I know," Teddy said, "but when we found out you weren't at breakfast Aunt Ginny said that I need to tell you this."

Teddy stopped talking so Harry squeezed his shoulder, "what is it, Ted?"

"You remember when I was five and you were in hospital because of one of your Auror mission…?" Teddy said before falling silent again.

"You remember that?" Harry asked, shocked and saddened.

"It's my earliest memory after first flying a broom," Teddy said, looking at his godfathers face.

'Is that what Ginny told you to tell me?' Harry asked.

Teddy nodded slowly, "I was scared I was going to lose you too. Then and this morning."

"You'll never lose me, Teddy. Never," Harry said.

"Even if you d-die?"

"Even if I die," Harry said just as strongly as before. "Even if you can't see me, Teddy, doesn't mean I'm not there. Same with your parents … speaking of them…"

"Yes?" Teddy asked now reassured and curious.

'Come with me,' Harry said, smiling and taking his shoulder and steering him from the room quite fast. Teddy laughed at his godfather's quick mood change and enthusiasm.


	9. Chapter 8 - Introductions

Harry and Teddy walked down the hall to the family room where everyone was sitting talking, Ginny looked up as they entered.

"Everything all right, RJ?" she asked smiling.

Teddy nodded before looking after his godfather who'd just let go of his shoulder and left the room. He frowned and looked for a few more minutes at the door Harry had just left through before going to sit by Ginny. They heard Harry call Kreacher before his voice dropped so low that they couldn't hear what he was saying, a few minutes later Harry was back. He sat on the other side of Teddy and Lily Luna came to sit on his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and one of his wrapped around her waist to keep her on.

"Well now that I have time it's time to let's gets this over and done with," he said. "Kids, you know how I quickly told you what I was doing at work so much?"

"You said many people who are meant to be dead are returning," Lily Luna said.

"And you're needed to check it's them," James Sirius said. The adults smiled in amusement, seeing how much the kids idoled their dad.

"Yes, now, yesterday six people arrived in our house, didn't they?"

"They're," Teddy said, gesturing to everyone who he didn't know or he thought he didn't, "supposed to be dead aren't they?"

Harry smiled, "Yes, well done, that was quick, RJ. I'm sure you can guess who Fred is."

Lily pointed to Fred, "He looks exactly like Uncle George."

'Don't point, honey it's rude. But yes, that's your Uncle Fred, he's another of your mum's brothers, Uncle George's twin," Harry explained. "He died in-"

"The Battle of Hogwarts," Teddy interrupted. "Like Mum and Dad, I saw his name in the memorial graveyard."

"Right, RJ," Harry said with a quick glance at Dora and Remus.

"Who else here died then, RJ," Harry said, smiling, "You know them very well."

Teddy's eyes scanned the room before they landed on a picture. His eyes flicked between the picture and Remus and Dora.

"My Mum and Dad," he said slowly his eyes flicking back to Harry.

Harry smiled and then gestured to the Lupins, Teddy jumped up and flew at his parents they hugged him before Teddy who's hair had been like Harry's changed to pink to match his mothers and his eyes brown with golden flecks to match his fathers. Harry smiled at the scene and wrapped his free arm around Ginny.

Eventually they calmed down and Teddy stayed with his parents but smiled brightly at his godfather, Harry then continued.

"JJ," James Sirius looked up, "Can you guess anyone else who you know?"

James Sirius's eyes flicked round the room before resting on James and then flicking between him and Sirius.

"My namesakes," he whispered moving to sit next to his father but keeping his eyes on James and Sirius, Albus followed and sat next to his mother.

"That's right," Harry said. "That's your grandfather and my godfather. Your granddad, you know, died when I was one and my godfather when I was 15."

James Sirius eyes still flicked between James and Sirius but Lily Luna and Albus's eyes stayed fixed on their grandfather. Lily Luna spoke first.

"And that's grandma," she said, pointing at Lily.

Harry smiled, "Yes, but don't point, sweetheart, it's rude."

"Sorry, Daddy," she said lowering her arm.

She then jumped of his lap and ran across the room to her grandparents, she hugged Lily first before James. The boys then followed her example and hugged them, they also hugged Sirius knowing how important he was to their dad. Soon they came back to their original positions.

"Right now for the kids," Ginny said, smiling at Harry.

"Right," Harry gestured to Teddy, sitting in between his parents. 'That is Teddy Remus Lupin, he's sixteen, nearly seventeen."

Teddy smiled and waved at everyone, changing his appearance. Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes and the kids just laughed.

"This is Lily Luna Potter," Harry continued hugging the little girl in his arms who laughed and waved. "Our youngest."

Lily looked at her granddaughter and smiled, her eyes filling with tears knowing that her son named his only daughter after her but wondering who Luna was. James wrapped his arm around her.

"This is Albus Severus Potter," Ginny said putting her arm round Al. He waved and turned into her. "He's second oldest and a little shy."

Everyone who didn't know started between Harry, Ginny and Albus. Harry frowned at them all and said firmly, "there's many things about Severus Snape that you don't know, things which we do."

They looked at him for a while confused except Lily smiling at her son, although she too was confused, wondering what Severus could have done to get so much respect from Harry.

"Albus?" Dora asked, looking away from Teddy and wiping her eyes. "As in Albus Dumbledore?"

"The very same," Ginny smiled ruffling Albus's hair with the hand that wasn't wrapped around him.

"And that," Harry laughed, as Lily Luna patted James Sirius's head and he swatted her hand away, "is James Sirius Potter, our eldest."

James and Sirius continued to stare at Harry for a while before what he said sunk in. They turned to grin at him and Ginny along with Lily, Dora and Remus.

"See now that's a great name," Sirius laughed.

"Fit's him, too," Remus said turning to grin at James. Looking from James's scruffy black hair and hazel eyes to James Sirius's scruffy black hair and dark hazel eyes, which were so dark they were nearly brown. "And Lily Luna," he continued using her middle name to make the distinction, "her hair's slightly darker than the Weasley hair, more like Evans's."

Both James Sirius and Lily Luna smiled at their honouree great-uncle, Harry and Ginny smiled at him too glad he liked their name choices.

"Evans?" Lily asked. "One, I thought we stopped that in second year, well me and you. Two, I haven't been Evans for years."

Remus shook his head at her but smiled all the same.

The rest of the day went quick enough, everyone catching up or getting to know each other. Friday came and Harry went to work after breakfast and returned just in time for dinner, the kids and Teddy played with the Marauders, and the women tried to get it out of Kreacher what Harry was planning. For they knew he was planning something, at times his hand on the clock would change to the Burrow, or visiting friends, and on Thursday evening he kept going to talk to Kreacher. Saturday came and Harry went to work from breakfast till lunch, where he disappeared from the room at regular intervals and called Kreacher. Lily Luna spent a lot of time around her mother, grandmother and honouree great-aunt, trying to help out and copying what they did but in the evening Harry gathered everyone in the reception room.

"Right," Harry said once everyone was there. "I've got to go to work for about an hour when I get back I want you all dressed in the clothes on your beds and in the family room okay. There's a house elf to help you girls in mine and Ginny's room. Kreacher can help the boys if they want - he's different, Sirius."

Without waiting for answer he kissed Ginny, ruffled the boys' hair and dropped a kiss on Lily Luna's before leaving, everyone stared after him in confusion then looked at each other.

"What the he-" Sirius began, but from a look from Ginny he started again. "What was that about?"

"I have no idea," Lily said.

"Is he always like that?" James asked.

"Yes," Remus sighed.

"Well," said Dora, "let's go see what he's on about."

Everyone nodded before going to their respectable rooms, Ginny going with Lily Luna.


	10. Chapter 9 - Evans' Past

Harry grinned as he made his way into the house and to the family room. Everyone was there as he requested. Ginny in a long red dress that surprising didn't clash with her hair, which was done up in an elegant bun. Lily Luna wearing a fancy knee-length cotton dress in a deep shade of purple that was nearly black. Her hair was brushed and decorated with black butterflies. James Sirius, Albus and Teddy all in matching navy-blue dress-robes. Sirius and Fred wearing similar robes to the boys in black. James and Remus's were black as well but the lining and edges matched their wives dresses - Lily was wearing a dress that was similar to her granddaughters, knee-length and a sweet-heart neckline, but was in an emerald green, which matched hers and Harry's eyes. Dora was in a floor length dress in a sapphire blue with a sweet-heart neckline like Lily's. They all greeted him before they launched into their questions.

"Why are we dressed up?"

"Are we going somewhere?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"Harry, I hate being dressed up, there better be a good reason, is there?"

"Tell us what happening! Ow, Lils, that hurt"

"Can I hear music, Daddy?"

The last one was from Lily Luna, who was standing nearest the door. Sirius of course was the one swearing, Dora hating being dressed up, Lily curious as if they were going somewhere, Ginny first, James demanding before being hit by Lily for being rude, while Fred just looked at him suspiciously. Harry smiled at them all.

"Follow me," he said as he transfigured his own robes into something more fitting. "Then everything will be understood."

Everyone looked at him suspiciously except his kids who trusted him beyond the point of reason but followed him none the less. He led them through the halls to two large doors. The marauders looked at him as did Lily and Ginny being the ones who knew what was behind the door. Harry pulled them open to reveal a large room, which was obviously once a ball room but was now suited to dinner parties and dancing. There was lots of people sitting at the tables and a banner which said 'welcome back'.

In the room was the whole of the marauders and Lily's Gryffindor year as well as Dora's Hufflepuff one, Fred's were there as well, as well as Harry's and Ginny's. There were old work friends of all those who'd returned, Fabian and Gideon included. A few teachers, friends, even a few Muggles who knew about the magical world and, of course, the whole Weasley family. Everyone had brought those they knew who'd returned from the dead.

Molly Weasley jumped up first and ran at Fred wrapping him in a hug which Harry didn't doubt made it hard to breathe. Mr Weasley wasn't far behind here and the rest of the Weasley kids not far behind them with their wives and kids. Fred got crowded around so Harry moved everyone else to the side.

Catching Snape's eye and gestured with his head to his mother. He then looked at the woman just to Harry's right, he looked at her for a while before slowly getting up. Lily's eyes jumped to the movement because everyone was frozen and smiled slightly as she saw her old friend, but frowned when he froze as well. She closed the few places between them.

"Hello, Sev," she said smiling.

He just stood there looking at her; eventually she got a little tired of standing there in silence and wrapped her arms around him. He stood the awkwardly for a while before wrapping his arms around her as well, and whispering "you don't hate me?"

"No," she said. "I don't hate you. Harry's youngest son has your name – you must have done something good."

Up at the front Molly had found it in herself to let go of Fred to turn to Sirius. She hugged him tightly as well.

"I'm sorry for how I acted towards you," she said, sounding as though she was going to cry, "when you were stuck in that house. I was so horrible to you."

"Molly," Sirius said. "It's fine. You were stressed, we were all stressed. I took my anger out on you, I'm sorry."

They smiled at each other before she wrapped James in a hug.

"It's nice to see you again, James," said Molly as she pulled back. "We only meet once, remember? I brought Ron and the kids to see Harry."

James smiled.

"Yeah, Molly, I remember. How can I forget a massive family with red hair?"

She laughed and hugged him again before turning to Remus and Dora. To Harry's surprise she wrapped Dora in a hug first.

"Hey klutz," she laughed.

"Wotcher, Molly," Dora laughed too stepping out of her hug but keeping her hands.

"I've missed you," Molly said squeezing them.

"Thanks, I'd say the same but-" Dora paused.

"You don't feel like you've missed any time at all," Molly said. "Fabian and Gideon told me."

Dora looked over to the two red haired people she had been checked with and nodded.

"But I can say I'm glad you made it through the war," Molly smiled at her before turning to hug Remus.

"Lily!" she called.

Lily looked up from where she was talking with Snape, "Molly!" she stood up away from Severus, who frowned, and towards her other friend. Molly wrapped her in a hug nearly as tight as Fred's.

"Molly," Lily said, when they stopped. "I have so much to thank you for. I was talking with Harry and Ginny the other night and they were telling me how you took Harry in almost as another son even though you had so many."

"It's quite all right, Lily," Molly said. "He's a dear, it's not hard to love him, so much like you, but he has James's - has he told you about his life yet?"

"No," Lily frowned. "He said he's got next week off, so he'll tell us then. Why?"

"Let's just say you have so much to be proud of," Molly said hugging her one last time and walking back to Fred leaving a very confused Lily behind.

James came up behind her about to ask her what was wrong when Slughorn arrived in front of them, looking very old and brittle.

"Lovely Lily," he laughed, still as jovial as ever. "How nice it is to see you and James thank goodness you're back you can keep your son in order."

Lily's frown deepened but then she smiled, "it's nice to see you to, sir. How -"

But she couldn't finished as to Lily's surprise and to many people around her Slughorn pulled her into a hug. She smiled and hugged him back despite her confusion; she shrugged at Severus over his shoulder who nearly laughed at her predicament. Slughorn soon let go and left, but not before clapping James on the shoulder. Lily wrapped her arms around James's neck and lent her head of his shoulder looking across his chest at the door forgetting that Snape was sitting just beside her. But if she had known she wouldn't care; James was her husband after all. Snape, however, frowned at the contact.

"Lily?" a voice asked, a voice which made Snape's frown turn into a scowl. "Is that you?"

Lily let go of her husband and turned to see Petunia Dursley looking at her nervously at her, wringing her hands together. Lily smiled at her sister her confusion about Harry leaving her for the moment, she smiled even more when Harry came over and gave his aunt a hug, thinking maybe Petunia changed- she was in a wizard house after all.

"How are you?" he asked with a fond smile.

"I finally divorced Vernon," she said smiling, her voice strong with pride.

Harry and Lily stared at her.

"Thank god," they said together. Petunia smiled as did James while Harry and Lily laughed. Severus, if possible, frowned even more.

"We can catch up later, Aunt Petunia, I want to know about this. I'll leave you and mum," Harry smiled but gave her a look which clearly said 'apologise'. She nodded.

"Okay Harry, Dudley's over there by the way," she pointed to a man with blond hair standing in a corner looking lost with a black haired woman clutching at his side. Harry smiled and walked over to him, taking his father with him.

"Lily," Petunia began once Harry and James left not noticing Snape. "I'm so sorry for how I acted to you, I was jealous and I let that jealously get the better of me. I've been feeling so bad about your death and how I acted and upset that I'd never be able to make it up to you but now I can. Please, Lils, can we start again?"

Lily hugged her sister, who relaxed after a while and hugged her back, much to Snape's displeasure and disappointment: he'd never liked Petunia.

"Of course, Tuney," Lily said, smiling as she used her old nickname for her sister.

"Harry used to call me that," Petunia laughed and reminisced for her sister. "When he was little, he'd call me Auntie Tuney because he couldn't do the 'Pe' or he just didn't want to I don't know but it was adorable."

Lily laughed a bit sadly, Petunia heard it and wrapped her in a hug again.

"He's a great man, Lils," she said. "He really is, you should be proud of him - not that I know half the things he's done."

"Well he's telling us next week," Lily replied smiling. "Why don't I see if you and Dudley can come?"

"Would you?" Petunia asked actually really interested. "He may not say yes though, we didn't have a very could relationship until he was 17-18. He may not want to tell me and Dudley."

"Really, Potter, wasn't papered at home," Snape couldn't help but mutter.

"Quite the opposite, _Professor_," Harry said, coming up behind his aunt. Lily frowned at her friend's behaviour. "And it'll be fine, Aunt Petunia. You and Dudley would be welcome, you're my aunt; you have a right to know."

She smiled at him and he smiled right back, no sign of any mischievous in his eyes which she saw so much in his childhood.

"Welcome at what?" Dudley asked as he had been standing with his cousin the whole time, James had gone to see some old friends from school but the woman was standing just beside his elbow looking around in fascination. Her name was Sophia Merrywide, Dudley's fiancée; they'd been together for a few years and were getting married in the summer.

"To see what Harry's life was like away from us," Petunia answered her son. Lily smiled.


	11. Chapter 10 - Party

"Uncle Harry!" a girl with busy red hair called as she launched herself into his arms and a few minutes later a boy came running over following the girl, he, too, had Weasley red hair. Eventually Hermione and Ron came, obviously trying to catch up with the kids.

"Hello Rose," Harry said to the girl in his arms before putting her on the floor next to her brother. "Hello Hugo."

"Hello Uncle Harry," the boy said grinning.

"Ron, Hermione," Harry greeted. "Good holiday?"

"It was lovely, thank you, Harry," Hermione said hugging him and kissing his cheek, "but you look as though you've been busy."

"He's been working overtime," Ginny said, walking over and hugging Hermione and Ron. "Hello, you lot."

"Hello, Aunt Ginny," Rose and Hugo chorused.

"Over time, mate, really?" Ron said, clapping Harry on the back.

"I'm needed," Harry shrugged. Ron grinned. "Anyway, Ron, Hermione, you remember my aunt and cousin?"

'Yes,' said Hermione stiffening slightly. 'It's nice to see you again.'

"You too," Petunia replied smiling at the younger woman, trying to ignore the coolness she still received from Harry's closest friends.

"And_ Professor _Snape," Harry said still not agreeing with the title.

"Yes," said Hermione trying to keep a frown of her face. "How are you, sir?"

"Just fine, thank you, Miss Granger," Snape sneered, Lily frowned again, Hermione seemed like a charming girl.

"Weasley. Mrs Hermione Weasley," Hermione corrected, Snape nodded.

"These are my parent's, guys," Harry said trying to diffuse the tension by gesturing to Lily and James who were standing awkwardly. James had come back just before Snape was greeted. "Mum, Dad, this is Ron and Hermione Weasley. They're our best friends, along with two others, Neville, who've meet and Luna. Ron's, you might have guessed from the hair is another of Ginny's brother. And these two monsters are Rose and Hugo, their kids"

"We're not monsters, Uncle Harry," Rose complained.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked tickling her and Hugo. They ran away not before Hugo called "Come and get us Uncle Harry." Harry rolled his eyes at their childishness but they were children before Hermione pushed him forward. He chased after his niece and nephew leaving everyone alone.

"Ron, stop staring, it's rude," Hermione scolded hitting her husband. "It's nice to see you again."

"Thanks," Lily said. "It's nice to see you too."

"Ron!"

"Sorry, 'Mione," Ron muttered shaking his head and blinking. "It's just they say Harry looks exactly like his dad - apart from the eyes. I just didn't realize how true it was."

"It's amazing isn't it," Petunia said and Ginny nodded. "I only meet James twice, well three times if you count the funeral. When Harry was at ours before seventh year, I noticed it most."

"We started dating in seventh year," James explained. "I met Petunia at Christmas."

"Second time was our wedding," Lily said, "but you didn't stay long at that."

Hermione, Ron, Dudley and Sophia nodded while Petunia looked sad.

"Well, I better go find where that brother-in-law of mine went with my kids," Hermione said, she frowned thinking but then smiled. "We'll be with you next week by the way as will Ron's parents."

She and Ron then left in search of their kids and Harry, leaving Ginny, Petunia, Lily, James and Dudley with Sophia standing there.

"Ginny!" a blond woman called in a dreamy voice walking over. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Luna," Ginny smiled. "Guys, this is Luna Longbottom, Neville's wife."

"Nice to meet you, Luna," Lily said.

"This is Lily and James Potter, Luna," Ginny said gesturing to them, "And that's Harry's aunt and cousin, Petunia and Dudley Dursley."

"Evans, Ginny," Petunia said, Ginny looked at her. "Me and Vernon are divorced, I'm going back to my maiden name."

"Good," Ginny muttered darkly.

"It's nice to meet you all,' Luna said, "oh and there's Neville."

The brown haired man that had brought Sirius, Remus, Dora, Fabian and Gideon walked over and wrapped his arms around Luna's waist. "Hello everyone," he said. "You must be Harry's family. Nice to meet you, I'm Neville Longbottom."

They all shook his hand and smiled.

"Ginny, have you seen Harry?" he asked a new enthusiasm coming into his voice.

"Yes, he's with Ron and Hermione's kids," Ginny said, before spotting her husband. "There."

"Thanks," Neville said before turning.

"Neville, what is it?" Ginny and Luna asked at the same time.

"My parents have got their memories back, I'm going to bring them in," he said and he glanced at Lily and James before continuing, "but I want to tell Harry, he's the one who knows exactly what this means to me- having my parents back, I mean."

"Oh, this is brilliant," Ginny said smiling brightly a Luna. "Ignoring all our memories, it's like the worst casualty of war isn't a problem anymore."

"Alice and Frank Longbottom?" Lily asked looking worried at the same time James asked, equally worried, "What happened to them?"

"You knew them?" Luna asked in her dreamy state.

"Alice was my best friend," Lily said. "Frank was a year above but we hang out a few times, he spent time with the Marauders sometimes, quite a lot in his last year."

"Marauders?" Luna asked.

"Harry's father, Sirius, Remus and that rat, Pettigrew," Ginny said growling Pettigrew's name. James frowned in anger at Pettigrew: not because he got him killed but because Pettigrew, the man he thought was his friend, got his wife killed and made his son an orphan. It had just been a fact at Hogwarts that you could mess around with James as much as you liked but as soon as you hurt someone he loved the cards were off the table.

"Anyway, what happened to them?" Lily asked desperately.

"They were torched to insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange," Luna sighed. "Thank god your mum killed her, Ginny."

"Molly Weasley killed someone," James asked in shock – he'd forgotten that tidbit of information.

"War," Ginny and Luna stated as an explanation.

Lily and James nodded knowing what they meant: war made people do things you could never expect of them. Petunia, Dudley and Sophia, however, looked confused having never been in the middle of war and wondering how involved in the war everyone here was. People were torched? To insanity? People friends with sweet Lily Evans Potter killed people?


	12. Chapter 11 - The Longbottoms

"Harry!" Neville called catching sight of his friend.

"Hey, Neville," Harry smiled when Neville was close enough for a normal conversation. "I wondered where you were."

"I was just leaving the hospital," Neville started his story, ignoring Harry's statement and Harry nodded knowing that by 'hospital' he meant his parents. "When the nurse came rushing over to me telling me something had happened."

"What?" Harry said nervous. "It was nothing bad, was it?"

"No, no, it was brilliant," Neville grinned and his next sentence was said in awe. "They've got their memories back, Harry.'

"Neville, that's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed but then his smile dropped. "You're positive it's them?"

"Yeah," Neville said not worried in the slightest. "The nurse checked while I was standing there. They're outside in the hall."

"Well bring them in," Harry grinned. "What are you waiting for? Kreacher can put two extra's plates on the table."

"Come with me?" Neville asked seeming more like the nervous school boy Harry had met on the train first year and Harry nodded.

They walked through the crowd answering questions here and there and greeting old school friends. Harry got stopped by Slughorn for a bit and the Patil twins. Neville got stopped by Lavender Brown, who was now Thomas, and Professor Sprout, now no longer Professor. It took them nearly five minutes simply to walk across the hall to the double doors.

When they got out they found a note saying 'We're in the family room' stuck on the wall opposite the door in neat, curly handwriting. Frank or Alice obviously knew their way around but Neville didn't. So Harry led the way through the halls to the family room where they found two people sitting on a sofa talking quietly to each other in their own little bubble.

"Mum, Dad," Neville said. "This is Harry, Harry Potter."

The two people on the sofa looked up. The woman, Alice, had brown hair that was up in an elegant twist, with curled strands at the front, she had a kind, smiling, round face and a petit frame. She was dressed in a sky blue dress the complemented her blue eyes. Frank was in black robes, similar to Hogwarts school robes, his hair was neat and a darker brown than Alice's, he had brown eyes. He was taller and had a more pointed face, which was smiling. They looked at the two boys, before standing up, Alice hugged Harry before speaking.

"Harry, it's nice to see you again," she said but when Harry looked confused she added. "Your mother was my best friend at and after school; you and Neville were always playing together."

Harry and Neville looked at each other in shock before Harry's attention went to Frank who shook his hand and clapped him on the back.

"You look way to much like your father," he said laughing. "It's creepy."

"It's nice to meet you….again," Harry said smiling. "Everyone's in the 'ball room'. Mum, Dad and the rest of the Marauders, -"

"Oh dear," said Alice. "All of them together? In the same room?"

"Not the rat," Harry and Neville said, but at Neville's parent's confused look, Harry spoke alone. "Peter Pettigrew was the reason my parents died."

"It'll be fine, Al," Frank said although he looked a little worried and angry.

Harry smiled at them before leading the way to the ball room, everyone was still catching up with those who'd been dead or that they hadn't seen in a while. Ginny was with Luna at a table, both families of kids playing near them. Lily and James were talking with Petunia although James didn't look very happy doing so near Ginny. Harry caught Neville's eye and gestured with his head over to them, Neville nodded and they went over.

"Ginny!" Harry called at the same time that Neville called Luna.

Both woman looked up from their conversation and smiled at their husbands and the new comers. Lily, James and Petunia looked up at Harry's voice smiled at him before turning back to their conversation. Or at least the meant to, as they looked away their eyes caught onto Alice and Frank standing just behind Harry and Neville. So when Petunia looked down, not knowing them, James and Lily kept looking up.

"Alice!" Lily exclaimed, wrapping her friend in a hug.

"Lils!" she laughed. "Although, I've have no memories of the last 34 years. I still feel like I missed you so much."

When they let go of each other which was after a while of patting and swaying Alice went to hug James and Lily Frank. The men had already greeted each other in a manly hug and their greetings from the women were completely different. Alice kissed James cheek and hugged him, and Lily did the same but she hugged Frank, hard, and then kissed his cheek when she pulled back. Harry and Neville looked at each other smiling.

"Mum, Dad," Neville said.

"Yes, dear?" Alice asked.

"This is my wife, Luna," Neville said, as Luna stood up, he wrapped an arm around her. "Luna, these are my parents - with memories."

Luna smiled at the differentiation for she had meet Alice and Franks before. She and Neville visited the hospital at least once a month and sometimes she would go on her own while Neville was at work.

"Hello," Luna said, her dreamy peaceful voice barely being heard over the ever louder crowd. Alice didn't bother saying anything, she just hugged her as did Frank. "These are our kids Alice and Fiona they're seven. Fiona was my mum's name, she died when I was little."

The kids stood up at the sound of their names and came over to their parents; Neville picked Fiona up and put her on his shoulders while Little Alice took her mums hand. Alice smiled at Neville when she heard the name, her eyes watering up.

"Kids these are your grandparents," Neville said. "Alice and Frank Longbottom."

"Hi," they said together.

"I'm Alice," Little Alice spoke alone now. "And that's Fiona."

Alice and Frank smiled at her grateful for the distinction, luckily they weren't identical twins. Alice had mousy brown hair and brown eyes while Fiona had brown hair and blue eyes, both of them had the same odd air as the mother but it seemed tinted by an angelic one.

After a while of talking with her family, Alice looked at the ones who her grandchildren had been playing with before they had come.

"Neville, who are they?" she asked. Neville looked to where she was looking.

"Oh, they're the Potter kids," he said smiling. "I'm the godfather to the girl, and Luna's godmother. They're Harry's kids. Cute lot, they call us aunt and uncle although we're no blood relation"

"Family's more than blood, Neville," Ginny said, stopping on her way to her kids. She smiled at Alice. "I'm Ginny Potter, by the way, Harry's wife. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Alice said smiling at her. "I take it you know us."

"We've meet briefly," Ginny said shortly with a glance at Neville.

"So what are their names?" Alice asked gesturing to the Potter kid's who were coming this way.

"The girl," Ginny started "is Lily Luna, she's our youngest. The younger boy is Albus Severus and the eldest James Sirius - which I'm starting to think, was a mistake."

"So they're named after people, you know?" Frank said coming over just in time to hear the introduction.

"Well after dead people - apart from Luna," Ginny said. "People who're important to me and Harry or saved Harry during the war - Severus. Dumbledore was like a grandfather to Harry, it seemed fitting."

Soon the Potters and Longbottom's were chatting or playing in the kid's case. Harry, Lily and James had come over. The conversation moved from the grandparents' school days, to Neville, Luna's and Ginny's - the least deathly parts - Harry joined in at a few points. Then to families and work, eventually everyone was told to sit down to eat.


	13. Chapter 12 - Roxanne

After everyone had eaten a meal made by the house elves in the kitchen who were treated with kindness. There were table's going down the hall in long lines rather like in the Great Hall. On Harry's there was his family, the Lupins, the Longbottom's, the Weasleys (who took up nearly half the table) and some others. Sirius and Snape, to the annoyance of both of them. Ron was a bit annoyed; having hated Snape so much he couldn't forgive him, even if Harry and Hermione had.

The music came on once they finished eating, Harry led Ginny on to the floor with Neville and Luna and they were soon followed by Lily and James. Remus and Dora then joined them, with Alice and Frank. Soon most of the couples were on the floor, Dudley and Sophia included. A few minutes later it ended to a fast song where most of the kids and teenagers ran on for and when that finished a medium speed song. Lily Luna dragged her father on the dance floor and stood on his feet. Harry spun her a round and moved his feet around, Ginny laughing at his bad dancing skills with his daughter but Lily Luna seemed to be having fun. Lily and James were watching their son dance with his daughter with amusement.

Remus and Dora were watching Teddy dance with Bill Weasley's eldest daughter Victoire, which meant victory, Harry had told them, it was fitting to as her birthday was the day of Voldemorts defeat. The two teenagers were laughing at their attempts to dance.

"That's his girlfriend," Ginny told them sitting next to Dora. "They've just started going out."

Soon the two laughing teenagers came and sat next to them. When the song finished Victoria got up to go with her parents but before she left she kissed Teddy's cheek making him and his hair go red. Remus and Dora had to stifle their laughter.

There were still a few people sitting and talking mainly the dead and a few family members. Most, however, were dancing and laughing. There were drinks going around the room so people like Sirius were getting steady drunker but luckily nothing got out of hand.

Snape sat in the corner most of the time his eyes focused on Lily with a frown but sometimes his eyes flickered to Lily Luna, who except the eyes looked like a young Lily Evans. Lily, however, didn't notice her old friends eyes on her but her husband did. James noticed Snape watching her and it made him realize that, even after all these years, he still loved her as much as he did in school and it didn't make James a very happy man. Lily felt him tense up and asked him what was wrong which drew his attention away from Snape and back to her, he smiled and told her nothing was wrong, assuring her he was fine. _Honesty may be the best policy but not about something like thi_s, James thought.

Eventually Sirius got so drunk that James and Harry had to escort him to his room and were about to come back when they heard someone crying in a room next to the ball room. They looked at each other before opening the door, crouched against the furthest wall from the door, was a small figure. She had red hair, obviously a Weasley, but it wasn't Ginny or Rose or Molly so James was a loss. Harry edged closer with James following little behind. When they got close enough Harry realized that it was Roxanne, George's daughter.

"Get George," Harry whispered to James. "She's his daughter."

James nodded and exited the room leaving Harry and Roxanne alone. Harry took another step towards her and crouched down. She lifted her head and he saw tears running down her face, Harry wiped her face with his thumbs smiling but looking worried.

"Roxie, sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked. She just shook her head. "Roxanne, my dad's gone to get yours, all right?"

She nodded and knowing how private his niece was Harry sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around. Shifting slightly she wrapped hers around his waist and buried her head in his robes, Harry tightened his grip around her and gently rocked from side to side, knowing it would do know good to speak. A few minutes later George and his wife, Angelina, came in.

"Roxanne?" Angelina called through the room. "Harry?"

"We're at the back," Harry muttered. "Lumos."

The room bighted in the blue-ish light of Harry's wand. George and Angelina came rushing over to their daughter, Angelina taking her daughter from Harry.

"What's wrong?" George mouthed over his wife's head.

Harry shrugged before smiling slightly and leaving. He heard George mutter the same spell to give them some light as he shut the door.

"Nox," Harry whispered before stowing his wand in his robes, by his chest, and entering the ball room. James and Ginny were waiting for him just inside the door both looking worried.

"Is she alright?" Ginny asked concerned for her neice shinning in her voice.

"I don't know," Harry said shaking his head. "She wouldn't tell me, she seemed to want George, though, so maybe."

"Yeah," Ginny sighed as Harry trailed off. "She's probably not feeling well, she's been ill a lot recently remember?"

Harry nodded after a while George came in. Harry went over to him, a questioning look on his face.

"They're going home," he said. "She's feeling really sick. Have you seen Fred?"

"Which one?" Ginny asked coming up behind Harry. "Is Roxanne alright?"

"She will be," George said. "They're going home now, get her in bed. I'm supposed to say goodbye for us and get Fred home as well."

"Okay," Ginny hug him tightly. "Give her a hug and kiss from us. The families all over there, both Fred's included."

"Thanks," he smiled at Harry before walking towards the family.

"Poor, Roxie," Harry sighed. "I hope she gets over this."

"What's wrong with her?" James asked.

"She's got this illness, it makes her feel sick and weak," Ginny said sadly before turning frustrated. "We don't even know what it is so we can't find a solution, magic or muggle. It's not life-threatening, thank merlin."

Harry ran his hand through his hair which made James laugh. Ginny and Harry looked at him in shock, confusion and annoyance.

"No, no, no, sorry," he said, realizing what they thought. "It's just; don't let your mother catch you doing that, Harry."

"Why?" he asked confused, his hand frozen in his hair.

"It annoys her so much," James said still laughing. "Although you may be fine. You could do nothing wrong in her eyes when you were younger."

"You as well, James," Lily said coming up behind him. "You couldn't discipline him to save your life."

Ginny and Harry laughed. They were bit different to Harry and Ginny. They were fine disciplining the kids: Ginny could yell nearly as loud as her mum, Harry, however, took the calm route. The kids weren't sure which they hated more. When their father disciplined them, he wasn't angry - he was disappointed and they hated to disappoint him. Their mother was just angry - she could yell for hours on end and destroy their eardrums. Both, however, usually resulted in loss of possessions or not being allowed to go out.

They continued talking for a while before they all went out to circulate. By 11 o'clock Harry had sent any kids at the party to bed as some were falling asleep in their chairs in the spare wing where they'd stay until their parents picked them up the next morning. By the early hours of the morning everyone had gone except the Weasleys, who were staying in the same wing as the children.

Soon Harry and Ginny were left looking at a messy ball room dreading how long it'd take to clean up. Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist and she lent her head on his shoulder

"Go to bed," he said, she looked at him. "I can take care of this, go to bed."

"Harry," she said in her 'you-are-crazy' voice once she felt used often with her husband. "This is going to take years to clean up with two of us I'm not going to leave you to do it yourself."

"Trust me, Ginny. Go to bed," he repeated. Ginny looked at him for a while before heading to bed.


	14. Chapter 13 - Chocolate Addictions

When Ginny woke up the next morning sunlight was streaming through the window and the bad next to her was empty: Harry wasn't back. Idiot, she thought, he's probably in the ball room downstairs sleeping on the floor. She walked down the hall past the dining room to the ball room.

"Mummy!" Lily Luna called from the dining room.

Ginny doubled back on herself and entered the room her daughter called from. Lily Luna was sitting there with her grandparents and honouree family, Teddy wasn't there and nor were James Sirius or Albus or Fred. Ginny frowned.

"Where's the boys?" she asked her daughter, "and your father?"

"I don't know, mum," Lily Luna answered apologetically.

"Has anyone seen Harry or the boys?" Ginny then asked the room.

Everyone shook their heads and Ginny's frown deepened. Lily spoke first after a few minutes of silence.

"Maybe Harry's cleaning the ball room," she suggested with a shrug, "but Fred went home with your family to the Burrow, and the boys may still be sleeping, it _is_ Sunday."

Ginny nodded and left, she stopped at the door. "Happy Easter, by the way. Lily if, and I mean if, I find you father, he has your Easter presents."

"Yay!" Lily Luna exclaimed. "Happy Easter, Mummy! Happy Easter, Grandma, Granddad, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, Auntie Dora!"

"Happy Easter, dear," Lily said, hugging her granddaughter and placing her on her lap. James placed a kiss on her head from his seat next to Lily.

Ginny smiled at the scene before she left. When she reached the ball room and opened the doors she couldn't see Harry anywhere. As she went to turn around when she realized that Harry wasn't the only thing that wasn't in the room. Last night there had been cups, confetti and rubbish covering the floor now everything was spotless and shining as though they had never used the room. Ginny frowned, even with magic that shouldn't be possible, especially not with only one wizard even if they are as powerful as Harry. She then laughed a little and shook her head, it _was_ Harry after all, he seemed to do things most people didn't even think were possible.

"Dad! Come join us," Ginny heard James Sirius voice call.

She looked out of the window towards the lake, James Sirius and Teddy were floating by a tree just beside the lake on their brooms and Harry and Albus still on the ground. Harry looked up, then said something to a nervous looking Albus, before mounting his own broom and taking off, Albus just behind him. Ginny smiled.

"Did you find them?" Lily's voice called from the door.

Ginny turned to see Lily, James, Dora, Remus and Sirius standing in the door way, Ginny nodded.

"They're flying," she confirmed. "Do you know how Harry did this?"

They all looked around in shock at the perfectly clean room before back at Ginny, the boys and Lily shrugged while Dora shook her head and said, 'It's Harry.' as though that was an explanation. Everyone except Lily and James nodded, Harry was unpredictable.

It was around 12 when the boys came in, James, Sirius and Remus had gone to join them. Lily, Dora, and Ginny had spent the time baking with Lily Luna in the massive kitchen, watching the boys out of the large windows. They had played three on three Quidditch at one point. Having a keeper and two chasers on each team - that had been amusing to watch. Trouble was it was very hard to tell which Potter was which, all of them having the same hair and the two kids being about the same height, same with Harry and James. They gave up eventually and just started saying a Potter has done this or that.

"Hello boys," Ginny said as the children and Teddy walked into the dining room covered in mud. They walked round to their seats and were about to sit down.

"I don't think so," Ginny and Lily said, Ginny looking at Albus's hands, who was next to her before speaking alone, "You can have lunch when you've cleaned up."

The boys slouched out of the room and Lily called after them, "and tell your father!"

They nodded their consent and hurried out of the room. Lily and Ginny smiled at each other. A few minutes Harry walked in, he at least was clean. Ginny frowned at him.

"Didn't you tell the boys to clean up before eating?" she asked. Harry looked at her.

'I did,' he said, "but I'm guessing from the look on your face they didn't listen.'

"You're right," Ginny snapped. "They came in here traipsing mud!"

Harry was finding it very hard not to laugh at Ginny's annoyance at her kids; something Lily was quick to notice. She ignored the fact the James and Sirius were trying not to laugh as well and succeeding quite well -they knew not to get on the bad side of a red head.

"I hope you're not laughing, Harry James Potter," Lily said, looking at her son. He quickly turned to her.

"Of course not, mum," he said in a way to innocent voice, "but it's not my fault the kids didn't listen. I'm going to go check on them.'

Lily and Ginny nodded as he left and the two boys snickered. Remus and Dora were just smiling, although it was more of a smirk.

"Hey Ginny," Dora called trying to disuse the situation.

Once Ginny had looked at her she changed her nose into a pigs, Ginny laughed and everyone turned to see what was funny. By the time the boys walked in everyone was in fits of laughter, Sirius had fallen out of his chair, James and both Lily's had tears running down their faces. Ginny had sunk to the floor holding her side and Remus was doubled over in laughter in his chair, holding his side like Ginny was. Dora had stopped changing her appearance to laugh at them all, she soon spotted them.

"Harry," she sang before changing her nose into a duck beak.

Everyone laughed again, Ginny begging her to stop. A while later everyone was begging her to stop.

"Dora, Dora," Harry panted. "That's enough, please."

Dora looked around at them all before a smirk appeared on her face and she changed again.

"Mum!" Teddy laughed and gasped. "Stop it. We like breathing!"

She took one looked at her son who was on the floor leaning against Harry with tears of laugter running down his face and changed her nose back to normal. It took everyone nearly half an hour to calm down, Dora sitting there looking at everyone in amusement.

"Happy Easter, everyone," Harry said once he had calmed down enough.

"Did you forget Harry?" Ginny asked.

"No," he said seemingly affronted that she thought he would. "Every time I tried I got distracted. By duck-faced Lupins or annoyed wives and mothers."

Everyone laughed and while Lily and Ginny blushed Dora just grinned. Harry raised his wand and flicked it without saying any words and four Easter eggs flew into the room landing in front of each kid. They grinned at their father or, in Teddy's case, god-father.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Lily Luna exclaimed which was quickly followed by more.

"Thanks, Uncle Harry"

"Thanks Dad!"

"Yeah, thanks, Dad"

"They're from you-know-who as well," Harry said, gesturing with his head to Ginny.

"How dare you, Harry," Ginny teased. "I'm not a snake face!"

"No, no, you're not," Harry said placing a kiss on her head as he went to sit in his seat. "Well, what are you waiting for kids?"

"Thanks, Mummy!"

"Thank you, Mum."

"Thanks, Mum!"

"Thank you, Aunt Ginny."

"You're welcome," Ginny said laughing as they all talked over each other. Harry, Lily and James were laughing as well, the rest were smiling.

Teddy had soon opened his and was eating at a rapid speed. The adults were watching him with amusement.

"Hey, hey, Ted, slow down," Harry laughed. "There won't be any left!"

Teddy just nodded his head but kept eating at the same speed, Harry rolled his eyes and staged whispered to Dora, "We think he has a chocolate addiction". That made Teddy look up.

"I don't have a chocolate addiction, Uncle Harry!" he disagreed strongly.

"Yes you do," the kids chorused.

"I think Remus does too," Dora stage-whispered to Harry.

"I do not!" Remus argued.

"Really?" James said, reaching into Remus's pocket to pull out a few chocolate frogs. "How do you explain this then?"

"It's Easter, Prongs!"

Teddy had stopped eating his chocolate to watch his father's exchange with his school friend.

"Moony," Sirius said seriously joining in. "I've never seen you without chocolate in your pockets!"

"Shut up, Padfoot!" Remus said, frowning.

"You had chocolate at the ready on the train in third year," Harry pointed out.

"And Remus," Ginny said, "even I know you've got a chocolate addiction."

"Me too," said Lily.

"Me … three," added Lily Luna.

"How do know?" Remus asked shocked.

Lily Luna laughed proud of herself. "I didn't! But you just said 'how do you know?' which means you know you do!"

Remus slouched in his seat as everyone else laughed. Teddy went back to his spend eating while the kids ate theirs distractedly as they talked with the adults.

The rest of the day was spent laughing and playing games in the family room - wizard and muggle. Ron and Hermione dropped in for a little while with theirs kids to swap Easter eggs. As did Molly and Arthur. Owls came from all the Weasley siblings and Ginny sent eggs back. A few friends even dropped in with their kids, Luna and Neville with his parents, Dean and Lavender. Dudley sent his presents for the kids with the owl Harry had sent - on Dudley's request.

By the end of the day, the kids had piles of Easter eggs or bunnies, some from complete strangers, but they didn't care. Ginny and Harry were a bit worried, there were some people who didn't like Harry and would do anything to get back at him for all the Death Eater arrests and of course Voldemort. Lily, however, put a charm on the presents to check whether there was anything on them which let Ginny and Harry relax a bit more but not completely - there was some Dark magic which wasn't traceable. Before bed, the kids had to have a shower to get rid of all the chocolate on their faces or in their hair; they were four chocolate-smeared kids.


	15. Chapter 14 - The First Memories

"Good morning, everyone," Ginny said as she walked in to the dining room the next morning.

She got a muddle of tired good mornings but there was one voice she would know was missing in a crowd, no matter what size - Harry. She sighed.

"I can't believe I'm asking this again, especially the morning after," Ginny sighed again. "Where's Harry?"

Everyone frowned.

"You mean, he's not still sleeping?" Lily asked. "We assumed you two were having a lie in."

"Mummy and Daddy never lie in," Lily Luna said oblivious to anything wrong.

"Maybe he's at work," James suggested.

"He has the week off," Ginny reminded him, "to tell you about his life…"

"Maybe he's chickened out," Sirius laughed.

"Harry Potter, chicken out!" Dora exclaimed. "The first for everything!"

"Padfoot, are you crazy or stupid?" Remus said. "The only thing Harry's scared of is fear."

"How can you be afraid of fear?" Sirius asked frowning. "And I'm not stupid or crazy."

"Never mind, Sirius," Lily said sighing. "I don't where he could be then, Ginny. He'll be in the manor, somewhere."

"He'll come back," Ginny said as she sat down still frowning. "I just worry - there's still a few people after him."

"He's a fully trained Auror," James reminded her softly.

"Ginny, Harry can take care of himself," Remus said gently. "You worry too much. How many times have we told you that in the few days we've been 'alive'?"

"Ginny," Dora said hesitantly, understanding more than the men seemed to. "I know you lost him once, but this isn't war anymore. There's nothing and no one that could stop Harry, _Harry_, coming back to his family."

Ginny smiled while everyone who didn't know Harry's seventh year or what should have been his seventh year, frowned, wondering why happened to make Ginny lose Harry: they were perfect.

"Thanks, Dora," Ginny said still smiling. "You're right, Remus, I worry too much. We're not at war, not anymore."

About half an hour later Harry came into the dining room when most were just finishing their breakfast.

"Sorry, I'm late" he said sitting down.

He seemed very reserved this morning, almost upset or unhappy, everyone frowned he'd been so happy recently. It reminded Sirius of the annoyed Harry he'd known, the one that no one believed, the one who was frustrated and had a short temper. As upsetting as this was to see that Harry back, Sirius couldn't help but not let his frown turn up a bit - it was nice seeing the Harry he'd known, to know that that was the same person. Remus wasn't happy in the slightest to see that Harry, he'd loved seeing the Harry he'd taught, the happy one, the kind of carefree one. It seemed like the war Harry was at breakfast and that made no one happy even if, like Lily and James, they didn't know it was war Harry.

"Daddy?" Lily Luna asked him. "Do you know you haven't been to breakfast on time since they returned?"

Harry frowned thinking, "You're right," Harry said. "I'm very sorry, I can't help it – it's nothing to do with you lot."

There was the sign of a grin at the end of his sentence.

"Harry," Ginny said, smiling at her husband from her end of the table hoping to stop him before he slipped to far into his old war self. "You don't need to, can't, help everyone."

Harry smiled at her.

"But I can try," he said before his smile was wiped of his face to be replaced with a self-hatred look and guilt. When he spoke again, you could hear that guilt in his voice, "I caused a load of mess, Gin. The least I can do is try and fix it."

Everyone in the room frowned, except the kids who weren't really listening. Ginny, knowing what her husband was talking about, got up and walked around the table wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. He leaned back into her embrace. She sighed before speaking; he was back to his war self.

"Harry Potter," she began slowly. "You are an idiot, a hero, a tragedy and the man the whole world is in debt to. No, don't you dare say anything, don't you dare disagree with me. You did not cause any mess, Voldemort did. If you think you could have turned yourself in sooner or figured it out faster and less would have died, less would have been hurt, less would have been lost - you're wrong. Harry, that can't be expected of you. You were a kid, a teenager, barely older than Teddy is now; you couldn't be expected to do what it took people, even Dumbledore, years to do. People's deaths weren't your fault; they were fighting for what they believed in. You and the light. Right Remus, Dora?"

They nodded as she looked at them for back up. Lily, James, and Sirius frowned wondering what Harry had done. Stupid nobility, Lily and Sirius thought, Lily was thinking both think about how James must have passed it on to his son and Sirius remembering the teen Harry he'd known, willing to risk everything, even his own life. Lily was also remembering the first time she'd seen his eyes in the Auror office and how they looked too old for their age; she was getting worried about his life and what he saw. What she now would have to see him go through.

The kids still weren't listening, something Harry and Ginny were glad about, they weren't aware of the rising tension.

"There was nothing you could have done, nothing at all. You couldn't have protected everyone, it just wasn't possible. People believed in you, love, and you did better than anyone could have expected."

"I brought the people I cared about into danger!" said Harry.

"Hermione and Ron made their own choice," Ginny continued. "Hermione would have been in danger anyway. Me and Ron? We're part of the biggest blood-traitor family there is - we'd be in danger as well, no matter what. They choose to support their best friend, rather than hide and let you get yourself killed, on a mission way too big for you, even too big for the golden trio - although you did brilliantly and don't ask about the 'golden trio' thing. They knew what they were getting themselves into -"

"Only because I put them in danger before," Harry said even frowned again before Harry remembered what Ron had said in the tent. "Ron wasn't so sure once we got out there."

Ginny continued as though Harry hadn't said anything – Ron was an idoit. "As for Neville and me and Luna, Dumbledore Army, we made our choice, Harry, we chose you and the light side. Neville was right: it gives people hope when other people stand against what's wrong, what's cruel. You were the best at that, with Umbridge, the Ministry, Voldemort, his Death Eaters, Malfoy, Snape, the list goes on, love. It wasn't your fault - now get that through your thick skull." James and Sirius nearly smirked as Ginny hit Harry's head, as though pushing the message in, but the atmosphere was too tense and them too curious. "Ignore the names, ignore the whispers, ignore it all, don't be the boy-who-lived or the chosen one, or the reason it's over, be Harry because that's who we all love."

She kissed his cheek gave him a stern but loving look and went to go back to her seat. Harry's arms, however, having a different idea wrapped around her waist and pulled her on to his lap.

"Thanks," he whispered in her ear his was breath tickling her. "I needed that."

"Any time, love" she whispered back smiling. She kissed him properly before standing up. "Now eat. I don't what you've been doing but you really should eat before you do whatever it was."

Harry nodded and saluted her, "Yes, love."

Sirius and James did smirk now as Ginny went back to her seat to finish her own breakfast. There were a few looks between everyone else and shrugs before they too started to finish their food- they'd find out soon enough, probably not today but by the end of the week. They were just glad to see the Harry they'd known back as he shovelled food into his mouth and laughed with Teddy and Lily Luna.

"Harry, dear," Lily said, he looked up from his food to meet her eyes. "When are we going to start, um, catching up?"

Harry waited until he'd finished his mouth full before speak, "Um, when do you want to start?"

"As soon as possible," Sirius answered for her.

Harry looked around and saw everyone nodding. He then looked at Ginny who gave him a look that clearly said 'this is up to you.' He sighed, taking another mouthful of food while looking one more at everyone's faces before nodding his consent. "Fine, we'll start after Ginny drops the kids of at -?"

"Percy's," she supplied.

"But Dad," James Sirius moaned now listening. "Can't we stay?"

"No," Harry said quickly and sternly which made it very clear that this was not debatable. "Absolutely not."

Teddy, however, lightly elbowed him and raised an eyebrow. Harry shrugged in response and looked pointedly at Remus who had permently taken up the seat next to his son. Teddy knew that meant that his godfather was fine with him staying if his parents said it was okay. Teddy then elbowed his father, lightly, and raised his eyebrow again, Remus nodded but then looked at Harry and back to Teddy again, who nodded that Harry was fine with it. When Remus nodded again, Teddy did a silent little jig which made it hard for Harry and Remus not to laugh.

"It's not fun, Ted," Harry whispered, so only Teddy and Remus could hear. "You know that from the basic things I told you over the years."

Teddy shrugged not bothered and Harry rolled his eyes at his godson before turning back to his breakfast. When the kids and Ginny had finished, she quickly took them to Percy's by Floo Powder and met the adults and teen in the family room.

Many people were doing this - telling their family about their pasts, things they had missed. But they, unlike Harry, were not Head Auror and so didn't have the access to them same equipment. Harry sent an owl to Petunia, Hermione and Molly - he would have used the muggle postal system for his aunt but this was quicker - before pulling a silver dish-like object out of a secret hole. Everyone's eyes except Ginny's and Harry's widened at the sight of the pensieve: they were rare.

The owl from Petunia was back after an hour or two, of which everyone, except Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had arrived very quickly with Molly and Arthur, were getting very impatient in, with a note. Harry opened it;

_Harry,_

_Dudley and I are on our way it won't take too long to get there, but the time you get this we'll probably be half way there, if not more. Thank you so much for allowing this._

_Aunt Petunia_

It was true, Petunia and Dudley were there quarter an hour later. They were quickly greeted before settling down on one of the over large sofas. Harry, Ron and Hermione now getting very nervous, with all they did, they'd be lucky to be alive at the end of the week.

"We'll where are we starting," Petunia asked suddenly very nervous about it all as well.

Harry winked at her before speaking, "First year," he said and she relaxed but looked confused. "Nothing really interesting happened happens until then, right Aunt?"

"Yes, he's quite right," she said to everyone catching on. "Life was very boring, very simple, very normal."

Everyone nodded their approval, Sirius and James not really wanting to see, as they knew they were now doing, life in a muggle house. Ron, Hermione, Remus, Dora, Molly and Arthur frowned, knowing that Harry had a very different up bringing than most, that would defiantly interest Lily and James, at least, if not Sirius, but they said nothing. Ginny, however, smiled knowing what her husband was doing.

"Where in first year, Harry?" Hermione asked smiling.

"The train," Harry said with a glance at Ron who grinned widely.

Harry raised his wand to his temple and concentrating on the memory he pulled his wand away. As he did, a silver line followed it when the memory finished it dropped and hung from the wand; Harry laced it in the pensieve. He then gestured to Ron to go in. Hermione went after Ron, then Molly, Arthur and so on until only Harry and Petunia were left in the room.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him.

"No need to ruin your friendship with mum, I'll edit the memories so they don't give anything away" he said. "Go before they get suspicious."

She hugged him before copying what everyone else had done and went in, Harry followed quickly behind her.

The scene Harry saw, when he arrived and joined everyone else, was an eleven year old Harry trying to heave his trunk on the train with George standing next to him calling for Fred. Lily was trying to get a good look at his eyes and was glad to see that they seemed right.

_"__Oi, Fred, c'mere and help!"_

_With the twins' help, Harry's truck was tucked away in the corner of the compartment_

_"__Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes._

_"__What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar._

_"__Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you-?"_

_"__He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry._

_"__What?" said Harry._

_"__Harry Potter," chorused the twins._

_"__Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."_

_The two boys gawped at him and Harry felt himself go red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating through the train's open door._

_"__Fred? George? Are you there?"_

_"__Coming, Mum."_

With one last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

Harry sat down next the window where, half-hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief/

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

_The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose._

_"__Mum – geroff." He wriggled free._

Hermione tried very hard not to laugh at her eleven year old husband and Ginny her brother. James and Sirius as always were smirking though James knew this feeling – his mum had been the same.

_"__Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins._

_"__Shut up," said Ron._

_"__Where's Percy?" said their mother._

_"__He's coming now."_

_The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into hiss billowing black Hogwarts robes and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it. _

_"__Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves –"_

_"__Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise "You should have said something, we had no idea."_

_"__Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"_

_"__Or twice –"_

_"__A minute –"_

_"__All summer –"_

_"__Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect._

_"__How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins._

_"__Because he's a Prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term – send me an owl when you get there."_

_She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins._

_"__Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me – you've blown up a toilet or –"_

_"__Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."_

_"__Great idea though, thanks, Mum."_

_"__It's not funny. And look after Ron."_

_"__Don't worry; ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."_

_"__Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it._

_"__Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"_

_Harry leant back quickly so they couldn't see him looking._

_"__You know that black-haired boy who was near us on the station? Know who he is?"_

_"__Who?"_

_"__Harry Potter!"_

Harry heard the little girl's voice.

"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum oh please …"

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

_"__Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there – like lightning."_

_"__Poor _dear_. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get on the platform"_

_"__Never mind that, do you thing he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"_

_Their mother suddenly became very stern._

_"__I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."_

_"__Alright keep your hair on."_

_A whistle sounded._

_"__Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered on to the train. They leant out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and their younger sister began to cry._

_"__Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."_

_"__We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."_

_"_George_"_

_"__Only joking, mum!"_

Nobody had spoken during the memory all of them watching what was happening. Although, Ginny had hit him for actually showing it. She was bright red which was making it extremely difficult for Harry not to laugh; Sirius and James were having a hard time as well.

"Did you ever get it?" Sirius asked Ginny grinning.

"It went to somebody who needed it more," Ginny said with a small glance at Harry that no one noticed.

"Tuney, where were you?" Lily asked her sister, she had been wondering why Vernon or Petunia hadn't helped Harry with his trunk.

"Vernon refused to come," Petunia lied smoothly from years of practice. "I tried, didn't I, Harry? But I wasn't strong enough."

"I love those twins," James and Sirius said laughing while Lily smiled at her sister.

"Really, Molly," Remus said. "You should know better than to give pranksters ideas, especially Fred and George.'"

"I know," she sighed, Arthur laughed although it was slightly frustrated.

"Remus, you can't talk," Dora laughed. "You were a Marauder."

"Yes but he was the brains," Harry said laughing.

"Yeah, h - Hey!" James and Sirius said.

Everyone laughed before Dudley turned to Harry, "what's next?" he asked.

Harry blanched his eagerness before he sighed, "well that was before the train, so me and Ron becoming friends, okay, mate?"

Ron nodded and Harry removed the first memory and replaced it with another.

Before they left, Lily thanked Molly for making her boys not ask Harry any questions. Once they were in they saw an eleven year old Ron sticking his head through a compartment door, Harry was sitting in there. Harry and Ron smiled as the memory started;

_"Anyone sitting here," he asked, pointing to the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."_

_Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose._

_"Hey, Ron."_

_The twins were back._

_"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."_

_"Right," mumbled Ron._

_"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley, and this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."_

_"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them._

_"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out._

_Harry nodded._

_"Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and Georges jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got – you know …"_

_He pointed to Harry's forehead._

_Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightening scar. Ron stared._

_"So that's where You-Know-Who -?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember anything."_

_"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly._

"I told you not to ask," Molly exclaimed looking at Ron and speaking for the first time in a memory.

"Technically you told Fred and George," Harry and Ginny said before looking at each other and laughing with everyone else.

_"Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."_

"That's still way too much," Lily said saddened while everyone else nodded except Petunia and Dudley who weren't sure on what the green light signifies. It seemed like now that one person had spoken everyone else was going to.

_"Wow," said Ron, he sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out the window again._

_"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry._

_"Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."_

_"So you must know loads of magic already."_

_"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"_

_"Horrible – well, not all of them. My Uncle is, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."_

_"Five," said Ron. For some reason looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was Head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat."_

"Oh, Ron," Molly sighed, she had never thought about how her youngest son was affected by it all.

"You're your own person, son," said Arthur. "You just do your best and we're proud of you."

_Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep._

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Remus all growled at the rat, while the rest looked at them in shock and confusion.

_"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."_

"It skips a bit here," Harry said with a small glance at his aunt and cousin.

The memory continued on as there was a great clattering and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door.

_"Anything off the trolley, dears?"_

_Harry leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went into the corridor._

_He got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts._

_Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped in on to an empty seat._

_"Hungry, are you?"_

_"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pastry._

_Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there, he pulled one apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."_

_"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pastry. "Go on –"_

_"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much times," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."_

"Ron, dear, you don't need to protect me," Molly smiled motherly as her youngest and his babbling to make sure no one thought badly of her.

_"Go on, have a pastry," said Harry._

"Skipping again," Harry sung. As Molly and Lily smiled at their sons sitting there eating their way through Harry's sweets.

They entered again as three boys entered, an eleven year old Draco Malfoy and his cronies.

_"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on with side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards._

_"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."_

_Ron gave a slight cough, which may have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him._

_"Think my mane's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."_

_He turned back to Harry_

_"You'll soon find out some wizarding families much better than others, Potter. You don't to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."_

_He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it._

_"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks," he said, coolly._

"Atta boy, Harry," James said while Sirius, Remus and Teddy laughed.

_Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks__._

_"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter" he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was best for them either. You go hanging around with riff-raff like the Weasley's and that Hagrid, it'll rub off on you."_

"Idiot," Dora said as they came out of the memory and that started everyone off.

"How dare he!?" Hermione exclaimed

"Who says that to an eleven year old boy about his parents?" Petunia said shocked.

"A Malfoy," Lily answered her sister. "They have a bad reputation. They're big in the wizarding, nearly as big as Potter."

"Isn't that kind of a death threat?" Remus asked, and everyone nodded.

"The Weasley's are far better than you," James was frowning in anger.

"So's Hagrid!" Sirius added.

The Weasley and Harry just sat there in amusement listen to everyone yell about what an idiot Malfoy was. Yeah, he was an idiot, him but and Harry were on talking terms now.

"You should have punched him, Uncle Harry, Ron," Teddy said and finally Harry felt that he should really get around to stopping them.

"Teddy!" Harry and Remus exclaimed.

"Okay, okay," Arthur said standing up from his seat on the sofa. "That's enough. Let's continue shall we?"

Everyone nodded but Harry didn't move toward the pensieve instead he spoke, "there'll be a lot in my life which, trust me, you won't like but you'll have to deal with it and not go crazy, okay? Or we will be here all year!"

Everyone nodded again.

"You two would become friends over food," Hermione laughed and so did Ginny.

"Those two and food," she said still laughing. "We should have known."

Harry and Ron grinned at them while Lily rolled her eyes. Harry went to remove the last memory before replacing it with his fist flying lesson.

_"Broken wrist,"_

Everyone heard Madam Hooch mutter as she leant over an eleven year old Neville. Lily and Molly winced as did Harry, Ron and Hermione

_"Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get."_

_She turned to the rest of the class._

_"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."_

_Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him._

_No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter._

_"Did you see his face, the great lump?"_

_The other Slytherin's joined in._

_"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil._

_"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati."_

_"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."_

_The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up._

_"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch._

_Malfoy smiled nastily._

_"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how_ about – up a tree?"

"What a nasty boy," Petunia muttered.

_"Give it _here_!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt on to his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"_

_Harry grabbed his broom._

_"_No_!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all in trouble."_

_Harry ignored her. He mounted the broom_

"Of course," Lily moaned.

"He never listens to sense," Hermione said shaking her head fondly at Harry, who grinned innocently at her.

_And kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared, air rushed through is hair and his robes whipped out behind him. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron._

_He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. Malfoy looked stunned._

_"Give it here," Harry called "or I'll knock you off that broom!"_

_"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried._

_Harry leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hand and it shot towards Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp turn ad held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping._

_"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save you neck, Malfoy," Harry called._

_The same though seemed to have struck Malfoy._

_"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted_.

"You better not!" Lily and Molly exclaimed. James, Sirius and Teddy had been grinning since Harry had got on his broom Remus and Arthur were smiling widely with Dora. No one felt the need to try calm the two protective women down.

_Malfoy three the glass ball high in the air and streaked back towards the ground_

_Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down – next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball – people screamed – he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and toppled gently on the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist._

_"Harry Potter!"_

"Busted," Sirius, James and Teddy whistled.

Dora groaned and hit Remus who nodded his head sadly. That was his entire fault - silly marauder, Dora thought.

"Bloody Brilliant though," Ron said although he'd seen it once.

_Professor McGonagall was running towards them. He got to his feet, trembling._

_"_Never_ – in all my at time at Hogwarts –"_

_Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously " – how _dare_ you – might have broken your neck –"_

"Exactly," Lily exclaimed. The Quidditch fans rolled their eyes

_"It wasn't his fault, Professor –"_

_"Be quiet, Miss Patil –"_

_"But Malfoy –"_

_"That's _enough_, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."_

_Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left._

"Skipping," Harry said as the scene resumed to Harry and Wood entering a class room behind Professor McGonagall.

_"Out Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys._

_"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found a Seeker."_

"You're joking," James exclaimed both his and Lily's in masks of shock. "But first- years _never –"_

"You sound like Ron," Harry laughed.

_Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight._

_"Are you serious, Professor?"_

_"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"_

_Harry nodded silently._

_"He caught that thing is his hand after a fifty- foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."_

_Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once._

_"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly._

_"He's just a build for a Seeker, too," said Wood. Now walking round Harry and staring at him. "Light – speedy – we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."_

"Nimbus," James and Teddy said immediately.

_"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't been the first-year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. _Flattened _in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks …"_

_Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry._

_"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."_

_Then she suddenly smiled._

_"Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch Player himself."_

"I am and I was." James exclaimed. "You must have been the youngest player in a -"

"Century," Ginny said proudly.

"Could have broken his neck, stupid Quidditch genes," Lily and Molly were still muttering.

All the Quidditch fanes rolled their eyes at the over protective women. Harry grinned at his father while Teddy looked at his godfather in shook although he knew Harry was brilliant Teddy just wondered why he didn't play professionally like Ginny had.

"Why don't you play properly?" James asked voicing Teddy's thoughts.

"I had more important things to do," Harry said cryptically and shortly. "Plus, your daughter-in-law was a professional Quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies."

Everyone who died stared at Ginny in shock.

'"Woo!" James cheered pulling her up from her seat and spinning her around.

Ginny laughed as he spun her again before placing again, she stumbled from dizziness and Harry wrapped an arm around her to keep her steady. She leant into him but was almost immediately pulled away from him into a hug from Sirius. Dora let her stop leaning against people from dizziness to hug her.

"Do you still play?" Remus asked.

"No, I stopped when I became pregnant with Jamie," she said smiling. "I don't miss it though; the kids keep me busy enough."

"So what do you do know?" Dora asked, smiling,

"Nothing," Ginny said.

"Old housewife," Sirius coughed, Harry threw a cushion at him which hit him straight in the face at quite a speed. "New rule: no Head Aurors throwing cushions."

Harry laughed and walked to the pensieve, "you deserved it," he said. "Ginny is _not_ an old house wife!"

"That's what he said!" Ginny exclaimed before she too chucked a cushion at Sirius. It was almost as good as Harry's.

"Good one, Aunt Ginny," Teddy laughed.

"Another new rule," Sirius wheezed trying to get his breath back - Ginny had it him in the stomach. "No wife of a Head Auror can throw cushions."

Harry kissed Ginny before removing the memory from the pensieve. This time placing the meeting of meeting Fluffy in and everyone went in without him saying anything. Neville was tugging on Harry's sleeve;

_"What?"_

_Harry turned around – and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare – this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far._

_They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden_

_They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog which filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellow fangs._

_It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprised, but it was quickly getting over tat, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant._

_Harry groped for the doorknob _

"Oh. My. Merlin!" Molly said looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione in shock.

"What are they doing keeping that in school?" Lily asked incredulously.

"That dog needs exercise," Sirius exclaimed. "I would know!"

"Things like that exist?" Petunia asked looking rather faint.

Everyone looked at her. And Harry with Ginny's help moved her into a sitting position on a sofa. She sat there in shook for quite a while before Ginny took over.

"Kreacher!" she called. There was a bang and the old house elf appeared making Petunia whiten again. "Sorry, sorry!"

"How can Kreacher help, Mistress Ginny?" Kreacher asked.

"Can you get Petunia a glass of water please?" Ginny said, gesturing to Petunia.

Kreacher nodded and disappeared with a loud crack, he was back in a few seconds with a tall glass of water which he handed to Petunia.

"Feels better, Master Harry's aunt," Kreacher said before bowing to Ginny and Harry and disappearing with a crack.

Sirius looked at the place Kreacher disappeared from in shock again. What the hell had Harry done to the elf? Once Petunia had calmed down enough and Harry had changed the memory, they all entered the pensieve again.

_"I've just thought –Hermione."_

_"What about her?"_

_"She doesn't know about the troll!"_

"Troll!" Lily yelled spinning on her son dangerously. "What's a _troll _doing in school?!"

No one answered her so she frowned.

"_Thank you_ for remembering me, Harry," Hermione said glaring at her husband who grinned sheepishly.

"Yes, notice it's not the prat," Ginny muttered to Hermione.

_Ron bit his lip._

_"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."_

_Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick foosteps behind them._

_"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin._

_Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view._

_"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"_

_"Search me."_

_Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps._

_"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand._

_"Can you smell something?"_

"Oh Merlin," Lily whispered as she and everyone else sniffed.

_Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean_

_And then they heard it – a low grunting and the shuffling foot-falls f gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight._

_It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, it great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long._

Petunia screamed at the sight while Molly and Lily started to breathe quickly and heavily. The men who hadn't seen one before gasped.

_The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room._

_"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."_

_"Good idea," said Ron nervously._

_They edged towards the open door, moths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it with one great leap. Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it._

"Yes_!"_

_Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream – and it was coming from the chamber they'd just locked up._

_"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron._

_"It's the girls' toilets!" Harry gasped._

_"_Hermione!"_ they said together._

"You locked it in there with me!" Hermione screeched like a mad woman.

"Sorry," both boys said repeatedly as she hit them. Harry managed to get out the way but then his wife turned on him. Everyone found the scene quite amusing and would have laughed if it wasn't so tense.

_It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around the sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic – Harry pulled the door open – they ran inside._

_Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went._

_"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and seizing a tap he threw it as hard as he could against the wall._

_The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went_

_"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and. threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it._

_"Come on, run, _run_!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror._

"Not the time to freeze, Hermione," Sirius exclaimed worried for his godson and his friends. Harry hadn't told him this but then they hadn't had much time together.

_The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape._

_Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: he took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the trolls next from behind. The couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up it nose, and Harry's wand had still be in his hand when he jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils._

_Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him of or catch him a terrible blow with the club._

_Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand not knowing what he was going to do he head himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "_Wingardium Leviosa!"

_The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over – and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owners head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face with a thud that made the whole room tremble._

_Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had down._

_It was Hermione that spoke first._

_"Is it – dead?"_

_2I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out."_

_He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue._

_"Urgh – troll bogies."_

_He wiped it on the trolls trousers. _

_A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the tree of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashed and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed my Snape, with Quirrell bring up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat down quickly on a toilet, clutching his heart._

"Some teacher," James scoffed.

_Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Harry and Ron. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. _

_"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"_

_Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor._

_Then a small voice came out of the shadows._

_"Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."_

_"Miss Granger!"_

_Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last._

_"I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."_

_Ron dropped his wand. _

"Make friends in normal ways, Harry!" Lily said getting her breath back. "Do you want to give me a heart attack because I don't think I can come back from the dead twice?!"

Petunia looked faint again; Dudley and Teddy were looking at Harry and Ron in shock. Dora and Remus were shaking their heads while Sirius and James were calming down with Molly and Arthur. Hermione hugged her boys, Ginny smiled her brother and husband - they'd do anything for anyone, and Hermione. Harry even gave Voldemort a chance.

"Me and Ron made friends over food," Harry said, giving his mother an example of a normal way to make friends.

"That's a Sirius way," Remus laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked his head snapping up in defence.

"Sorry, Mum, I didn't make friends normally with Ron either," Harry said laughing at Sirius expression. "I did with Neville."

"What about Luna?" Ginny asked and then she thought about it. "Never mind."

Everyone frowned: how had Harry become friends with Luna?

"Let's move on shall we? Hermione – Quidditch" Harry said, not waiting for an answer.

Hermione nodded and replaced the memory and went in after Harry before anyone could ask them anything. When everyone joined them, they frowned at Harry b_e_fore turning to the memory. The memory soon started;

_"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom … but he can't have …"_

_Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from It., holding on with only one hand._

_"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked it?" Seamus whispered. _

_"Can't have," said Hagrid, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."_

_At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd._

_"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced._

_"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape – look."_

_Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath._

_"He's doing something – jinxing the broom," said Hermione._

_"What should we do?"_

_"Leave it to me."_

"What are you going to do?" Dudley asked.

_Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ro turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibration so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell._

"Remind me to thank them," Molly said weakly, Lily and James nodded in agreement.

_Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five time without anyone noticing._

_"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately._

_Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood and was now racing along the behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well chosen words. Bright blue flames shot out her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes. _

'You set him on fire!' James and Sirius yelped happily.

_It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire of him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what happened._

_It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom._

_"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes._

_Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth s though he was about to be sick - he hit the pitch on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into his hand._

_"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion._

'Severus?' Lily asked once they had come out of the memory, she sat on the sofa looking close to tears.

Petunia sat next to her, "I hate to say this -"

"But you always said was something wrong with him," Lily finished for her.

"No," Petunia said, Lily looked up shocked. "I was going to say, I hate to say this, but he must do something good, look at your grandsons name."

Lily laughed, "of course," she said looking happier though still angry and confused. "Thanks Tuney."

"Its fine, Lils," Petunia said, hugging her sister.

"Can we continue, son?" James asked and Harry nodded.

Harry changed the memory. When everyone was inside, the smoke cleared to show Harry, Ron and Hermione standing in front of the forbidden corridor door, they could see them even though they were under the cloak – Harry was speaking.

_"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said "You take the cloak, I won't need it now."_

_"Don't be stupid," said Ron._

_"We're coming," said Hermione._

_Harry pushed the door opened_

_As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them._

_"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered._

_"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."_

_"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes."_

_He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blue. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop._

"That's terrible, Harry," Sirius said trying to break the ice

"Thanks," Harry complained. "But at least it worked."

"How did you find out how to get past it?" Lily asked,

"Hagrid," Harry, Ron and Hermione all said together.

"Of course."

_Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dogs growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground , fast asleep._

_"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the Cloak and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads._

_"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," Ron said, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"_

"Brave Gryffindor, aren't you, Ron?" Sirius joked.

"Shut up," Ron said, his ears going pink.

_"No, I don't!"_

"Hermione," Sirius groaned as though in pain. "You're no Gryffindor either,"

"Shut up, Snuffles," Hermione said.

Sirius huffed at her in annoyance at the name.

_"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor which swung up and open._

_"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously._

_"Nothing – just black – there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."_

_Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed to himself. _

_"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."_

_Garry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep._

"See now, Uncle Harry," said Teddy, smirking at his godfather. "That's music."

"Oh, shut up, Ted," Harry said. 'And wipe that smirk of your face – I don't want you turning into a Marauder."

"Whatever you say, godfather," Teddy laughed, breaking into a wide grin.

Everyone laughed at the exchange except Harry who shook his head but was smiling all the same.

_Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom_

_He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"_

_"Right," said Ron._

_"See you in a minute, I hope."_

_And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and –_

_FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes note used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant._

_"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"_

_Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry._

_"What's this stuff?" were his first words._

_"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"_

_The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side._

_"We must be miles under the school," she said._

_"__Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron._

_"_Lucky_!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"_

_She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist, snake-like tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing._

"Devils Snare," Lily and Remus breathed.

"Tell me one of you pays attention in Herbology!" Lily continued on her own.

_Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant of them, but t the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them._

_"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is – it's Devil's Snare."_

_"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck._

_"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione._

_"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling it as it curled around his chest._

_"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare … What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp. –"_

_"So light a fire!" Harry choked._

"Well done, Harry," Lily said

_"Yes – of course – but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands._

_"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"_

_"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodied and they were able to pull free._

_"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face._

_"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis — 'there's no wood,' honestly."_

_"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward._

_All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts._

_"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered._

_Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead._

_"Do you think it's a ghost?"_

_"I don't know… sounds like wings to me."_

"Youngest seeker in a century!" James said at the confused faces.

_"There's light ahead — I can see something moving."_

_They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door._

_"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron._

_"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once… well, there's no other choice… I'll run."_

_He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms, and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked._

_The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora charm._

_"Now what?" said Ron._

_"These birds… they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione._

_They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering —glittering?_

_"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys — look carefully. So that must mean…" he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "… yes — look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"_

"That won't be too hard then," Sirius laughed. The men, Dora and Ginny nodded in agreement while most of the women rolled their eyes.

_"But there are hundreds of them!"_

_Ron examined the lock on the door._

_"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one — probably silver, like the handle."_

"Very good, son," Arthur said clapping his son on the shoulder; Ron was brilliant when he put his mind to it.

_They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one._

_Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole._

_"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one — there — no, there — with bright blue wings — the feathers are all crumpled on one side."_

_Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom._

Molly shrieked while everyone else winced.

"Were you all right?" Lily asked looking at her son's best friend.

"I was fine Mrs Potter," he said politely which for Ron really was a first.

"Lily," she corrected.

"I… was fine, Lily," Ron corrected himself with a glance at Harry.

"Much better," Lily smiled. "But are you sure you weren't hurt?"

"God, you're as bad as my mum!" Ron exclaimed earning him so cringe worthy glares from the women in question.

_"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above — Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"_

_Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber._

Everyone was cheering as well as Harry caught the key so it mingled with eleven year old Ron and Hermione's cheers making it sound like a small Quidditch match – like they had in the Weasley's orchard.

_They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned – it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice._

_"Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open._

_The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight._

_They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly – the towering white chessmen had no faces._

_"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered._

_"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."_

_Behind the white pieces they could see another door._

_"How?" said Hermione nervously._

_"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."_

_He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron._

_"Do we — er — have to join you to get across?" The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two._

"It wasn't like real wizard chess, was it?" Dora asked anxiously. Harry, Ron and Hermione avoided everyone's eyes but that was answer enough. 'Oh dear, Merlin.'

_"This needs thinking about…" he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces…"_

_Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess —"_

"I don't think that's the problem at the moment, son," Arthur said laughing slightly.

_"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."_

_"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle."_

_"What about you?"_

_"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron._

_The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took._

"This is just creepy," Dora muttered shivering slightly.

_"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes… look…"_

_A white pawn had moved forward two squares._

_Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry's knees were trembling._

_"Harry — move diagonally four squares to the right."_

_Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown._

Lily and Molly had screamed when it happened, both now sure they were correct in their assumptions

_"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."_

_Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones._

_"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think — let me think…"_

_The white queen turned her blank face toward him._

_"Yes…" said Ron softly, "It's the only way… I've got to be taken."_

_"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted._

"No!" everyone echoed even Harry and Hermione although they had already live through this once. Ron watched them with amusement although this wasn't something he wanted to see from their point of view.

_"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I make my move and she'll take me — that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"_

_"But —"_

_"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"_

_"Ron —"_

_"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"_

"Very noble, Ron," Remus said sounding like their teacher again.

_"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go — now, don't hang around once you've won."_

_He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor —_

Molly screamed as she watched her eleven year old son crash to the floor. Tears welled up in her and Arthurs eyes, he held her to him trying to calm her down, whispering things like "he's okay, we know he gets out of this," "this is the past," "we know he fine," "he's right over there."

The memory, however, kept playing.

_Hermione screamed but stayed on her square — the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out._

_Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left._

_The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway._

_"What if he's —?"_

_"He'll be all right," said Harry, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon's next?"_

_"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's."_

_They had reached another door._

_"All right?" Harry whispered._

_"Go on."_

_Harry pushed it open._

_A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head._

"Thank Merlin you didn't have to fight that," Dora breathed.

_I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."_

_He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line._

_"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"_

_They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped._

_"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:_

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

_Three of us are killers, waiting bidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,_

_To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

_Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing._

_"Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic — it's logic — a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic; they'd be stuck in here forever."_

'I would,' most of them muttered.

'You'd be able to work it out, don't you think, Remus?'

He thought about and then slowly nodded. 'If I had to, you could to, most likely.'

Lily nodded and they smiled at each other before turning back.

_"But so will we, won't we?"_

_"Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."_

_"But how do we know which to drink?"_

_"Give me a minute."_

_Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands._

"Well done, Hermione!" Remus said.

Molly and Arthur were beaming at their daughter in law.

_"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire — toward the Stone."_

_Harry looked at the tiny bottle._

_"There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."_

_They looked at each other._

_"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"_

_Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line._

_"You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy — go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."_

"Then why the hell are you going!" Lily exclaimed even though she didn't believe it was Snape.

"Oh, did I miss that part out?" Harry said looking really apologetic and shocked. "I… can't believe I did that. Come out the pensieve."

When everyone was sat one again in the family room, Harry began to pace while everyone's eyes followed him. Eventually, he seemed to make his mind and replaced the memory in the pensieve.

"This will explain hopeful," he said smiling again. "In you go."

Everyone sighed and went once again into the pensieve.

Harry and Ron were sitting in front of the Gryffindor common room fire when the fog cleared and Hermione was rushing towards them;

_"I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."_

_"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said. _

_The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering._

"Oh dear, Merlin, not that look," Lily said. "It's the same look James gets when he's about to do something both stupid and noble."

James and Harry both looked sheepish while everyone else laughed.

_"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the stone first."_

_"You're mad!" said Ron._

_"You can't," said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape said? You'll be expelled!"_

_"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts!"_

Everyone who'd been alive in 1997-8 glanced at each other uneasily which did not go unnoticed by the others.

_"Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the House Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"_

_He glared at them._

"You were always good at speeches like that Harry,' Hermione said grinning slightly. Ginny and Ron nodded their heads in agreements but Harry frowned at them.

"It doesn't sound like he was planning on taking you with him?'" Dora asked changing the subject.

"Oh, he wasn't," Ron said waving his hand as the memory continued.

_"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice._

_"I'll use the invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back?"_

_"But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron._

_"All – all three of us?"_

_"Oh, come of it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"_

_"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone with out us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful …"_

_"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."_

_"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They're not throwing me out after that."_

"Bloody hell!" said Sirius, before being whacked in the head by Ginny for his language.

"How the hell –"

'"Teddy," Harry said sternly. "Language."

"Yes, Uncle Harry," Teddy said quickly before turning back to Hermione. "How did you get that much?"

Hermione smiled at him and shrugged

"Do you understand why we went now?" Harry asked and everyone who wasn't a few minutes ago nodded. "The memory will start where we left off."

_"But Harry — what if You-Know-Who's with him?"_

_"Well — I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."_

"You were counting on luck, Harry," Ginny said faintly. She knew her husband could be stupid at times but sometimes he was pushing things.

"Uncle Harry… your lucks terrible," Teddy said everyone except Lily and James nodded in agreement.

_Hermione's lip trembled, and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him._

_"Hermione!"_

_"Harry — you're a great wizard, you know."_

_"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him._

_"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery and — oh Harry —be careful!"_

"Harry, why haven't you told me this!" Ron exclaimed and everyone looked at him in confusion "Hermione, as in, _our Hermione_, admitted you were better than her!"

Everyone laughed as Hermione hit Ron around the back of the head but she was smiling as well.

_"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"_

_"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end, and shuddered._

_"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously._

_"No — but it's like ice."_

_"Quick, go, before it wears off."_

_"Good luck — take care."_

_"GO!"_

"Anxious to get rid of me Harry," Hermione joked but Harry didn't rise as he once would he just smirked at her before speaking.

"Yeah, you were annoying."

Hermione shook her head fondly at him before hitting him round the head. Harry however had good reflexes and dodged out of the way and grabbed her hand. Everyone laughed as she scolded at him.

_Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire._

_Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames._

_"Here I come," he said, and he drained the little bottle in one gulp._

_He put the bottle down and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flames licking his body, but couldn't feel them — for a moment he could see nothing but dark fire — then he was on the other side, in the last chamber._

_There was already someone there — but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort._

_It was Quirrell!_

"Quirrell?" Lily asked once they were out of the memory.

Harry nodded.

"Why do you almost end up at the most dangerous part alone?" Ron said before realizing what he said - he looked at everyone else.

They all stared at Harry in shock and anger. Lily and James more in anger, Petunia and Dudley in more shock - they'd been so mean to Harry and he suffered at the school he loved as well. Dudley frowned wondering who Cedric was and whether what ever happened to him was one of these situations. He desperately prayed it wasn't or he was even worse that he'd ever realised. Petunia wished she'd been nicer to him so he had a safe, calm, loving atmosphere to come home too, after his bad years, for she knew there was more - he was always covered in cuts when he came home, they never asked about them. What kind of aunt was she?

"This happens again!" James yelled.

"Kind of," Harry said said with a shrug not in least fazed.

James blanched, but Lily spoke for him, "It's a yes or no question, Harry?"

Harry thought for a while, "it's not possible to answer that in yes or no, so I won't answer at all."

Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Arthur smirked while everyone else frowned at him in annoyance. Teddy just accepted it - he'd asked his godfather quite a few times but never gotten more than a short answer, he knew the basics, but now he'd know more.

"Let's go back in there's more to that memory," Hermione said. "It chucked us out because you were too annoyed to listen properly. It does that; you have a temperamental pensieve, Harry."

Everyone nodded before going back into the memory; it started where they had finished off.

_"You!" gasped Harry_

_Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all_

_"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."_

_"But I thought – Snape –"_

_"Severus?" Quirrell laughed and it wasn't his usual quivering tremble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an over grown bat."_

Petunia tried not to laugh but it was a close thing – she let out little snort of laugher which set James and Sirius off.

"Over – grown – bat," Sirius chocked between laughs

"I don't get what's so funny," Dudley said to Harry as Petunia started laughing as well.

2It's just – it's so – so…" James tried to say.

"Fitting?" Ginny suggested trying not to laugh. "Appropriate?"

Harry shook his head and waited for them to calm down, luckily it didn't take long.

_"Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"_

"I can't believe that was fake," said Ron. "It was bloody annoying!"

"Ron!" Molly exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mum."

_"But Snape tried to kill me!"_

_"No, no, no. _I _tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at the Quidditch match."_

"That was brilliant, Hermione!" Teddy said, smiling at her but then he actually saw her. "Are you all right?"

She just shook her head.

_"She broke my eye contract with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before ten if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse trying to save you."_

Lily managed a smile of relief before she looked at Hermione – she'd gone even paler.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked, standing in front of his sister-in-law.

"W-Wh-what if I had come from the other way?" she stuttered shivering as she imagined Harry lying on the floor once she heard Snape yelp.

"It doesn't matter, Hermione," Harry said not sure what else to say. "You didn't go that way; you went the way that knocked over Quirrell. You can't dwell on 'what if's' because they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life – trust me I know."

She numbly nodded and wrapped her arms around him as though checking he was still there. Eventually everyone turned back to the memory.

_"Snape was trying to_ save_ me?"_

_"Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really … he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he_ did_ make himself unpopular … and what a waste, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."_

"No you're not," Lily, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Teddy chorused.

_Quirrell snapped his finger. Ropes sprang out of thin air nod wrapped themselves tightly around Harry._

_"You're to nosy to live, Potter."_

"Well, he has a point," said Remus and Arthur together. Everyone looked at them in surprise.

"No, no, no," Remus chuckled awkwardly, "that's not what we meant - just that he's _so_ nosy!"

Everyone laughed a little as well as Remus explained himself and Arthur.

_Scurrying around the school at Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone.'_

_"_You _let the troll in?"_

_"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls – you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off – and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly._

_"Now, wait quietly, Potter. _

"Not going to happen," everyone except Harry, Lily and James said.

They frowned at how everyone knew their son better than they did – it was fair enough and they were glad– they just upset that they didn't know there son as well as they had planned too. Remus and Dora sometime felt that same way, like when he went to Harry without thinking about it or that his hair changed like it did when he was scared and upset. Both couples just wished they could have been there for their sons even though they were glad they were loved by so many others.

_I need to examine this interesting mirror."_

_It was only then that Harry realized what was standing behind Quirrell._

_"_The Mirror of Erised," Lily breathed in awe.

_"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmur, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this … but he's in London … I'll be far away by the time he gets back …"_

_"I saw you and Snape in the forest –" Harry blurted out._

_"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the Mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me – as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side …"_

"No," everyone breathed again except the golden trio.

_Quirrell came back out from behind the Mirror and stared hungrily into it. _

_"I see the Stone … I'm presenting it to my master … but where is it?"_

_Harry struggled against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give._

_"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."_

_"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heaven, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you _dead._"_

Lily glared at the three Marauders, two who looked down in shame and one who just cringed when it turned to him. Sirius always though Snape deserved whatever the Marauders gave to him. James had long come to regret how he acted towards his wife's old friend. Remus, of course, had never actually done anything – that was the problem he'd never done _anything_. Never tried to stop them or tell them what they did was wrong, no, that always waited until Lily came to Snape's defence and yelled at James about what an 'arrogant toe-rag' he was.

_"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing – I though Snape was threatening you ..."_

_For the first time, a spasm of fear flittered across Quirrell's face._

_"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions – he is a great wizard and I am weak."_

"Yeah, you're weak," said Sirius.

"But Voldemort's not a great wizard," James finished for him.

Everyone smiled at them.

_"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped._

_"He is with me where ever I go," said Quirrell quietly._

"NO!" Lily, James, Molly and Arthur exclaimed. The golden trio and Ginny already knew what happened. Petunia and Dudley were confused and Teddy was trying to figure out how that was possible with his parents.

_"I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no and evil, there is only power, and those to weak to seek it …_

"Rubbish," Lily scoffed to the amusement of everyone.

_Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me … decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me…"_

_Quirrell's voice tailed away. Harry was remembering his trip to Diagon Alley – how could he have been so stupid? He'd seen Quirrell there that very day, shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron._

_Quirrell cursed under his breath._

"_I don't understand … is the Stone inside the mirror? Should I break it?"_

_Harry's mind was racing._

_Harry tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around his ankles were too tight: he tripped and fell over. Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself._

"_What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"_

_And to Harry's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself._

"_Use the boy … Use the boy ..."_

"No!" Lily exclaimed. Everyone else exchange glances. "Leave 'the boy' be!"

_Quirrell rounded on Harry._

_"Yes – Potter – come here."_

_He clapped his hands once and the ropes binging Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet._

_"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see."_

_Harry walked towards him._

_Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban. He closed his eyes. Stepped in front of the Mirror and opened them again._

_He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket – and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow – incredibly – he'd got the Stone._

"How did –?"Arthur trailed off deciding it would be answered eventually,

_"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"_

_Harry screwed up his courage._

_"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I – I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor."_

"Good," said the Marauders. "Believable."

_Quirrell cursed again._

"_Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside he felt the Philosopher's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it? But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips._

"_He lies … He lies …"_

"_Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you see?"_

_The high voice spoke again._

"_Let me speak to him … face to face …"_

"_Master, you are not strong enough!"_

_"I have strength enough … for this …"_

_Harry felt as if the Devils Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, he watch as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. The he turned slowly on the spot._

_Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake._

"Merlin!" James and Arthur exclaimed. Lily, Molly, Hermione, Petunia, Ginny and Dudley screamed. Sirius, Remus, Dora, Ron and Teddy exchanged shocked and terrified glances before their eyes flickered back to Voldemort. Teddy couldn't help drifting closer to his godfather.

"_Harry Potter …" it whispered._

_Harry tried to take a step backwards but his legs wouldn't move._

"_See what I have become?" said the face. "Mere shadow and vapour … I have form only when I can share another's body … but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds … Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks … you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest … and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own … Now .. why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"_

"He knows," Ginny breathed.

_Harry stumbled backwards._

"_Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me … or you'll meet the same end as your parents … They died begging me for mercy."_

"_LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly._

"Atta boy, Harry," Lily and the Marauders said

_Quirrell was walking backwards at him, so that Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was no smiling._

"_How touching …" it hissed. "I always value bravery … yes, boy, your parents were brave … I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight … but your mother needn't have died … she was trying to protect you … Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."_

"My death would never be in vain as long as Harry doesn't die before his time," Lily said firmly while everyone looked at her in admiration

"_NEVER!"_

_Harry sprang towards the flame door, but Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HIM!" and, next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar; his head felt as though it was about to spilt in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him. The pain in his head lessoned – he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers – they were blistering before his eyes._

"_Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck – Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony._

"_Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!"_

_And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his Knees, let go if his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms – Harry could see they looked burnt, raw, read and shiny._

"Yes!" nearly everyone exclaimed nearly laugh with relief.

"_Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort._

The giddy feeling soon disappeared as Voldemort spoke and every one, once again, looked fearful.

_Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face –_

"_AAAARGH!"_

_Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain – his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse._

_Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off – the pain in Harry's head was building – he couldn't see – he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!"_

_He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down … down … down._

"You were dying!" Petunia exclaimed before Lily could open her mouth which was saying something.

Harry just nodded. Lily, Molly, Ginny and Hermione were crying while all their husbands tried to stop their crying. Dora seemed frozen and Remus was trying to get her attention with Teddy's helped. Dudley was in shock with Petunia. Sirius was frozen as well.

"Did you know about this?" James asked Hermione, Ron and Ginny.

They shook their heads but it was Hermione who spoke, still crying. "Madam Pomfrey told us that he wasn't th-that bad and w-would wake up in a few days. We didn't really believe her but w-we didn't think he was that close."

"Hermione," a voice said from the door.

Everyone wheeled around to see the ex-headmistress of Hogwarts Professor Minerva McGonagall standing in the door, her eyes widened as she took in the scene.

"Minerva!" Harry said walking towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see everyone, I didn't make it too the party," she said smiling slightly. "When you weren't in Godrics Hollow, I assumed that you were here. Kreacher let me in."

"Hello, Minerva," Ginny said wiping the last on her tears. "How ar-?"

"Don't bother with the pleasantries, Ginny," Minerva said her smile dropping. "I know what you all want to know."

She hugged Ginny before sitting down on a seat; it was a few minutes before she spoke.

"I knew," she said, everyone looked at her. "Madam Pomfrey told me and Dumbledore how Harry was and I told her not to tell you. So you didn't worry,' she sighed. 'The truth was that if Dumbledore had been even a second later Harry would have died. He was about an inch from death at the age of eleven."

Everyone even stared at her or Harry. All the girls started crying as did Teddy, the men seemed frozen, although they were crying as well, not even able to comfort their wives. Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny and put his hand on Petunia's hand - her's was on top of Lily's who was starting to understand the age in her son's eyes. Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and clutched his shirt as she cried on his chest - his grip tightened on her. Minerva got up and went over to Molly although she had a few tears running down her cheeks. She remembered how many times Harry could have died, in Hogwarts, he was meant to be safe there, nothing was meant to be able to get in Hogwarts that could harm the students - they'd failed in keeping Harry and his friends safe, all students in what should have been his last year. She put her arm over Molly's shoulder and pulled Hermione into her. Hermione went willingly and cried on her old teachers shoulder. There was nothing anyone could do for Teddy or Dudley. Teddy was sitting between James and Remus and was frozen like them – the same sort of thing for Dudley. Eventually Hermione managed to form words.

"Nobody thought - it w-would be a good idea to - to tell me and Ron that our b-best friend was an inch from d-de-death,'" she managed between sobs.

"We didn't want you to worry," Minerva said softly.

"I don't - it would have been - how could - knowing better than -" Hermione gave up trying to speak and just gave in to her cries again.

It was nearly half an hour before the women had stopped crying, the Marauders had unfrozen after about fifteen minutes and had gone to help Harry and Minerva comfort the others, although they shot glances at Harry every now and then as though he would suddenly disappear. Although, Ginny was doing a good job holding on to him so he couldn't.

When everyone was calm again, Minerva caught up with everyone for a while before Flooing back to her home. Soon Harry spoke.

"D-Do you want an explanation or something from Dumbledore?"

Every nodded and Harry replaced the memory before following everyone in.

_Harry blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him._

"_Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore._

_Harry stared at him. Then he remembered. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Dir, quick –"_

"_Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."_

"_The who does? Sir, I-"_

"_Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."_

"I love how she can throw anyone out, even the headmaster," Dora managed to joke and her voice sounded thicker than normal.

Everyone laughed slightly with her. It was quite amusing if you had a strange imagination and could picture weird ways of Madam Pomfrey throwing out someone.

_Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realized he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white lined sheets and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop._

"_Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happen down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows. I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat. No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it." _

"_How long have I been in here?"_

"_Three days. Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."_

"That was an understatement," Hermione and Ron said together.

"I think a more correct thing to say would be out of their minds," Hermione said speaking alone while Ron nodded his vigorously beside her.

_"But sir, the Stone –"_

"_I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on you own, I must say."_

"_You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"_

"_We must have crossed mid-air. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived in time to pull Quirrell off you –"_

"_It was you."_

"_I feared I might be too late."_

"_You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"_

"He means you, you idiot," Ginny said, lightly smacking her husband on the chest.

2_Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."_

"_Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend – Nicolas Flamel –"_

"_Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat"_

"_But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"_

"_They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."_

_Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face._

"_To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a great thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them."_

"We do," Remus and Lily said together.

"We have got to stop doing that," Lily laughed while Remus nodded in agreement.

_Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling._

"_Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking … Sir – even if the Stone's gone, Vol -… I mean You-Know-Who –"_

"_Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."_

"_Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"_

"_No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share … not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next times- and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."_

"But sadly he did," Harry muttered under his breath so his parents couldn't hear. Everyone looked at him sadly.

He didn't deserve the destiny that was forced upon. He should not have had so much weight on his young shoulders; he should have had time to be a child not being forced into an adult. He was nearly as bad as Moody after the war; would jump at noises and if anyone surprised him they'd probably get a wand pointed at them.

_Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt. Then he said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me … things I want to know the truth about …"_

"_The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."_

"_Well … Voldemort said he only tried to kill my mother because she tried to stop him killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"_

_Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time._

_"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day … put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older … I know you hate to hear this … when you are ready, you will know."_

_And Harry knew it would do no good to argue._

"_But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"_

"Good question," Lily muttered.

"_Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign … to have loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Lord Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good._"

"You saved him again, Lils," James whispered to his wife pulling her close as she was crying happier tears this time.

_Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the window-sill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. When he found his voice again, Harry said, "And there's something else …"_

"_Fire away."_

_"Quirrell said Snape –"_

"_Professor Snape, Harry."_

"_Yes, him – Quirrell said he hated me because he hated my father. Is that true?"_

"_Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."_

"_What?"_

"_He saved his life."_

"_What?"_

"_Yes …" said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt … I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating you father in peace …"_

"That's not it," James and Harry muttered, completely unaware that the other had said the exact same thing.

"_And sir, there's one more thing …"_

"_Just the one?"_

"_How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"_

"_Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes …"_

"That was very clever," said Lily and Teddy.

Lily laughed, "Great, now me and you son are saying the same thing, Remus!"

That caused everyone to laugh.

_"Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them – but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"_

_He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said. "Alas! Earwax!"_

Everyone laughed at his misfortune as they left the memory, it was getting late now and people began to realize how hungry they were.

"Right, Gin, you get the kids and I'll get Kreacher to start dinner," Harry said.

Ginny smiled and then kissed him before leaving via the fireplace. Harry looked at the Weasleys.

"Molly, Arthur, Ron, Mione are you staying?" he asked but they all shook their heads.

"We're going to go relive George and Angelina of our kids," Hermione said, smiling slightly. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Right," Harry hugged and shook Ron's hand before turning to Molly and Arthur for their answer.

"We're going to spend time with Fred and my brothers," Molly said and then with a glance at the fireplace said. "But I really want to know what happened second year."

She smiled and hugged him. Arthur shook his hand, smiling saying that they'll be back the same time tomorrow. Then, the, too, were gone. Harry turned to his aunt and cousin.

"What about you two?" Harry asked

"I don't know," said Petunia. "We don't want to be an inconvenience."

"You're not," Harry said, smiling slightly. "Our house elf is more than capable to produce food for no matter how many people or how short a notice. You can stay until we finish with the memories that way you don't have to drive here everyday."

"Are you sure, Harry?" Petunia said.

"Positive."

"All right, we'll stay," Petunia smiled,

"Kreacher!" Harry called once he had nodded to his aunt.


	16. Chapter 15 - Second Round

The next morning after breakfast had been eaten and the kids dropped off with a member of the Weasley family, everyone gathered in the family room again. Ginny was looking slightly pale but hardly anyone but Harry noticed and knew why. However, she was still her usual self trying not to worry anyone. Harry kept shooting glances at her as they waited for Ron and Hermione to arrive; he was worried on how this year would be on her – considering her large part in it and to allow it to drag on longer than need as soon as Ron and Hermione arrived they started.

"Right, Harry," Hermione said smiling. "What are we starting with?"

Harry glanced at his aunt and Ron really not wanting to get his aunt in trouble but then not sure when to start. Ron noticed this and came over to whisper in his ear.

"Breakfast with us," he advised. "We'll tell them about Dobby not the fact that you were locked in your room."

Harry thought about this for a while before nodding to Ron and speaking to the rest of the group.

"The Weasleys," he cheerfully said.

The original Weasley family all smiled at his happiness. While Hermione shook her head fondly at him as he moved to the pensieve.

"Wait," said Lily. "That was just your first year, right, and you died three times. Tell me this year isn't as bad?"

"They only get worse," Hermione said sadly knowing Harry wasn't going to say anything on the subject and noting that he was purposely avoiding his mum's eyes.

Everyone frowned and paled at bit but it was surprisingly Petunia that said, "I don't know if I can handy worse."

Harry smiled at her before putting the memory in the pensieve.

_The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle, and Harry sat down on the edge of his seat, looking around. He had never been in a wizard house before._

_The clock on the wall opposite him had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like Time to make tea, Time to feed the chickens, and you're late._

_Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts — It's Magic! And unless Harry's ears were deceiving him, the old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."_

_Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, cooking breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at her sons as she threw sausages into the frying pan. Every now and then she muttered things like "don't know what you were thinking of," and "never would have believed it."_

"What did you do?" Lily asked them, surprised and irritated she had to ask this so early into the day.

Molly opened her mouth to answer but at Ron's look she stopped and Ron spoke instead.

"Harry wasn't replying to anyone's letters and we were worried, it was a house elf, Dobby, by the way, he was stopping Harry's mail and tried to tell him not to come back to school" he added and everyone's confused look. "So we went to see get him in a flying car – which is what my mum doesn't approve of."

Everyone looked at Harry, who nodded and then at Mrs Weasley who was frowning at the lie. She admired Harry for what he was doing for his aunt but, well, she didn't think it was the best thing to do. Everyone else assumed she was frowning at what they did and accept Ron's story before turning back to the memory. Ron winked at Harry but no one saw but Ginny, who grabbed Harry's hand.

_"I don't blame you, dear," she assured Harry, tipping eight or nine sausages onto his plate._

"Course not," Ron muttered but he was smiling.

_"Arthur and I have been worried about you, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron by Friday. But really," (she was now adding three fried eggs to his plate) "flying an illegal car halfway across the country — anyone could have seen you —"_

_She flicked her wand casually at the dishes in the sink, which began to clean themselves, clinking gently in the background._

_"It was cloudy, Mum!" said Fred._

_"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped._

_At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a small, redheaded figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again._

"Ginny," Harry and Ron laughed before being hit by their wives.

"Aunt Ginny, tell me you weren't a fan girl," Teddy said with a slightly disgusted look on his face.

"Wait a minute, Teddy," Harry said, still trying to contain his laughter.

_"Ginny," said Ron in an undertone to Harry. "My sister. She's been talking about you all summer."_

"Sorry Ted," Hermione said, smiling.

"No, Hermione couldn't you have lied and Uncle Harry couldn't you have cut that out somehow!" Teddy exclaimed. "I didn't want to hear that about two people who are like my parents to me."

Everyone laughed at Teddy's reaction, although Dora's and Remus's laughs were slightly sad.

"Ron, I can't believe you told him that!" Ginny yelled at Ron.

"What it was true?" Ron said although not completely unfazed at the glare she was sending his way – it wasn't as powerful as usual due to her red cheeks.

_"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," Fred said with a grin,_

'Urg!' Ginny exclaimed hiding her face in Harry's chest.

Everyone laughed although Teddy was looking slightly disturbed.

_but he caught his mother's eye and bent his face over his plate without another word. Nothing more was said until all four plates were clean, which took a surprisingly short time._

_"Blimey, I'm tired," yawned Fred, setting down his knife and fork at last. "I think I'll go to bed and —"_

"He can't really have thought that you'd allow that?" Lily gaped to Molly who grinned at her.

_"You will not," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again —"_

_"Oh, Mum —"_

_"And you two," she said, glaring at Ron and Fred. "You can go up to bed, dear," she added to Harry. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car —"_

_But Harry, who felt wide awake, said quickly, "I'll help Ron. I've never seen a de-gnoming —"_

_"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject —"_

"NO!" Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny yelled to the shock and confusion of everyone else. They just shook their heads at everyone's questioning looks.

"Tell me he didn't really write a book?" James asked shocked.

"Was he that Ravenclaw –?" Sirius began.

"Yes," Lily and Remus said before they could finish.

"No!" James and Sirius exclaimed.

_And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece. George groaned._

_"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden —"_

_Harry looked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley's book. Written across it in fancy gold letters were the words Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests. There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving; the wizard, who Harry supposed was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all. Mrs. Weasley beamed down at him._

_"Oh, he is marvelous," she said. "He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book…"_

_"Mum fancies him," said Fred, in a very audible whisper._

"I do not," Molly said blushing slightly. "Don't be ridiculous."

"_Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, her cheeks rather pink._

Everyone laughed and the similarity even Molly.

_"All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart,_

"Anyone knows better than Lockhart," Harry, Ron and Hermione said together frowning, although Harry looked slightly angry. Everyone shot them strange looks, which the golden trio ignored.

_you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."_

_Yawning and grumbling, the Weasleys slouched outside with Harry behind them. The garden was large, and in Harry's eyes, exactly what a garden should be. The Dursleys wouldn't have liked it — there were plenty of weeds, and the grass needed cutting — but there were gnarled trees all around the walls, plants Harry had never seen spilling from every flower bed, and a big green pond full of frogs._

"Hasn't changed much," Teddy said, laughing.

_"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron they crossed the lawn._

_Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods…"_

_There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered, and Ron straightened up. "This is a gnome," he said grimly._

_"Gerroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome._

"Oh!" said Petunia, her and Dudley sharing a shocked look;

_It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like a potato. Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down._

_"This is what you have to do," he said. He raised the gnome above his head ("Gerroff me!") and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso._

"I always feel sorry for them," Lily said frowning.

"It's not necessary dear," Molly said smiling at her. "It doesn't hurt them."

"I think they enjoy it," said Teddy.

"You would," Harry muttered, Ginny, who was next to him, had to stifle a laugh

_Seeing the shocked look on Harry's face, Ron added, "It doesn't hurt them —you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnome holes."_

_He let go of the gnome's ankles: It flew twenty feet into the air and landed with a thud in the field over the hedge._

_"Pitiful," said Fred. "I bet I can get mine beyond that stump."_

_Harry learned quickly not to feel too sorry for the gnomes. He decided just to drop the first one he caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank its razor-sharp teeth into Harry's finger and he had a hard job shaking it off — until_

_"Wow, Harry — that must've been fifty feet…"_

"That's the key then, Uncle Harry," Teddy laughed. "Let it bit you!"

"Shut up, Ted," Harry said as he and everyone laughed at Teddy's comment.

"Nice one, though," James and Sirius said.

_The air was soon thick with flying gnomes._

_"See, they're not too bright," said George, seizing five or six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put."_

_Soon, the crowd of gnomes in the field started walking away in a straggling line, their little shoulders hunched._

_"They'll be back," said Ron as they watched the gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of the field. "They love it here… Dad's too soft with them; he thinks they're funny…"_

"They are!" Arthur exclaimed speaking for the first time in a while.

His family rolled their eyes at him.

_Just then, the front door slammed._

_"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"_

_They hurried through the garden and back into the house._

_Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn._

_"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat down around him. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned…"_

"Mundungus Fletcher," Sirius laughed, "he was handy."

Molly scoffed at him, those who had known Sirius in Harry's fifth year laughed at the familiar argument.

_Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed._

_"Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly._

_"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness…"_

_"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George._

"Good point," Sirius said frowning.

Remus sighed, 'muggle baiting, Sirius.'

_"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it… Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking — they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face… But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe —"_

_"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"_

"You really were setting yourself up for that one, Arthur,'" James laughed said man grimaced and nodded.

_Mrs. Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guiltily at his wife._

_"C-cars, Molly, dear?"_

_"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."_

"Oh Arthur," Lily sighed while Molly frowned and Arthur looked sheepish.

The marauders and Dora were just laughing, everyone smirking – typical Arthur.

_Mr. Weasley blinked._

_"Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if — er — he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth… There's a loophole in the law, you'll find… As long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't —"_

"Did you write that law?" Dora asked at the same time as Hermione.

_"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley._

Everyone was trying really hard not to laugh now, except, of course, Molly and Arthur.

_"Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"_

_"Harry?" said Mr. Weasley blankly. "Harry who?"_

"Hey, Harry," Ginny said. "Someone who doesn't know you!"

"Yes!" Harry said while Ginny laughed.

_He looked around, saw Harry, and jumped._

_"Good lord, is it Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about —"_

_"Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"_

The golden trio was in fits of laughter knowing how Arthur was with his tinkering, along with Ginny and Teddy.

_"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I — I mean,_

The marauders now joined in along with Dora and Lily. Even Molly was struggling to keep her disapproving expression on her face, while everyone, including Arthur laughed.

_he faltered as sparks flew from Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that — that was very wrong, boys — very wrong indeed…"_

The laughter from the Golden trio and Ginny only got louder.

_"Let's leave them to it," Ron muttered to Harry as Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom."_

_They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its way, zigzagging up through the house. On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Harry just caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it closed with a snap._

"Very friendly, Ginny," Ron said, his laughter which had died down bubbling up again.

Ginny glared at her brother while saying, "what did you tell him now?"

_"Ginny," said Ron. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally —"_

"Ron, you idiot," Ginny said punching him.

"Ginny, I said this how many years ago?" Ron asked rubbing his arm where she punched him.

"Like you wouldn't say it now."

"True."

_They climbed two more flights until they reached a door with peeling paint and a small plaque on it, saying RONALD'S ROOM._

_Harry stepped in, his head almost touching the sloping ceiling, and blinked. It was like walking into a furnace: Nearly everything in Ron's room seemed to be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, even the ceiling. Then Harry realized that Ron had covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, and waving energetically._

"Oh my," said Lily.

"Very … orange, Ron," Petunia said as the sister exchanged looks.

"Why are those people on brooms? What are they doing?" Dudley asked.

'Quidditch!' James and Sirius yelled.

"Chudley Canoes," Teddy said

"_Your Quidditch team?" said Harry._

_"The Chudley Cannons," said Ron, pointing at the orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two giant black C's and a speeding cannonball. "Ninth in the league."_

_Ron's school spell books were stacked untidily in a corner, next to a pile of comics that all seemed to feature The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. Ron's magic wand was lying on top of a fish tank full of frog spawn on the windowsill, next to his fat gray rat, Scabbers, who was snoozing in a patch of sun._

_Harry stepped over a pack of Self-Shuffling playing cards on the floor and looked out of the tiny window. In the field far below he could see a gang of gnomes sneaking one by one back through the Weasleys' hedge. Then he turned to look at Ron, who was watching him almost nervously, as though waiting for his opinion._

_"It's a bit small," said Ron quickly. "Not like that room you had with the Muggles. And I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic; he's always banging on the pipes and groaning…"_

_But Harry, grinning widely, said, "This is the best house I've ever been in."_

_Ron's ears went pink._

"Thank you, Molly," Lily said.

"Whatever for?" Molly said, looking at her, honestly confused.

"For taking care of Harry," James explained, he didn't know why but he felt there was something Harry wasn't telling them about his life in Petunia's house.

"As Molly told Lily, James, it's no big deal," Arthur said. "He's just like another son."

Petunia was also feeling the need to thank them for actually giving Harry the place she now wished she did but knew she couldn't as it would give her and Dudley away to Lily and James.

"The in-laws get along then," Ginny muttered to Harry beaming.

"Did you ever doubt they would?" he whispered back kissing her.

"No," she giggled.

Hermione, smiling at the two scenes going on, soon spoke up, "shall we move on then Harry?"

"Yep, let's," he said, taking his arms from around Ginny to move over to the pensieve.

When everyone was in they were greeted to the scene of Harry and Ron standing alone in Kings Cross Station in front of the barrier for platform nine and 3/4

_"Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to Harry._

_Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. He felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. Both of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and —_

_CRASH._

"What?!" everyone who didn't know exclaimed.

_Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly;_

"Poor Hedwig," Lily and Ginny said.

"Poor Hedwig!" Ron said shocked. "What about poor us?"

Lily and Ginny looked at each other then back at Ron and Harry.

"Nah, just Hedwig."

_people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"_

_"Lost control of the trolley," Harry gasped, clutching his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd._

_"Why can't we get through?" Harry hissed to Ron._

_"I dunno —"_

"Can someone seal it off before the train leaves?" Teddy asked.

"They can," Remus said to his son "but it's powerful magic."

"I don't get why anyone would though," Dora said. "Pretty pointless."

_Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier._

_"Can't hear a thing," he said tensely, "What're we going to do? I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us."_

_They looked around. People were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches._

_"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," said Harry. "We're attracting too much atten —"_

_"Harry!" said Ron, his eyes gleaming. "The car!"_

"It was your idea, Ron?" Hermione said.

"No need to sound so shocked."

_"What about it?"_

_"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!"_

_"But I thought —"_

_"We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy —"_

"That's a good thing to call it Ron," Teddy laughed.

_"But your Mum and Dad…" said Harry, pushing against the barrier again in the vain hope that it would give way. "How will they get home?"_

"Apparate, Harry," Ginny said as though it was obvious.

Harry took the childish route and stuck his tongue out, which of course caused Ginny to roll her eyes and do it back.

"How did you grow up with these two?" Petunia asked.

"Don't ask me," Teddy laughed.

"I heard that, Ted," Harry said.

"Ooops, sorry," Teddy grinned sheepishly. "I meant to say it was - it was brilliant growing up with you, it was so much fun. Um … I love you two."

_"They don't need the car!" said Ron impatiently. "They know how to Apparate! You know, just vanish and reappear at home! They only bother with Floo powder and the car because we're all underage and we're not allowed to Apparate yet…"_

_Harry's feeling of panic turned suddenly to excitement._

_"Can you fly it?"_

"No, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. "And I thought you were the more sensible one."

Harry looked thoroughly insulted, "What on earth gave you that idea?"

Dudley laughed at his cousin, who really hadn't grown up.

_"No, problem," said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express —"_

_And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and back onto the side road where the old Ford Anglia was parked._

_Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his wand. They heaved their luggage back in, put Hedwig on the back seat, and got into the front._

_"Check that no one's watching," said Ron, starting the ignition with another tap of his wand. Harry stuck his head out of the window: Traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street was empty._

_"Okay," he said._

_Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished — and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear the engine, feel his hands on his knees and his glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars_

"You actually flew a car to school?" Lily, James, Petunia, Sirius and Dudley all said together, although in very different tones. Harry and Ron just grinned.

"You must be legends at school!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"Oh they are, it's so funny," Teddy said, laughing. "Everyone knows that they flew the car."

"It's skipping by the way," Harry said chuckling at Teddy.

_Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove them upward again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine._

_Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances._

"Uh oh," Sirius said.

"What's happening?" Petunia and Lily exclaimed, really showing that they were sisters but they were too worried to notice.

_"It's probably just tired," said Ron. "It's never been this far before…"_

_And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. Harry pulled his sweater back on, trying to ignore the way the windshield wipers were now waving feebly, as though in protest._

_"Not far," said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, "not far now," and he patted the dashboard nervously._

"Is it a dog, Ron?" Hermione asked laughing causing Ron's ears to go red.

_When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they had to squint through the darkness for a landmark they knew._

_"There!" Harry shouted, making Ron and Hedwig jump. "Straight ahead!"_

_Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle._

_But the car had begun to shudder and was losing speed._

_"Come on," Ron said cajolingly, giving the steering wheel a little shake, "nearly there, come on —"_

"That's not gonna held, Ron," Dora said, grinning at him.

_The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the hood. Harry found himself gripping the edges of his seat very hard as they flew toward the lake._

_The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Harry saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below. Ron's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again._

_"Come on," Ron muttered._

_They were over the lake — the castle was right ahead — Ron put his foot down._

_There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely._

"No!" Lily exclaimed along with several others.

_Uh-oh," said Ron, into the silence._

_The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall._

_"Noooooo!" Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time._

_Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back pocket —_

_"STOP! STOP!" he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the windshield,_

"That's not helping, son," Arthur exclaimed, wide-eyed.

_but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up toward them —_

_"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Harry bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late —_

_CRUNCH._

_With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled hood; Hedwig was shrieking in terror; a golfball-size lump was throbbing on Harry's head where he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan._

"Tell me that's not the willow, Harry?" Remus asked nervously.

"Sorry, I won't lie to you," Harry said.

Remus, along with some others who didn't know, groaned.

_"Are you okay?" Harry said urgently._

_"My wand," said Ron, in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand —"_

_It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters._

"That's not repairable, Ron," Dora said, while Lily frowned.

"We know," the trio said disgruntled thinking of all the disasters that wand caused over the cause of the year.

_At that very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof._

_Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummelling every inch of the car it could reach._

"That's a tree?" Petunia exclaimed.

"No, Mum, it's a Devil's Tree," Dudley said to Harry's amusement.

_"Aaargh!" said Ron as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; the windshield was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be caving in._

_"Run for it!" Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backward into Harry's lap by a vicious uppercut from another branch._

_"We're done for!" he moaned as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating — the engine had restarted._

_"Reverse!" Harry yelled, and the car shot backward; the tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach._

"Did the car just move on its own?" Arthur said excited.

Everyone smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded.

_"That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car —"_

_The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and Harry felt his seat tip sideways: Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him that the car was ejecting their luggage from the trunk; Hedwig's cage flew through the air and burst open; she rose out of it with an angry screech and sped off toward the castle without a backward look. Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily._

"Only _you_ two could get a _car _mad at you," Hermione and Ginny said together.

Harry and Ron just grinned sheepishly at their wives.

_"Come back!" Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. "Dad'll kill me!"_

_But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust._

_"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron miserably, bending down to pick up Scabbers. "Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back."_

"That's just Harry's luck," Sirius said knowledgeably

_He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches threateningly._

_"Come on," said Harry wearily, "we'd better get up to the school…"_

"I still can't believe you did that," Molly said.

"Me neither," Hermione agreed.

"And got off basically scot free," Ginny added.

"We got detention!" Ron exclaimed. "And they wrote to mum."

Ginny scoffed at the fact as apparently it wasn't a big enough punishment for what they did but Harry shuddered at the thought of the detention. She, of course, noticed this and looked at him curiously but he just shook his head and went to change the memory.

Everyone entered with Harry saying anything and saw they were in a room with Harry and, to everyone's displeasure, Lockhart. Harry was sitting writing on envelopes while Lockhart prattled on about nonsense.

_"This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her — huge fan of mine —"_

_The minutes snailed by. Harry let Lockhart's voice wash over him, occasionally saying, "Mmm" and "Right" and "Yeah." Now and then he caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Harry," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."_

"Maybe you did have it worse, Harry," Ron admitted while Harry nodded fervently, glad to have this finally admitted even after so many years.

_The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching him. Harry moved his aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address. _

_And then he heard something — something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans._

_It was a voice, a voice to chill the bone marrow, a voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom._

_"Come… come to me… Let me rip you.. .Let me tear you.. .Let me kill you…"_

"What is that?" everyone except Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione exclaimed.

_Harry gave a huge jump and a large lilac blot appeared on Veronica Smethley's street._

_"What?" he said loudly._

_"I know!" said Lockhart. "Six solid months at the top of the best-seller list! Broke all records!"_

"Not you, you idiot!" James snarled, causing everyone except the marauders and Lily to look at him in shock, having not heard him snarl before.

_"No," said Harry frantically. "That voice!"_

_"Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "What voice?"_

_"That — that voice that said — didn't you hear it?"_

"He didn't hear it?" Petunia asked.

"This is just getting worse," Lily moaned.

Nobody but Harry noticed Ginny becoming slightly paler, he wrapped an arm around her and muttered in her ear, "don't worry Love, I'm right here."

It was all he said but it really did make her feel so much better.

_Lockhart was looking at Harry in high astonishment._

_"What are you talking about, Harry? Perhaps you're getting a little drowsy? Great Scott — look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours!_

"Urg, how did you survive?" Dudley muttered, although he looked slightly paler out of worry for his cousin.

"Really what is it?" Dora asked.

"You know I'm not gonna tell you anything," Harry said, smirking.

"Then get another memory in then!" Teddy exclaimed.

"Patience, Ted," Ginny laughed. "You know, your godfather, he'll go slower if you complain about his speed."

That shut everyone up, well, apart from Harry, who chuckled as he moved to change the memory.

"This is at the end of Sir Nicks Deathday party," Harry said as they landed in a dungeon filled with ghosts.

_"I can't stand much more of this," Ron muttered, his teeth chattering, as the orchestra ground back into action and the ghosts swept back onto the dance floor._

_"Let's go," Harry agreed._

_They backed toward the door, nodding and beaming at anyone who looked at them, and a minute later were hurrying back up the passageway full of black candles._

_"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the entrance hall._

_And then Harry heard it._

_"… rip… tear… kill…"_

"Oh no," Molly muttered grasping Arthurs hand as Dora did the same and James put his arm round Lily pulling her near. Dudley just looked from his aunt to cousin in shock but Harry was too busy keeping an eye on Ginny to notice much else – although he also had a hand on Teddy's arm.

_It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous voice he had heard in Lockhart's office._

_He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, listening with all his might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway._

_"Harry, what're you —?"_

_"It's that voice again — shut up a minute —"_

"Polite Harry," Sirius tried to joke.

_"… soo hungry… for so long…"_

_"Listen!" said Harry urgently, and Ron and Hermione froze, watching him._

_"… kill… time to kill…"_

"I don't like this, whatever it is, it's trying to kill," Lily said paling.

Everyone was thinking and looking the same except the Golden Trio. They were too focused on Ginny, who had gone paler than anyone else – but then it's not a surprised no one noticed as she had buried her head in Harry's chest again. Anyone looking at them would just think she was worried but they knew better.

_The voice was growing fainter. Harry was sure it was moving away — moving upward. A mixture of fear and excitement gripped him as he stared at the dark ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom, to whom stone ceilings didn't matter?_

_"This way," he shouted, and he began to run, up the stairs, into the entrance hall. It was no good hoping to hear anything here, the babble of talk from the Halloween feast was echoing out of the Great Hall. Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, Ron and Hermione clattering behind him._

_"Harry, what're we —"_

_"SHH!"_

_Harry strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: "… I smell blood… I SMELL BLOOD!"_

_His stomach lurched —_

_"It's going to kill someone!" he shouted, and ignoring Ron's and Hermione's bewildered faces, he ran up the next flight of steps three at a time, trying to listen over his own pounding footsteps — Harry hurtled around the whole of the second floor, Ron and Hermione panting behind him, not stopping until they turned a corner into the last, deserted passage._

"You know, most people wouldn't go after a disfigured voice that was trying to kill someone... they would go the opposite direction," Petunia muttered.

"That must have been scary for you two," Dudley said to Ron and Hermione who nodded.

"I thought he'd finally gone completely mental," Ron joked, considering he was one of the few who had it in them now.

"Hey," if Harry hadn't been holding Ginny, he would have hit him.

Their display seemed to work though as some lips twitched towards a smile.

_"Harry, what was that all about?" said Ron, wiping sweat off his face. "I couldn't hear anything…"_

_But Hermione gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor._

_"Look!"_

_Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches._

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._

_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE_

"I thought that was a myth," Teddy and Remus said before smiling at each other.

"All myths have some basis in fact," Lily said.

"But who opened it?" James asked.

"Probably a Slytherin," Sirius muttered in such a hate filled voice that Ginny flinched in Harry's arms.

"What is the chamber?" Petunia asked.

"It's supposed to be a chamber that Slytherin made that has a monster that will get rid of all the Muggle-borns in the school," Dora muttered darkly.

Dudley and Petunia both nodded, knowing what the term 'muggle-born' meant.

_"What's that thing — hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice._

_As they edged nearer, Harry almost slipped — there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash._

_Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring._

They came out of the memory and most sank to the floor, or the more lucky one into a seat

"Oh my," Lily said sadly, as Petunia patted her hand – she'd always like cats.

Harry, who was still holding Ginny, held her tighter as she whimpered slightly, her body shaking slightly. Harry caught Molly and Arthurs concerned expressions over the top of head, but they smiled at him slightly as he nodded – he'd got it.

"Let me guess," Dora said, smiling slightly. "You three got blamed for that?"

"Kinda," Harry shrugged as best as he could but his speaking brought everyone's attention to him and Ginny and they were now getting shot sympathetic and confused looks.

Luckily Hermione was over the other side of the room for most people so she then spoke as though knowing exactly what Harry wanted with them having to speak – which was quite likely considering they're like siblings.

"Dumbledore sorted it out though," she assured them. "To Snape's disappointment."

Lily frowned at the mention of her old friends' treatment of her son but it wasn't important right now.

"Shall we move on," Remus said.

Harry reluctantly let go of Ginny but Ron was right there, which Harry grateful about. He quickly replaced the memory and they all went in. It was a while before they noticed they were floating in the air while Harry and the Quidditch team were on the ground.

_"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three… two… one…"_

_With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Harry flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch._

_"All right there, Scarhead?" yelled Malfoy, shooting underneath him as though to show off the speed of his broom._

"Very original," Teddy muttered darkly he hated it when anyone said anything his godfather.

_Harry had no time to reply. At that very moment, a heavy black Bludger came pelting toward him; he avoided it so narrowly that he felt it ruffle his hair as it passed._

_"Close one, Harry!" said George, streaking past him with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger back toward a Slytherin. Harry saw George give the Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in mid-air and shot straight for Harry again._

"Crap!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lily!" the marauders, Petunia, Molly and Arthur said shocked.

"Sorry," Lily said.

'I take it the ball isn't meant to do that, Aunt Lily?' Dudley asked, addressing her for the first time.

Lily smiled at being called aunt before answering, "No, it's not."

"What?" James asked.

"Really, James?" Remus said exasperated, Sirius looked up confused as well. "You guys are Quidditch players."

They still looked confused.

"It's focusing on Uncle Harry/Harry!" Teddy and Dora yelled at them and watched as their faces whitened.

The trio and Ginny just rolled their eyes.

_Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and George managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry's head._

"Someone's tampered with that," James said darkly.

_Harry put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the other end of the pitch. He could hear the Bludger whistling along behind him. What was going on? Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this; it was their job to try and unseat as many people as possible…_

_Fred Weasley was waiting for the Bludger at the other end. Harry ducked as Fred swung at the Bludger with all his might; the Bludger was knocked off course._

"Nice one!" Teddy said.

_"Gotcha!" Fred yelled happily,_

"Somehow I don't think it's that easy," Sirius muttered

_but he was wrong; as though it was magnetically attracted to Harry, the Bludger pelted after him once more and Harry was forced to fly off at full speed._

_It had started to rain; Harry felt heavy drops fall onto his face, splattering onto his glasses. He didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until he heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero."_

"Damn," all the Quidditch fanes muttered while the rest rolled their eyes.

_The Slytherins' superior brooms were clearly doing their jobs, and meanwhile the mad Bludger was doing all it could to knock Harry out of the air. Fred and George were now flying so close to him on either side that Harry could see nothing at all except their flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it._

_"Someone's — tampered — with — this — Bludger —" Fred grunted, swinging his bat with all his might at it as it launched a new attack on Harry._

"That's what we were thinking," every parental figure of Harry said much to the amusement of everyone else.

_"We need time out," said George,_

The parental figures nodded firmly.

_trying to signal to Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Harry's nose at the same time._

_Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and Harry, Fred, and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludger._

_"What's going on?" said Wood as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you when that Bludger stopped Angelina scoring?"_

_"We were twenty feet above her, stopping the other Bludger from murdering Harry, Oliver," said George angrily. "Someone's fixed it — it won't leave Harry alone. It hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to it."_

_"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then…" said Wood, anxiously._

_Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her shoulder, Harry could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in his direction._

_"Listen," said Harry as she came nearer and nearer, "with you two flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve. Go back to the rest of the team and let me deal with the rogue one."_

"You're as bad as your father and godfather!" Lily exclaimed wanting to throttle her beloved, only child but it didn't have the effect she wanted as all three involved just grinned at her.

"_Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."_

"Again remind me to thank them," Molly muttered.

_Wood was looking from Harry to the Weasleys._

_"Oliver, this is insane," said Alicia Spinner angrily. "You can't let Harry deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry…"_

"And her," Lily added weakly.

"Alicia Wood," Hermione informed her.

_"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Harry. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of a crazy Bludger! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave me alone!"_

"No!"

_"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "'Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him —"_

Lily and Molly caught each other's eye and both nodded firmly.

_Madam Hooch had joined them._

_"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood._

"No," Arthur answered for them

_Wood looked at the determined look on Harry's face._

_"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry — leave him alone and let him deal with the Bludger on his own."_

"Urg," Dora muttered "idiot, this is Harry we're on about."

_The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam Hooch's whistle, Harry kicked hard into the air and heard the tell-tale whoosh of the Bludger behind him. Higher and higher Harry climbed; he looped and swooped, spiralled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly dizzy, he nevertheless kept his eyes wide open, rain was speckling his glasses and ran up his nostrils as he hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. He could hear laughter from the crowd; he knew he must look very stupid, but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as Harry could; he began a kind of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood._

_A whistling in Harry's ear told him the Bludger had just missed him again; he turned right over and sped in the opposite direction._

_"Training for the ballet, Potter?" yelled Malfoy as Harry was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in midair to dodge the Bludger, and he fled, the Bludger trailing a few feet behind him; and then, glaring back at Malfoy in hatred, he saw it — the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above Malfoy's left ear — and Malfoy, busy laughing at Harry, hadn't seen it._

"And that's why no one on the Gryffindor team buys their way in," Hermione said smugly. "They get in on pure talent."

Everyone smiled at her.

_For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in midair, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch._

"No!" many chorused. "Don't stop."

_WHAM._

_He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit him at last, smashed into his elbow, and Harry felt his arm break._

"Now, that hurt," Harry muttered under his breath.

"You broke your arm of course it bloody well hurt," Ginny exclaimed being the only one close enough to hear him. Everyone looked at them and they grinned awkwardly at them

_Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side — the Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time zooming at his face — Harry swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to Malfoy._

_Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the shimmering, sneering face below him and saw its eyes widen with fear: Malfoy thought Harry was attacking him._

_"What the —" he gasped, careening out of Harry's way._

"Idiot player," Dudley said, although he knew he'd be no better this guy was just a real prat.

_Harry took his remaining hand off his broom and made a wild snatch; he felt his fingers close on the cold Snitch but was now only gripping the broom with his legs, and there was a yell from the crowd below as he headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out._

_With a splattering thud he hit the mud and rolled off his broom. His arm was hanging at a very strange angle; riddled with pain, he heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. He focused on the Snitch clutched in his good hand._

"Wooo!" James and Sirius yelled dancing in the air before dragging Remus up as well.

Teddy and Dora laughed at his misfortune and, of course, the idiocy of the dance.

"Where you all right?" Lily and Molly asked, grinning at each other.

"I was fine," Harry said, and then to himself and friends, "until Lockhart came."

"Are we skipping?" Petunia asked, the scenery was speeding past.

"Yeah," Harry said, just as the memory started again.

_Hours and hours later, Harry woke quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain: His arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, he thought that was what had woken him. Then, with a thrill of horror, he realized that someone was sponging his forehead in the dark._

_"Get off!" he said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"_

_The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Harry through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose._

_"Harry Potter came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter. Ah sir, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why didn't Harry Potter go back home when he missed the train?"_

"It was Dobby?" Lily asked.

_Harry heaved himself up on his pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away._

_"What're you doing here?" he said. "And how did you know I missed the train?"_

"Because he's the reason you nearly missed it," Teddy said smirking.

_Dobby's lip trembled and Harry was seized by a sudden suspicion._

_"It was you!" he said slowly. "You stopped the barrier from letting us through!"_

_"Indeed yes, sir," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Harry Potter and sealed the gateway and Dobby had to iron his hands afterward" — he showed Harry ten long, bandaged fingers — "but Dobby didn't care, sir, for he thought Harry Potter was safe, and never did Dobby dream that Harry Potter would get to school another way!"_

_He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head._

_"Dobby was so shocked when he heard Harry Potter was back at Hogwarts, he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, sir…"_

_Harry slumped back onto his pillows._

_"You nearly got Ron and me expelled," he said fiercely. "You'd better get lost before my bones come back, Dobby, or I might strangle you."_

"Harry, don't threaten him!" Hermione exclaimed shocked that Harry would even consider it.

"Hermione you know he wouldn't," Ginny defended her husband as she saw the pain of Dobby's death – she knew how much that one affected him.

That was just cold blooded murder. Dobby was an innocent, in the wrong place at the wrong time trying to do the right thing.

_Dobby smiled weakly._

_"Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."_

"I bet he's Malfoys," James said darkly.

_He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry felt his anger ebb away in spite of himself._

_"Why d'you wear that thing, Dobby?" he asked curiously._

_"This, sir?" said Dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. "'Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, sir. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, sir, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."_

Hermione was glaring in a way which made Harry wish for the end of this memory before they get a S.P.E.W lecture and he could tell from the look on Ron's face that he was thinking the same thing.

_Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, "Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make —"_

"It was Dobby!" Molly exclaimed, she knew that Harry loved that elf but it was just becoming to understand why.

_"Your Bludger?" said Harry, anger rising once more. "What d'you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill me?"_

_"Not kill you, sir, never kill you!" said Dobby, shocked. "Dobby wants to save Harry Potter's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here sir! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"_

_"Oh, is that all?" said Harry angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"_

_"Ah, if Harry Potter only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, sir," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. "But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sit… _

"Dobby's a really brave elf," Teddy and Lily said.

"Yeah he was," Harry said, flinching slightly at the past tense – Ginny grabbed his hand for comfort.

_And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more."_

"Wait this has happened before?" Dora said shocked, she wasn't told very much about this incident even if she was an Auror.

For once she got an answer, although it was only Harry nodding his head sadly.

_Dobby froze, horror-struck, then grabbed Harry's water jug from his bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby…"_

_"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" Harry whispered. "And did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!"_

_He seized the elf's bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched toward the water jug. "But I'm not Muggle-born — how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"_

"Good point, Uncle Harry," Teddy said, frowning. He really looked like his father sitting there trying to figure it out.

_"Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen — go home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in this, sir, 'tis too dangerous —"_

_"Who is it, Dobby?" Harry said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him from hitting himself with the water jug again. "Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"_

_"Dobby can't, sir, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Harry Potter, go home!"_

_"I'm not going anywhere!" said Harry fiercely. "One of my best friends is Muggle-born; she'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened —"_

"Brave fool," Hermione said, smiling and shaking her head fondly. "I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, but you're forgetting Uncle Harry really is the definition of Gryffindor house," Teddy said.

"Very true, son," Remus said, nodding along with Sirius.

"And what is the definition of Gryffindor?" Dudley asked.

"Bravery, wasn't it, Lily?" Petunia asked her sister who nodded and beamed at her.

"Sometimes to the point of recklessness," James added.

"In cases such as Sirius," Molly said smirking – an odd sight for her family.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, "I'm not reckless!"

"Yes you are," Harry disagreed firmly.

"My own godson turning on me," Sirius pouted, "I bet Teddy doesn't do this to you."

"Yeah, I do," Teddy laughed.

"He annoys us 24/7," Ginny said laughing as well.

"Anyway, Gryffindor's, they have nerve," Remus put in.

"Chivalry," Hermione said proudly.

"We're daring," Ron added.

"Bold," Harry said.

"Nobility is a big factor in most places," Ginny added, knowing what was coming next.

"Harry," every except Petunia, Lily, James and Dudley chorused.

"Noble prat you are mate," Ron said smirking.

_"Harry Potter risks his own life for his friends!" moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant!_

"Valiant," Arthur said. "I knew we forgot something."

_But he must save himself, he must, Harry Potter must not —"_

_Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Harry heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside._

_"Dobby must go!" breathed the elf, terrified. There was a loud crack, and Harry's fist was suddenly clenched on thin air._

_He slumped back into bed, his eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the footsteps drew nearer._

_Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed._

_"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry's bed out of sight. Harry lay quite still, pretending to be asleep. He heard urgent voices, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. He heard a sharp intake of breath._

_"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed._

_"Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."_

_"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter."_

"On no, who was it?" Lily and Dora asked worried_._

_Harry's stomach gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and carefully, he raised himself a few inches so he could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face._

_It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera._

Harry pulled Ginny too him again as she paled slightly.

_"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey._

_"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think… If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate — who knows what might have —"_

_The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip._

_"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly._

_Dumbledore didn't answer. He opened the back of the camera._

_"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey._

_A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Harry, three beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic._

_"_What can do that?" most questioned but just got silence from the people who knew.

_"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted…"_

_"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently._

_"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."_

"So it's definitely real and open," Sirius summarized

"Let's just get on to the next one," Molly suggested and everyone nodded wanting to know what happens next.

"Before you ask, Hermione brewed Polyjuice potion," Harry said.

"And we drugged Crabbe and Goyle," Ron added.

"To find out if Malfoy opened the chamber," Hermione finished.

Everyone smirked at the friendship between the three before Lily spoke.

"Is that a really high level potion?" She asked.

"That you won't get out of a normal library book?" Remus added. "Most Potent Potions most likely in the _restricted section_."

"Yes and yes," Hermione said, blushing slightly.

_Ron's door opened. They stared at each other. Except that he looked pale and shocked, Ron was indistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding-bowl haircut to the long, gorilla arms._

_"This is unbelievable," said Ron, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."_

_"We'd better get going," said Harry, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow…"_

"You don't know where the common room is?" the marauders said as though they'd committed a horrible crime.

_Ron, who had been gazing at Harry, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking." He banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go —"_

_A high-pitched voice answered him._

_"I — I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."_

'Something's gone wrong, hasn't it?' Lily and Molly asked fearfully.

_"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you —"_

_"No — really — I don't think I'll come. You two hurry up, you're wasting time —"_

_Harry looked at Ron, bewildered._

_"That looks more like Goyle," said Ron. "That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question."_

Everyone laughed at Ron's comment.

_"Hermione, are you okay?" said Harry through the door._

"Shouldn't that have been asked sooner?" Dora asked.

"Probably," Sirius shrugged. "But it's these two."

"Hey," Harry and Ron said. "You're no better."

_"fine — I'm fine — go on —"_

_Harry looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed._

_"We'll meet you back here, all right?" he said._

_Harry and Ron opened the door of the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off._

_"Don't swing your arms like that," Harry muttered to Ron._

_"Eh?"_

_"Crabbe holds them sort of stiff…"_

_"How's this?"_

_"Yeah, that's better…"_

"Good thing you're observant," Dudley said to his cousin.

"Draco probably wouldn't have noticed though," Hermione said, Harry and Ron frowned agreeing with her.

"Yeah," Ginny added. "He doesn't pay that much attention to them; they're more followers than anything."

_They went down the marble staircase. All they needed now was a Slytherin that they could follow to the Slytherin common room, but there was nobody around._

_"Any ideas?" muttered Harry._

_"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Ron, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance._

_"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."_

_"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."_

"Oops." Teddy and the marauders laughed.

"Idiots," Hermione muttered.

_She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them._

_Harry and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly as Crabbe's and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped._

_The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked deeper and deeper under the school, constantly checking their watches to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when they were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead._

_"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"_

_The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy._

_"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise._

_Percy looked affronted._

_"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"_

_"Wh — oh, yeah," said Ron._

_"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."_

_"You are," Ron pointed out._

_"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."_

"Good I'd forgotten how annoying he was," Ginny said.

"Me too," Ron grumbled

"You two," Molly warned.

"Leave your brother alone," Arthur added to her warning.

_A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the first time in his life, Harry was pleased to see him._

_"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."_

"Saved by Malfoy," Hermione laughed. "Bet you loved that."

_Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy._

_"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered._

_Percy looked outraged._

_"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"_

_Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry and Ron to follow him. Harry almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time. He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley —"_

_"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically._

_"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."_

_He gave a short, derisive laugh. Harry and Ron exchanged excited looks._

_Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall._

_"What's the new password again?" he said to Harry._

_"Er —" said Harry._

_"Oh, yeah — pure-blood!" said Malfoy,_

"What a stupid password!" Lily exclaimed.

"Why?" Petunia asked.

"It's so prejudice," Arthur explained, "and _so _easy to guess."

"What do they think?" Dudley asked.

"There are some people, like the Malfoys," Sirius said darkly. "And the Blacks, that think they're better than others because they're what they call purebloods."

"It's a load of rubbish," Remus said. "Some of the best witches and wizards I've met are half-blood of less."

"Like mum," Teddy said gesturing to Dora.

"Or Hermione," Harry added.

"And Lily," James finished.

The three named witches blushed and looked away from everyone.

"And Harry actually," Hermione said. "Harry's a half blood, and he has power to rival Dumbledore's and Voldemorts."

"That's not true, Hermione," Harry said, rubbing the back of his next.

"Yes it is," Remus, Sirius, Ron and Ginny said.

Lily, James and Teddy beamed proudly at their Son/ Godfather.

_Not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it, and Harry and Ron followed him._

_The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs._

_"Wait here," said Malfoy to Harry and Ron, motioning them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me —"_

_Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, Harry and Ron sat down, doing their best to look at home._

_Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose._

_"That'll give you a laugh," he said._

_Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and handed it to Harry._

_It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said:_

_INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

"Oh, this," Molly said her eyes narrowing along with every Weasley honouree or blood, while the rest looked at them in confusion.

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car._

_Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation. "Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."_

"What does the Muggle Protection Act have to do with the car?" Lily asked shocked. James and Sirius just shook their heads in disgust and most people were too angry to say much.

_Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them._

"Brilliant, Molly," Dora said.

"What's a ghoul?" Petunia asked.

"A ghoul is an ugly creature that resembles a slimy, buck-toothed ogre," Teddy said, getting proud smiles from Harry, Ginny, Remus and Dora.

_"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"_

_"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly._

_"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."_

"We behave just fine, thank you," Ginny spit.

"Just because we not blood supremacists, like you are, you stupid git," Ron muttered darkly.

_Ron's — or rather, Crabbe's — face was contorted with fury._

_"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy._

_"Stomach-ache," Ron grunted._

_"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering._

Everyone's, who knew what it means, faces changed to fury and they hissed or muttered curses under their breaths at Malfoy and how he so casually used such a disgusting term.

"What's a Mudblood?" Dudley asked confused and slightly scared at the angry group of wizard's reaction to a word although they all hissed at his question.

"Mudbloods a really foul name for someone whose muggle born, Dudley," Harry spat.

Although Dudley knew it wasn't at him, he still cowered slightly at the cold fury in his cousin's voice, he hadn't seen Harry angry for many years and he didn't wish to see it again.

"It's not a term one usually in a civilized conversation," Hermione said. "It corresponds with our conversations on purebloods."

_"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."_

_Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of Colin: "'Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"'_

_He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron._

_"What's the matter with you two?"_

_Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake._

_"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood._

Everyone backed away from Harry and Ron as the curses started up again and the looks on their faces turned back to pure fury. Although it was more the power you could feel radiating out of Harry that had them backing away.

_And people think he's Slytherin's heir!"_

_Harry and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him — but then "I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."_

_Ron's jaw dropped so that Crabbe looked even more clueless than usual. Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all…"_

_"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing — last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them is killed this time… I hope it's Granger," he said with relish._

The power coming from Harry was getting worse, that even as angry as everyone was they couldn't bring them self to say a thing in case they got on the wrong end of the anger.

Teddy was really quite scared, never having seen his godfather like this before and from the looks on his mother and fathers face gave the clear impression they never had either. Remus shared a look with Sirius and Dora, none of them ever had to deal with a Harry that this angry or if there was anyway. All the wizards in the room thought something they never knew they'd need to think in Harry's presence – thank Merlin I have my wand. Petunia and Dudley had hidden behind the wizards, just in case, having never seen Harry this angry.

Hermione and Ginny separated themselves from everyone trying to think of a way to calm the two men down.

"You deal with Ron," Ginny said. "He won't take long then you can come help me with Harry."

"Ginny I don't think that's a good idea," Hermione disagreed having dealt with boys angry too many times to count. "Both would be better left to brood."

"You're right," Ginny said.

"We're gonna leave them in that anger?" Lily asked shocked.

"I don't know about Ron, Lily," Molly said, having never seen Ron this angry. "But no one will be able to calm Harry down right now, Hermione's his sister. Think about it as if it was you."

Everyone nodded turning back to the memory, casting the two fuming men nervous looks.

_Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists. Feeling that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron punched Malfoy, Harry shot him a warning look and said,_

_"D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"_

_"Oh, yeah… whoever it was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."_

_"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled._

_"Azkaban — the wizard prison, Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."_

_He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?"_

_Harry tried to force Goyle's dull face into a look of concern._

_"Yeah…" said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor —"_

"Now that was an interesting bit of news to get," Arthur said.

Everybody couldn't help but smile or laugh a bit – well except Harry and Ron of course.

_"Ho!" said Ron._

_Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening — their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too._

"Get out of there," everyone yelled.

"We did," Ron said calmer or calm enough to talk and watch the memory. "We're not idiots."

Ginny rolled her eyes and both she and Hermione made noises of disagreement.

_They both jumped to their feet._

_"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything. Harry could feel his feet slipping around in Goyle's huge shoes and had to hoist up his robes as he shrank; they crashed up the steps into the dark entrance hall, which was full of a muffled pounding coming from the closet where they'd locked Crabbe and Goyle. Leaving their shoes outside the closet door, they sprinted in their socks up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom._

_"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted, closing the bathroom door behind them. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."_

_Harry checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was back to normal. He put his glasses on as Ron hammered on the door of Hermione's stall._

_"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you —"_

_"Go away!" Hermione squeaked._

"How bad is it?" Dora asked, concerned.

"Bad enough," Hermione said shortly.

_Harry and Ron looked at each other._

_"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are."_

_But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. Harry had never seen her looking so happy._

_"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful —"_

_They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head._

_"What's up?" said Ron uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"_

_Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink._

_Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair._

"It was cat hair," Lily exclaimed as they ended up back in the family room. "You poor dear."

The marauders, Teddy and Ron didn't seem to agree with her statement and were laughing their heads off – even Harry, whose anger had dropped slightly, managed a small amused smile at Hermione's expense.

"Glad I amuse you boys," Hermione said, offended.

"Sorry, Hermione," Teddy gasped between laughs.

2Come on, Mione," Ron said. "You know we value you highly."

"Yeah, yeah," she laughed. "Let's move on."

Harry nodded stiffly everyone went in but Harry and Ginny, whose arm he grabbed as everyone went in.

"Gin," he said, looking her, his anger nearly going completely changing it to concern. "This is Hermione –"

"I can deal with it, Harry," she said, smiling sweetly at his concern but went quickly into the memory before he could argue which she knew he would.

_"This match has been cancelled," _

"What? No!" The Quidditch fans who didn't know what was going on yelled.

_Professor McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Oliver Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran toward Professor McGonagall without getting off his broomstick._

_"But, Professor!" he shouted. "We've got to play — the cup —Gryffindor —"_

_Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone:_

_"All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!"_

_Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Harry over to her._

_"Potter, I think you'd better come with me…"_

"You're not going to be blamed for an attack are you?" Petunia asked.

Harry just shook his head, grasping Ginny's hand.

_Wondering how she could possibly suspect him this time, Harry saw Ron detach himself from the complaining crowd; he came running up to them as they set off toward the castle. To Harry's surprise, Professor McGonagall didn't object._

_"Yes, perhaps you'd better come, too, Weasley…"_

"What going on?" Lily asked but, of course, got no answer.

_Some of the students swarming around them were grumbling about the match being cancelled; others looked worried. Harry and Ron followed Professor McGonagall back into the school and up the marble staircase. But they weren't taken to anybody's office this time._

_"This will be a bit of a shock," said Professor McGonagall in a surprisingly gentle voice as they approached the infirmary. "There has been another attack… another double attack."_

_Professor McGonagall pushed the door open and he and Ron entered… Madam Pomfrey was bending over a fifth-year girl with long, curly hair._

_Harry recognized her as the Ravenclaw they'd accidentally asked for directions to the Slytherin common room._

_And on the bed next to her was —_

_"Hermione!" Ron groaned._

"No!" Everyone yelled but no one louder than Teddy, he got on really well with Hermione (both being book-worms)

_Hermione lay utterly still, her eyes open and glassy._

"I looked bad," Hermione said. "Sorry guys that must have been a shock."

"Shock," Ron repeated dumbly. "Shock, Hermione?"

"It was more than that, it was –" Harry began.

"A tragedy," Teddy finished, his lips twitching, itching to laugh or smile.

Harry chuckled, 'yeah, well go with that."

"How are these two going to do it now?" Ginny asked, half joking, half curious.

"Oi!" Harry and Ron exclaimed while everyone else snickered.

"They'll figure it out I'm sure," Petunia said.

"Now let's continue." Dudley said.

"Yes Sir," Harry said, mock saluting.

Everyone land in the moonlit grounds

_"'Course," _Ron was saying as he and Harry strode across the black grass_, "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going there at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but…" _

_His voice trailed away hopefully._

"Harry's too determined to listen now, Ron," Dudley said although he's not sure how he knew.

_They reached Hagrid's house, sad and sorry-looking with its blank windows. When Harry pushed the door open, Fang went mad with joy at the sight of them. Worried he might wake everyone at the castle with his deep, booming barks, they hastily fed him treacle fudge from a tin on the mantelpiece, which glued his teeth together._

"Poor Fang," Lily muttered

"Hagrid asked us to feed him," Ron said in defence.

_Harry left the Invisibility Cloak on Hagrid's table. There would be no need for it in the pitch-dark forest._

_"C'mon, Fang, we're going for a walk," said Harry, patting his leg, and Fang bounded happily out of the house behind them, dashed to the edge of the forest, and lifted his leg against a large sycamore tree._

_Harry took out his wand, murmured, "Lumos!" and a tiny light appeared at the end of it, just enough to let them watch the path for signs of spiders._

_"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine, too, but you know — it'd probably blow up or something…"_

Everyone laughed at that mental image.

_Harry tapped Ron on the shoulder, pointing at the grass. Two solitary spiders were hurrying away from the wandlight into the shade of the trees._

_"Okay," Ron sighed as though resigned to the worst, "I'm ready. Let's go."_

Hermione grabbed Ron's hand knowing how this was one of his worst memories.

_So, with Fang scampering around them, sniffing tree roots and leaves, they entered the forest. By the glow of Harry's wand, they followed the steady trickle of spiders moving along the path. They walked behind them for about twenty minutes, not speaking, listening hard for noises other than breaking twigs and rustling leaves. Then, when the trees had become thicker than ever, so that the stars overhead were no longer visible, and Harry's wand shone alone in the sea of dark, they saw their spider guides leaving the path._

_Harry paused, trying to see where the spiders were going, but everything outside his little sphere of light was pitch-black. He had never been this deep into the forest before. He could vividly remember Hagrid advising him not to leave the forest path last time he'd been in here. But Hagrid was miles away now, probably sitting in a cell in Azkaban, and he had also said to follow the spiders._

_Something wet touched Harry's hand and he jumped backward, crushing Ron's foot, but it was only Fang's nose._

_"What d'you reckon?" Harry said to Ron, whose eyes he could just make out, reflecting the light from his wand._

_"We've come this far," said Ron._

"You might regret that, son," Arthur said, trying not to laugh.

"I meant we've come this far, can we go back now?" Ron muttered.

_So they followed the darting shadows of the spiders into the trees. They couldn't move very quickly now; there were tree roots and stumps in their way, barely visible in the near blackness. Harry could feel Fang's hot breath on his hand. More than once, they had to stop, so that Harry could crouch down and find the spiders in the wandlight._

_They walked for what seemed like at least half an hour, their robes snagging on low-slung branches and brambles. After a while, they noticed that the ground seemed to be sloping downward, though the trees were as thick as ever._

_Then Fang suddenly let loose a great, echoing bark, making both Harry and Ron jump out of their skins._

_"What?" said Ron loudly, looking around into the pitch-dark, and gripping Harry's elbow very hard._

_"There's something moving over there," Harry breathed. "Listen… sounds like something big…"_

_They listened. Some distance to their right, the something big was snapping branches as it carved a path through the trees._

_"Oh, no," said Ron. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh —"_

_"Shut up," said Harry frantically. "It'll hear you."_

"Him!" The marauders exclaimed "What about Fang?"

_"Hear me?" said Ron in an unnaturally high voice. "It's already heard Fang!"_

_The darkness seemed to be pressing on their eyeballs as they stood, terrified, waiting. There was a strange rumbling noise and then silence._

_"What d'you think it's doing?" said Harry._

_"Probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron._

_They waited, shivering, hardly daring to move._

_"D'you think it's gone?" Harry whispered._

_"Dunno —"_

_Then, to their right, came a sudden blaze of light, so bright in the darkness that both of them flung up their hands to shield their eyes. Fang yelped and tried to run, but got lodged in a tangle of thorns and yelped even louder._

_"Harry!" Ron shouted, his voice breaking with relief "Harry, it's our car!"_

_"What?"_

_"Come on!"_

_Harry blundered after Ron toward the light, stumbling and tripping, and a moment later they had emerged into a clearing._

_Mr. Weasley's car was standing, empty, in the middle of a circle of thick trees under a roof of dense branches, its headlights ablaze. As Ron walked, open-mouthed, toward it, it moved slowly toward him, exactly like a large, turquoise dog greeting its owner._

"Amazing," Arthur muttered.

"Thank Merlin," Lily and Molly exclaimed

"It's quite cute," Dora said with Teddy nodding next to her.

_"It's been here all the time!" said Ron delightedly, walking around the car. "Look at it. The forest's turned it wild…"_

_The sides of the car were scratched and smeared with mud. Apparently it had taken to trundling around the forest on its own. Fang didn't seem at all keen on it; he kept close to Harry, who could feel him quivering. His breathing slowing down again, Harry stuffed his wand back into his robes._

_"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, leaning against the car and patting it. "I wondered where it had gone!"_

_Harry squinted around on the floodlit ground for signs of more spiders, but they had all scuttled away from the glare of the headlights._

_"We've lost the trail," he said. "C'mon, let's go and find them."_

_Ron didn't speak. He didn't move. His eyes were fixed on a point some ten feet above the forest floor, right behind Harry. His face was livid with terror._

The relief everyone felt a second ago soon left as everyone tensed again muttering nonsense under the breaths in prayer.

_Harry didn't even have time to turn around. There was a loud clicking noise and suddenly he felt something long and hairy seize him around the middle and lift him off the ground,_

"Argh." Ginny screamed grabbing Harry's hand

_so that he was hanging facedown. Struggling, terrified, he heard more clicking, and saw Ron's legs leave the ground, too, heard Fang whimpering and howling — next moment, he was being swept away into the dark trees._

"Bloody hell," Sirius said.

_Head hanging, Harry saw that what had hold of him was marching on six immensely long, hairy legs, the front two clutching him tightly below a pair of shining black pincers. Behind him, he could hear another of the creatures, no doubt carrying Ron. _

"Oh my merlin," Ginny breathed as everyone stared wide eyed at the beasts carrying the two youngest boys of the Weasley clan.

_They were moving into the very heart of the forest._

_Harry could hear Fang fighting to free himself from a third monster, whining loudly, but Harry couldn't have yelled even if he had wanted to; he seemed to have left his voice back with the car in the clearing._

_He never knew how long he was in the creature's clutches; he only knew that the darkness suddenly lifted enough for him to see that the leaf-strewn ground was now swarming with spiders. Craning his neck sideways, he realized that they had reached the ridge of a vast hollow, a hollow that had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene he had ever laid eyes on._

_Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic. The massive specimen that was carrying Harry made its way down the steep slope toward a misty, domed web in the very centre of the hollow, while its fellows closed in all around it, clicking their pincers excitedly at the sight of its load._

_Harry fell to the ground on all fours as the spider released him. Ron and Fang thudded down next to him. Fang wasn't howling anymore, but cowering silently on the spot._

£Cowered," James tried to joke but didn't manage well at all.

_Ron looked exactly like Harry felt. His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent scream and his eyes were popping._

_Harry suddenly realized that the spider that had dropped him was saying something. It had been hard to tell, because he clicked his pincers with every word he spoke._

_"Aragog!" it called. "Aragog!"_

_And from the middle of the misty, domed web, a spider the size of a small elephant emerged, very slowly. There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pincered head was milky white. He was blind._

_"What is it?" he said, clicking his pincers rapidly._

_"Men," clicked the spider who had caught Harry._

_"Is it Hagrid?" said Aragog, moving closer, his eight milky eyes wandering vaguely._

_"Strangers," clicked the spider who had brought Ron._

_"Kill them," clicked Aragog fretfully. "I was sleeping…"_

"Friendly," Teddy chuckled weakly, doing a slightly better job than James.

"That's like you in morning at times, Ted," Harry grinned over at him.

_"We're friends of Hagrid's," Harry shouted. His heart seemed to have left his chest to pound in his throat._

_Click, click, click went the pincers of the spiders all around the hollow._

_Aragog paused._

"Thank you," Lily said, her nails digging into James' arm.

_"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said slowly._

_"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry, breathing very fast. "That's why we've come."_

_"In trouble?" said the aged spider, and Harry thought he heard concern beneath the clicking pincers. "But why has he sent you?"_

_Harry thought of getting to his feet but decided against it; he didn't think his legs would support him. So he spoke from the ground, as calmly as he could._

_"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a — a — something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."_

_Aragog clicked his pincers furiously, and all around the hollow the sound was echoed by the crowd of spiders; it was like applause, except applause didn't usually make Harry feel sick with fear._

_"But that was years ago," said Aragog fretfully. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school. They believed that I was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."_

_"And you… you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" said Harry, who could feel cold sweat on his forehead._

_"I!" said Aragog, clicking angrily. "I was not born in the castle. I come from a distant land. A traveler gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me on scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man._

_When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of a girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness…"Harry summoned what remained of his courage._

_"So you never — never attacked anyone?"_

_"Never," croaked the old spider._

"You don't seem against it now," Remus muttered

_"It would have been my instinct, but out of respect for Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and the quiet…"_

_"But then… Do you know what did kill that girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again —"_

_His words were drowned by a loud outbreak of clicking and the rustling of many long legs shifting angrily; large black shapes shifted all around him._

_"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog, "is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."_

_"What is it?" said Harry urgently._

_More loud clicking, more rustling; the spiders seemed to be closing in._

_"We do not speak of it!" said Aragog fiercely. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."_

"How helpful!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air and stamping her foot – she looked so commercial everyone couldn't help but let out a laugh.

_Harry didn't want to press the subject, not with the spiders pressing closer on all sides. Aragog seemed to be tired of talking. He was backing slowly into his domed web, but his fellow spiders continued to inch slowly toward Harry and Ron._

_"We'll just go, then," Harry called desperately to Aragog, hearing leaves rustling behind him._

_"Go?" said Aragog slowly. "I think not…"_

_"But — but —"_

_"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Good-bye, friend of Hagrid."_

"No!" Everyone but Harry and Ron yelled/screamed.

_Harry spun around. Feet away, towering above him, was a solid wall of spiders, clicking, their many eyes gleaming in their ugly black heads._

_Even as he reached for his wand, Harry knew it was no good, there were too many of them, but as he tried to stand, ready to die fighting, a loud, long note sounded, and a blaze of light flamed through the hollow._

_Mr. Weasley's car was thundering down the slope,_

"Yes!" Everyone then cheered, Harry and Ron laughing at them.

_headlights glaring, its horn screeching, knocking spiders aside; several were thrown onto their backs, their endless legs waving in the air. The car screeched to a halt in front of Harry and Ron and the doors flew open._

_"Get Fang!" Harry yelled, diving into the front seat; Ron seized the boarhound around the middle and threw him, yelping, into the back of the car — the doors slammed shut — Ron didn't touch the accelerator but the car didn't need him; the engine roared and they were off, hitting more spiders. They sped up the slope, out of the hollow, and they were soon crashing through the forest, branches whipping the windows as the car wound its way cleverly through the widest gaps, following a path it obviously knew._

_Harry looked sideways at Ron. His mouth was still open in the silent scream, but his eyes weren't popping anymore._

_"Are you okay?"_

"Bloody Brilliant, mate, thanks for asking!" Ron said, answering his question

_Ron stared straight ahead, unable to speak._

_They smashed their way through the undergrowth, Fang howling loudly in the back seat, and Harry saw the side mirror snap off as they squeezed past a large oak. After ten noisy, rocky minutes, the trees thinned, and Harry could again see patches of sky._

_The car stopped so suddenly that they were nearly thrown into the windshield. They had reached the edge of the forest. Fang flung himself at the window in his anxiety to get out, and when Harry opened the door, he shot off through the trees to Hagrid's house, tail between his legs._

_Harry got out too, and after a minute or so, Ron seemed to regain the feeling in his limbs and followed, still stiff-necked and staring. Harry gave the car a grateful pat as it reversed back into the forest and disappeared from view._

_Harry went back into Hagrid's cabin to get the Invisibility Cloak. Fang was trembling under a blanket in his basket. When Harry got outside again, he found Ron being violent sick in the pumpkin patch._

_"Follow the spiders," said Ron weakly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive._

"Yes, you are," Molly said weakly.

_"I bet he thought Aragog wouldn't hurt friends of his," said Harry._

_"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" said Ron, thumping the wall of the cabin._

"Yes, it is," Arthur said, saying a similar thing to his wife but not noticing die to his state of shock.

_"He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it's got him! A cell in Azkaban!" He was shivering uncontrollably now. "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"_

_"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, throwing the cloak over Ron and prodding him in the arm to make him walk. "He was innocent."_

_Ron gave a loud snort. Evidently, hatching Aragog in a cupboard wasn't his idea of being innocent._

_As the castle loomed nearer Harry twitched the cloak to make sure their feet were hidden, then pushed the creaking front doors ajar. They walked carefully back across the entrance hall and up the marble staircase, holding their breath as they passed corridors where watchful sentries were walking. At last they reached the safety of the Gryffindor common room, where the fire had burned itself into glowing ash. They took off the cloak and climbed the winding stair to their dormitory._

_Ron fell onto his bed without bothering to get undressed. Harry, however, didn't feel very sleepy. He sat on the edge of his four-poster, thinking hard about everything Aragog had said._

_The creature that was lurking somewhere in the castle, he thought, sounded like a sort of monster Voldemort — even other monsters didn't want to name it. But he and Ron were no closer to finding out what it was, or how it petrified its victims. Even Hagrid had never known what was in the Chamber of Secrets._

_Harry swung his legs up onto his bed and leaned back against his pillows, watching the moon glinting at him through the tower window._

_He couldn't see what else they could do. They had hit dead ends everywhere. Riddle had caught the wrong person, the Heir of Slytherin had got off, and no one could tell whether it was the same person, or a different one, who had opened the Chamber this time. There was nobody else to ask. Harry lay down, still thinking about what Aragog had said._

_He was becoming drowsy when what seemed like their very last hope occurred to him, and he suddenly sat bolt upright._

"What now?" Dora asked.

_"Ron," he hissed through the dark, "Ron —"_

_Ron woke with a yelp like Fang's, stared wildly around, and saw Harry._

_"Ron — that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom," said Harry, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. "What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?"_

"Moaning Myrtle!" James said.

"God, I hope not," Sirius groaned

_Ron rubbed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood, too._

_"You don't think — not Moaning Myrtle?"_

The memory didn't stop there instead it skipped straight to a few days later with Lockhart leading the Gryffindors down a corridor but before it started Harry somehow paused it and pulled Ginny away. The Weasley knew what was going just watched them sadly stopping anyone from following.

"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny asked once he'd stopped gently pulling her along.

"Do you want to stay and watch this?" Harry asked tensely.

"I'll be fine, Harry," she replied, smiling slightly. "I promise and I promise to tell you if I want to leave."

She wrapped her arms around him and balled her hands in his jumper as though trying to give herself strength, which worked quite well. Harry squeezed her tightly, dropping a kiss on her head.

"Just don't let go," she whispered to him, allowing herself to seem weak in front of him – the only person apart from her parents that she allows it to happen around.

"I wasn't planning on it," he replied gently.

"Let's do this," she said pulling back.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and Ginny wrapped hers around his waist as they made their way over to the family. They shot them looks but Harry just shook his head and motioned with his free hand to the memory.

_"__Mark my words," he said, ushering them around a corner. "The first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be 'It was Hagrid.' Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."_

"Idiot," Lily and the Marauders muttered.

_"I agree, sir," said Harry making Ron drop his books in surprise._

"What are saying, Uncle Harry?" Teddy yelled staring at his godfather as though he'd never seen him before.

"Teddy," was all Harry said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh right," Teddy said laugh sheepishly. Remus ruffled his hair fondly.

_"Thank you, Harry," said Lockhart graciously while they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night…"_

_"That's right," said Ron, catching on. "Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go —"_

_"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare my next class —"_

"Brilliant, you two," Arthur said, grinning proudly.

_And he hurried off._

_"Prepare his class," Ron sneered after him. "Gone to curl his hair, more like."_

_They let the rest of the Gryffindors draw ahead of them, then darted down a side passage and hurried off toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But just as they were congratulating each other on their brilliant scheme._

_"Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?"_

"Bad luck," Dudley said.

_It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines._

_"We were — we were —" Ron stammered. "We were going to — to go and see —"_

_"Hermione," said Harry. Ron and Professor McGonagall both looked at him._

"Using me, Harry?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Sorry," Harry said, grinning.

_"We haven't seen her for ages, Professor," Harry went on hurriedly, treading on Ron's foot, "and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry —"_

"That might work," Sirius said, looking at Harry astonished.

"Yeah, McGonagall's a softie when it's stuff like that," Lily said.

"Plus you guys are defiantly her favourites," Ginny said, laughing at the shocked look on her husbands and brothers faces.

_Professor McGonagall was still staring at him, and for a moment, Harry thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice._

_"Of course," she said, and Harry, amazed, saw a tear glistening in her beady eye. "Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been… I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."_

"Brilliant!"

"Amazing!"

_Harry and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose._

_"That," said Ron fervently, "was the best story you've ever come up with."_

Several people nodded in agreement.

_They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione._

_Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly._

_"There's just no point talking to a Petrified person," she said, and they had to admit she had a point when they'd taken their seats next to Hermione. It was plain that Hermione didn't have the faintest inkling that she had visitors, and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do._

_"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know…"_

_But Harry wasn't looking at Hermione's face. He was more interested in her right hand. _

"Why are you looking at her hand?" Petunia asked curiously.

_It lay clenched on top of her blankets, and bending closer, he saw that a piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist. Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, he pointed this out to Ron._

_"Go on and get it out," Ron whispered, shifting his chair so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey's view._

_It was no easy task. Hermione's hand was clamped so tightly around the paper that Harry was sure he was going to tear it. While Ron kept watch he tugged and twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, the paper came free._

_It was a page torn from a very old library book._

"You ripped a page from a library book!" Sirius exclaimed shocked.

"It was necessary," Hermione replied.

_The Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it."_

_And beneath this, a single word had been written, in a hand Harry recognized as Hermione's. 'Pipes'._

_It was as though somebody had just flicked a light on in his brain._

_"Ron," he breathed. "This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk — a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue…"_

_Harry looked up at the beds around him._

_"The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died — because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin… Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again… and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror — and —"_

"There's his Ravenclaw side," Hermione said proudly

_Ron's jaw had dropped._

So had many of the dead peoples who Harry hadn't shown this side too.

_"And Mrs. Norris?" he whispered eagerly._

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she didn't have a mirror," Dudley chuckled slightly still in shock of seeing this logical side of his cousin.

_Harry thought hard, picturing the scene on the night of Halloween._

_"The water…" he said slowly "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection…"_

"Brilliant, Harry!" Hermione said happily. Lily and James were beaming at him

_He scanned the page in his hand eagerly. The more he looked at it, the more it made sense._

_"… The crowing of the rooster… is fatal to it!" he read aloud. "Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it! It all fits!"_

_"But how's the basilisk been getting around the place?" said Ron. "A giant snake… Someone would've seen…"_

_Harry, however, pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled at the foot of the page._

_"Pipes," he said. "Pipes… Ron, it's been using the plumbing. I've been hearing that voice inside the walls…"_

_Ron suddenly grabbed Harry's arm._

_"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in —"_

"Amazing," Arthur breathed.

"Would be these three," Molly said, grudgingly.

_"Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," said Harry._

_They sat there, excitement coursing through them, hardly able to believe it._

_"This means," said Harry, "I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk."_

_"What're we going to do?" said Ron, whose eyes were flashing. "Should we go straight to McGonagall?"_

_"Let's go to the staff room," said Harry, jumping up. "She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break."_

"Yes, tell a competent teacher," Lily said.

_They ran downstairs. Not wanting to be discovered hanging around in another corridor, they went straight into the deserted staff room. It was a large, panelled room full of dark, wooden chairs. Harry and Ron paced around it, too excited to sit down._

_But the bell to signal break never came._

_Instead, echoing through the corridors came Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified._

_"All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."_

"No!" everyone chorused. "Not now."

_Harry wheeled around to stare at Ron. "Not another attack? Not now?"_

_"What'll we do?" said Ron, aghast. "Go back to the dormitory?"_

_"No," said Harry, glancing around. There was an ugly sort of wardrobe to his left, full of the teachers' cloaks. "In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out."_

_They hid themselves inside it, listening to the rumbling of hundreds of people moving overhead, and the staff room door banging open. From between the musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers filtering into the room. Some of them were looking puzzled, others downright scared. Then Professor McGonagall arrived._

_"It has happened," she told the silent staff room. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."_

_Professor Flitwick let out a squeal. Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, "How can you be sure?"_

"See, Severus does care about his students!" Lily said happily.

"Probably worried it was one of his precious Slytherin's," Sirius muttered although he knew it wasn't true.

_"The Heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, "left another message. Right underneath the first one. 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.' "_

_Professor Flitwick burst into tears._

Ginny managed a small smile at that.

_"Who is it?" said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. "Which student?"_

_"Ginny Weasley," said Professor McGonagall._

"No!" everyone, apart from Ginny or Hary, yelled, screamed, or breathed that one word – some forgetting they had already been through this once.

Lily and James stared in shock and grief and the young women that was their son's wife.

"What if we had actually lost her?" Ron said, his voice sounding dead.

"Well," Sirius said "Lily, James and Albus wouldn't exist."

"Not just them," Teddy said gravely his eyes watering, he loved his 'aunt' so much it was a horrible thought of never knowing her. "None of the Weasley kids would be here, the Weasley would have been a completely different family."

Many nodded solemnly at that.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, all of you," Ginny said, trying to laugh from her place in Harry's arms. "You would have been fine."

"No, we wouldn't," Hermione said.

'L-Let's continue shall we?' Dora asked not wanting to think about this anymore.

_Harry felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside him._

_"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said Professor McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said…"_

_The staffroom door banged open again. For one wild moment, Harry was sure it would be Dumbledore. But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming._

Everyone started glaring and Dudley couldn't help thinking of the phrase 'If looks could kill'.

_"So sorry — dozed off — what have I missed?"_

_He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like hatred. Snape stepped forward._

_"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."_

_Lockhart blanched._

_"That's right, Gilderoy," chipped in Professor Sprout. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"_

_"I — well, I —"sputtered Lockhart._

_"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" piped up Professor Flitwick._

_"D-did I? I don't recall —"_

_"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"_

_Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues._

_"I — I really never — you may have misunderstood —"_

_"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."_

"They're going to send him!" Petunia shrieked.

_Lockhart gazed desperately around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome anymore. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of his usually toothy grin, he looked weak-chinned and feeble._

_"V-very well," he said. "I'll — I'll be in my office, getting — getting ready."_

_And he left the room._

_"Right," said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils were flared, "that's got him out from under our feet. _

"Thank god/Merlin," people muttered.

_The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories."_

_The teachers rose and left, one by one._

The scene changed to Harry, Ron, Fred and George sat in a group in a corner of the Gryffindor Tower, not speaking – the air in the room made it feel as though even if they wanted to they couldn't.

"I don't think any afternoon had lasted longer than that one," Harry said,

Ron nodded, "nor had Gryffindor Tower ever been so crowded and yet so quiet."

_Near sunset, Fred and George went up to bed, unable to sit there any longer._

_"She knew something, Harry," said Ron, speaking for the first time since they had entered the wardrobe in the staff room. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was —" Ron rubbed his eyes frantically. "I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."_

_Harry could see the sun sinking, blood-red, below the skyline. _

_"Harry" said Ron. "D'you think there's any chance at all she's not — you know —"_

_Harry didn't say anything._

_"D'you know what?" said Ron. "I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a basilisk in there."_

_Harry agreed, they got up, crossed the room, and left through the portrait hole._

"How come no one stopped you?" Dora asked.

"It's obvious, is it," Petunia said to the women who she didn't really know. "They were all too miserable, and felt too sorry for Weasleys."

_Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps, and hurried footsteps._

"What's he doing?" asked Teddy suspiciously.

_Harry knocked and there was a sudden silence from inside. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and they saw one of Lockhart's eyes peering through it._

_"Oh — Mr. Potter — Mr. Weasley —" he said, opening the door a bit wider. "I'm rather busy at the moment —if you would be quick —"_

_"Professor, we've got some information for you," said Harry. "We think it'll help you."_

_"Er — well — it's not terribly —" The side of Lockhart's face that they could see looked very uncomfortable. "I mean — well — all right —"_

_He opened the door and they entered._

_His office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade-green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jumbled untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed into boxes on the desk._

"He's leaving!" several people yelled.

_"Are you going somewhere?" said Harry._

_"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and starting to roll it up. "Urgent call — unavoidable — got to go —"_

_"What about my sister?" said Ron jerkily._

Everyone narrowed their eyes at Lockhart, even if they didn't know him or Ginny well at all.

_"Well, as to that — most unfortunate —" said Lockhart, avoiding their eyes as he wrenched open a drawer and started emptying the contents into a bag. "No one regrets more than I —"_

_"You're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!" said Harry. "You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!"_

_"Well — I must say — when I took the job —" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. "nothing in the job description — didn't expect —"_

_"You mean you're running away?" said Harry disbelievingly. "After all that stuff you did in your books —"_

_"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately._

"You wrote them," Teddy said deadly.

_"You wrote them!" Harry shouted._

Normally people would have laughed at the similarity between Teddy and his twelve year old god-father but the atmosphere was too tense.

_"My dear boy," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on —"_

_"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Harry incredulously._

_"Harry, Harry," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."_

_He banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked them._

_"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."_

_He pulled out his wand and turned to them._

"Don't you dare," Lily and Molly growled out.

_"Awfully sorry, boys, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book —"_

_Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, "Expelliarmus!"_

_Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window._

_"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," said Harry furiously, kicking Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him._

_"What d'you want me to do?" said Lockhart weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."_

_"You're in luck," said Harry, forcing Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go."_

"Why are you taking him?" Remus asked, Harry and Ron just shrugged.

_They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom._

_They sent Lockhart in first. Harry was pleased to see that he was shaking._

_Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet._

_"Oh, it's you," she said when she saw Harry. "What do you want this time?"_

_"To ask you how you died," said Harry._

_Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question._

"Why does she look so happy?" Arthur asked, trying to imagine someone asking his how he did…he would have found it rather prying and personal.

_"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then —" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining. "I died."_

_"How?" said Harry._

_"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones._

"Helpful," Sirius muttered grumpily.

_"I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…"_

_She looked dreamily at Harry. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."_

_"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry._

_"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely toward the sink in front of her toilet._

_Harry and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face._

_It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper taps was a tiny snake._

_"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it._

_"Harry," said Ron. "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."_

"That's it, Ron," Remus said in his teacher voice.

"See you two don't need me," Hermione joked.

_"But —" Harry thought hard. The only times he'd ever managed to speak Parseltongue were when he'd been faced with a real snake. He stared hard at the tiny engraving, trying to imagine it was real._

_"Open up," he said._

_He looked at Ron, who shook his head._

_"English," he said._

_Harry looked back at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving._

_"Open up," he said._

_Except that the words weren't what he heard; a strange hissing had escaped him,_

"That's just creepy," many nodded even Harry who had long lost the ability.

_and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into._

_Harry heard Ron gasp and looked up again. He had made up his mind what he was going to do._

_"I'm going down there," he said._

"Of course you are," Hermione said fondly.

_He couldn't not go, not now they had found the entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might be alive._

_"Me too," said Ron._

_There was a pause._

_"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart, with a shadow of his old smile. "I'll just —"_

_He put his hand on the door knob, but Ron and Harry both pointed their wands at him._

_"You can go first," Ron snarled._

_White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening._

_"Boys," he said, his voice feeble. "Boys, what good will it do?"_

"Better him than us," Ron said

_Harry jabbed him in the back with his wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe._

_"I really don't think —" he started to say, but Ron gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Harry followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the pipe, then let go._

_It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons. Behind him he could hear Ron, thudding slightly at the curves._

_And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe levelled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Harry stood aside as Ron came whizzing out of the pipe, too._

_"We must be miles under the school," said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel._

_"Under the lake, probably," said Ron, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls._

_All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead._

_"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand and it lit again. "C'mon," he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor._

_The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous in the wandlight._

_"Remember," Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, "any sign of movement, close your eyes right away…"_

"Good advice," James said

_But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull. Harry lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if they found her, Harry led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel._

_"Harry — there's something up there —" said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Harry's shoulder._

Everyone tensed up.

_They froze, watching. Harry could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving._

_"Maybe it's asleep," he breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes. Harry turned back to look at the thing, his heart beating so fast it hurt._

_Very slowly, his eyes as narrow as he could make them and still see, Harry edged forward, his wand held high._

_The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least._

Everyone made noises or sound of shock.

"Bloody hell," Teddy said.

"Teddy!" Remus, Ginny, Harry and Dora said.

"Oh great," Teddy muttered quietly, "now I've got four parents to discipline me."

Luckily Remus and Dora didn't hear that or they would have been heartbroken even if Teddy was joking. Harry heard though and gave him a very sharp look in response.

_"Blimey," said Ron weakly._

_There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way._

_"Get up," said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at Lockhart._

_Lockhart got to his feet — then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground._

"Damn!" Sirius said.

_Harry jumped forward, but too late — Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face._

Sirius expression then changed to one of utmost joy but when everyone looked at his strangely he just shook his head.

_"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body — say good-bye to your memories!"_

_He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled, "Obliviate!"_

_The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock._

_"Ron!" he shouted. "Are you okay? Ron!"_

_"I'm here!" came Ron's muffled voice from behind the rock fall. "I'm okay — this git's not, though — he got blasted by the wand —"_

"Good!" most said firmly but Harry was getting more and more tense as the memory went on.

_There was a dull thud and a loud "ow!" It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins._

"Good one, Ron," Dudley laughed.

_"What now?" Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. "We can't get through — it'll take ages…"_

_Harry looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. He had never tried to break apart anything as large as these rocks by magic, and now didn't seem a good moment to try — what if the whole tunnel caved in?_

_There was another thud and another "ow!" from behind the rocks. They were wasting time. Ginny had already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours… Harry knew there was only one thing to do._

_"Wait there," he called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on… If I'm not back in an hour…"_

_There was a very pregnant pause, "I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can — can get back through. And, Harry —"_

"What were you going to say?" Harry asked.

"I don't think I had anything to say," Ron replied tightly. "Probably something about being careful and that I didn't want to lose you too."

Everyone flinched as they thought how hard that would be on Ron, his best mate and his sister in one night.

_"See you in a bit," said Harry, trying to inject some confidence into his shaking voice._

_And he set off alone past the giant snake skin._

_Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds._

_Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked strangely alive._

_He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker._

_"Open," said Harry, in a low, faint hiss._

_The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside._

"Everyone ready," Harry asked after taking a deep breath of his own – everyone nodded warily.

_He was standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness, casting long, black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place. His heart beating very fast, Harry stood listening to the chill silence. Could the basilisk be lurking in a shadowy corner, behind a pillar? And where was Ginny?_

_He pulled out his wand_

"Why wasn't your wand already out?" Remus asked, his voice louder than it usual calm volume.

"Er –" Harry began but then realized he didn't have an answer.

_and moved forward between the serpentine columns. Every careful footstep echoed loudly off the shadowy walls. He kept his eyes narrowed, ready to clamp them shut at the smallest sign of movement._

_The hollow eye sockets of the stone snakes seemed to be following him. More than once, with a jolt of the stomach, he thought he saw one stir._

_Then, as he drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall._

_Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor. And between the feet, facedown, lay a small, black-robed figure with flaming-red hair._

_"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny — don't be dead — please don't be dead —" He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders, and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be…_

Molly let out a sob when she saw he daughter in Harry's memory and Arthur pulled her into a hug. Everyone looked thoroughly shocked at the sight. Lily and Petunia were crying even though Lily and Ginny hadn't known each other long.

_"Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side._

_"She won't wake," said a soft voice._

_Harry jumped and spun around on his knees._

_A tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window. But there was no mistaking him._

_"Tom — Tom Riddle?"_

Everyone, except Dudley and Petunia, hissed at the name.

"You'll see later," Harry said through clenched teeth.

_Riddle nodded, not taking his eyes off Harry's face._

_"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry said desperately. "She's not — she's not —?"_

_"She's still alive," said Riddle. "But only just."_

"Good," Sirius said, but when everyone looked at him he continued. "Now Harry can focus on the fight that's obviously gonna happen and not worry if Ginny's alive or not."

_Harry stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen._

_"Are you a ghost?" Harry said uncertainly._

_"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."_

_He pointed toward the floor near the statue's giant toes. Lying open there was the little black diary Harry had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. For a second, Harry wondered how it had got there — but there were more pressing matters to deal with._

_"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a basilisk… I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment… Please, help me."_

_Riddle didn't move. Harry, sweating, managed to hoist Ginny half off the floor, and bent to pick up his wand again._

_But his wand had gone._

_"Did you see —?"_

_He looked up. Riddle was still watching him — twirling Harry's wand between his long fingers._

"Crap," Sirius said and many were in agreement.

_"Thanks," said Harry, stretching out his hand for it._

_A smile curled the corners of Riddle's mouth. He continued to stare at Harry, twirling the wand idly._

"Sadistic little sod already, isn' he?" James observed.

_"Listen," said Harry urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes —"_

_"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle calmly._

_Harry lowered Ginny back onto the floor, unable to hold her up any longer._

_"What d'you mean?" he said. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it —"_

_Riddle's smile broadened._

_"You won't be needing it," he said._

_Harry stared at him._

_"What d'you mean, I won't be —?"_

_"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."_

_"Look," said Harry, losing patience, "I don't think you get it._

"No, Harry, it's you that doesn't get it," Lily said sadly.

_We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later —"_

_"We're going to talk now," said Riddle, still smiling broadly, and he pocketed Harry's wand._

_Harry stared at him. There was something very funny going on here…_

_"How did Ginny get like this?" he asked slowly._

_"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly_

"Interesting is not the word I'd use," Harry growled.

_. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."_

_"What are you talking about?" said Harry._

_"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second hand robes and books, how —" Riddle's eyes glinted "— how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…"_

_All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them._

_"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket…"_

_Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck._

Everyone shuddered at the sound but Harry, who'd heard it and knew what it symbolized (pain) flinched so violently that everyone saw.

_"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted… I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her…"_

_"What d'you mean?" said Harry, whose mouth had gone very dry._

_"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."_

_"No," Harry whispered._

_"Yes," said Riddle, calmly. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing_

"Amusing?" Teddy repeated. Dora wrapped an arm around him while Remus put a hand on his shoulder.

_I wish you could have seen her new diary entries… far more interesting, they became… Dear Tom," he recited, watching Harry's horrified face, "'I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me… There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad… I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"_

_Harry's fists were clenched, the nails digging deep into his palms._

_"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle._

"She's not stupid," Hermione said angrily.

_"But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…"_

_"And why did you want to meet me?" said Harry. Anger was coursing through him, and it was an effort to keep his voice steady._

_"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust —"_

_'Hagrid's my friend," said Harry, his voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but —"_

_Riddle laughed his high laugh again._

_"It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student… on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed_

"You can't raise werewolf cubs, you idiot," Teddy exclaimed, he would know.

_, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls… but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance… as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed… Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did…"_

_"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," said Harry, his teeth gritted._

_"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."_

"Noble!" most exclaimed in disbelief.

_"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again —"_

_"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been — you."_

_Harry stared at him._

_"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling roosters? So the foolish little brat _

"Ginny's not a foolish little brat," Ron growled in defence of his sister.

_waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery — particularly if one of your best friends was attacked._

_And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…_

_"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her… She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last… I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."_

_"Like what?" Harry spat, fists still clenched._

_"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you — a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent_

Hermione and Ron couldn't help it at that point, they both burst of laughing – hysterically, due to the tense atmosphere.

_-managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"_

'Voldemort?' Petunia asked looking at Lily fearfully who nodded her head.

_There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now._

_"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry slowly. "Voldemort was after your time…"_

_"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter…"_

_He pulled Harry's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:_

_TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE_

_Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:_

_I AM LORD VOLDEMORT_

"No!" Petunia and Dudley exclaimed both now knowing the meaning of that name to the world.

_"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course._

"You have no friends," Dora snapped.

"They're followers," Remus finished for her.

_You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry — I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"_

_Harry's brain seemed to have jammed. He stared numbly at Riddle, at the orphaned boy who had grown up to murder Harry's own parents, and so many others… At last he forced himself to speak._

_"You're not," he said, his quiet voice full of hatred._

"Oh Harry, don't annoy him," James said.

_"Not what?" snapped Riddle._

_"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry, breathing fast. "Sorry to disappoint you and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over at Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days —"_

_The smile had gone from Riddle's face, to be replaced by a very ugly look._

"That's a rather frightening look," Molly said weakly.

_"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" he hissed._

_"He's not as gone as you might think!" Harry retorted. He was speaking at random, wanting to scare Riddle, wishing rather than believing it to be true._

_Riddle opened his mouth, but froze._

_Music was coming from somewhere. Riddle whirled around to stare down the empty Chamber. The music was growing louder. It was eerie, spine-tingling, unearthly; it lifted the hair on Harry's scalp and made his heart feel as though it was swelling to twice its normal size. Then, as the music reached such a pitch that Harry felt it vibrating inside his own ribs, flames erupted at the top of the nearest pillar._

_A crimson bird the size of a swan had appeared, piping its weird music to the vaulted ceiling. It had a glittering golden tail as long as a peacock's and gleaming golden talons, which were gripping a ragged bundle._

_A second later, the bird was flying straight at Harry. It dropped the ragged thing it was carrying at his feet, then landed heavily on his shoulder. As it folded its great wings, Harry looked up and saw it had a long, sharp golden beak and a beady black eye._

"Fawkes," Hermione beamed.

_The bird stopped singing. It sat still and warm next to Harry's cheek, gazing steadily at Riddle._

_"That's a phoenix." said Riddle, staring shrewdly back at it._

_"Fawkes?" Harry breathed, and he felt the bird's golden claws squeeze his shoulder gently._

_"And that —" said Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing that Fawkes had dropped, "that's the old school Sorting Hat —"_

_So it was. Patched, frayed, and dirty, the hat lay motionless at Harry's feet._

_Riddle began to laugh again. He laughed so hard that the dark chamber rang with it, as though ten Riddles were laughing at once._

Again Harry flinched causing everyone's eyes to go to him.

_"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?"_

_Harry didn't answer. He might not see what use Fawkes or the Sorting Hat were, but he was no longer alone, and he waited for Riddle to stop laughing with his courage mounting._

_"To business, Harry," said Riddle, still smiling broadly. "Twice — in your past, in my future — we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you stay alive."_

"Yes but the longer Riddle stands there, the more life is dwindling out of Ginny… and in the meantime, Riddle's outline was becoming clearer, more solid… If it had to be a fight between me and Riddle, better sooner than later," Harry muttered more to himself than anyone else but Hermione heard and hit him around the head.

_"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you, I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul —"_

"Harry!" Arthur groaned

"Careful, Uncle Harry," Teddy said nervously, his gazing flitting between his real-life godfather and the memory of him.

_Riddle's face contorted. Then he forced it into an awful smile. "So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful countercharm. I can see now… there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike…_

"That's not true, Harry," Dora said. "You're nothing like him."

_but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."_

_Harry stood, tense, waiting for Riddle to raise his wand. But Riddle's twisted smile was widening again._

_"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him…"_

_He cast an amused eye over Fawkes and the Sorting Hat, then walked away. Harry, fear spreading up his numb legs, watched Riddle stop between the high pillars and look up into the stone face of Slytherin, high above him in the half-darkness. Riddle opened his mouth wide and hissed._

"What's he saying?" Sirius asked.

"If I remember right, 'Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four'," Harry replied.

"If you remember right?" Remus asked. "You can't speak it anymore?"

Harry smiled and shook his head.

_Harry wheeled around to look up at the statue, Fawkes swaying on his shoulder._

_Slytherin's gigantic stone face was moving. Horror-struck, Harry saw his mouth opening, wider and wider, to make a huge black hole. And something was stirring inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering up from its depths._

_Harry backed away until he hit the dark Chamber wall, and as he shut his eyes tight he felt Fawkes' wing sweep his cheek as he took flight. _

_Something huge hit the stone floor of the Chamber. Harry felt it shudder — he knew what was happening, he could sense it, could almost see the giant serpent uncoiling itself from Slytherin's mouth. Then he heard Riddle's hissing voice:_

"And that?" James questioned. "If you remember…"

"Something I've heard him say many, many times," Harry replied without a trace of doubt. "Kill him."

Everyone's eyes widened as the turned back to Riddle.

_The basilisk was moving toward Harry; he could hear its heavy body slithering heavily across the dusty floor. Eyes still tightly shut, Harry began to run blindly sideways, his hands outstretched, feeling his way — Voldemort was laughing._

_Harry tripped. He fell hard onto the stone and tasted blood the serpent was barely feet from him, he could hear it coming._

_There was a loud, explosive spitting sound right above him, and then something heavy hit Harry so hard that he was smashed into the wall. Waiting for fangs to sink through his body he heard more mad hissing, something thrashing wildly off the pillars._

_He couldn't help it — he opened his eyes wide enough to squint at what was going on._

_The enormous serpent, bright, poisonous green, thick as an oak trunk, had raised itself high in the air and its great blunt head was weaving drunkenly between the pillars. _

"Oh my," Hermione breathed, her eyes wide,

Lily and Petunia screamed while everyone else just froze.

_As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake._

_Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabres Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor._

_The snake's tail thrashed, narrowly missing Harry, and before Harry could shut his eyes, it turned — Harry looked straight into its face and saw that its eyes, both its great, bulbous yellow eyes, had been punctured by the phoenix; blood was streaming to the floor, and the snake was spitting in agony._

_Harry heard Riddle screaming. _

"Something about leaving the bird and that the snake can still smell me?" Harry said before anyone could ask, although it sounded as if he was questioning himself

_The blinded serpent swayed, confused, still deadly. Fawkes was circling its head, piping his eerie song, jabbing here and there at its scaly nose as the blood poured from its ruined eyes._

_"Help me, help me," Harry muttered wildly, "someone — anyone…"_

_The snake's tail whipped across the floor again. Harry ducked. Something soft hit his face._

_The basilisk had swept the Sorting Hat into Harry's arms. Harry seized it. It was all he had left, his only chance — he rammed it onto his head and threw himself flat onto the floor as the basilisk's tail swung over him again._

Everyone who was alive after the final battle at Hogwarts, excluding Teddy, grinned knowing what was about to happen.

_He grabbed the top of the hat to pull it off and felt something long and hard beneath it._

_A gleaming silver sword had appeared inside the hat, its handle glittering with rubies the size of eggs._

"Kill the boy, leave the bird, the boy is behind you. Sniff – smell him," Harry said again as they all listened to Riddle yell in Parseltongue

_Harry was on his feet, ready. The basilisk's head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him. He could see the vast, bloody eye sockets, see the mouth stretching wide, wide enough to swallow him whole, lined with fangs long as his sword, thin, glittering, venomous —_

_It lunged blindly — Harry dodged and it hit the Chamber wall_

"That was too close," Dudley said staring in shook as a giant snake tried to kill his cousin.

_It lunged again, and its forked tongue lashed Harry's side._

Everyone let out a breath.

_He raised the sword in both his hands —_

_The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true — Harry threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth —_

"Yes!"

"Go, Harry!"

_But as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor._

"No, NO, NO!" Lily yelled

"What?" James asked panic.

"Don't you remember?" Remus said, looking pale. "Basilisk venom in poisonous, James, it kills within minutes."

Everyone paled at the sudden reminder of what the venom does – all seemed to have forgotten Harry and Ginny hugging the corner

"What!" James and Sirius yelled. "NO!"

_Harry slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull colour._

_A patch of scarlet swam past, and Harry heard a soft clatter of claws beside him._

_"Fawkes," said Harry thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes…"_

"He was," Arthur said thickly.

_He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him._

_He could hear echoing footsteps and then a dark shadow moved in front of him._

_"You're dead, Harry Potter," said Riddle's voice above him. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."_

_Harry blinked. Fawkes's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers._

_"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."_

_Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning._

_"So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, _

"We have not forsaken him!" Ron and Hermione yelled.

_defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. _

"He didn't challenge you!" Molly shouted.

_You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry…_

Despite their misplaced grief everyone growled at that.

_She bought you twelve years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…"_

_If this is dying, thought Harry, it's not so bad._

Everyone flinched.

_Even the pain was leaving him… But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound — except that there was no wound._

_"Get away, bird," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him — I said, get away —"_

_Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet._

_"Phoenix tears…" said Riddle quietly, staring at Harry's arm. "Of course… healing powers… I forgot…"_

Lily and Remus looked at each other in shook, "how could we have forgotten that?" they both said at the same time.

"I don't know," said Harry.

Everyone heads whipped towards the dark corner where Harry was comforting Ginny

Sirius laughed at them all, "how did we forget him and Ginny where over there?"

"And I though Riddle was an idiot," Harry muttered to Ginny who laughed slightly.

Once everyone had calmed down and lectured themselves they all turned back to the memory.

_He looked into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter… you and me…"_

"Course you do," Ron scoffed.

_He raised the wand…_

_Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap — the diary._

_For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Harry seized the basilisk fang on the floor next to him and plunged it straight into the heart of the book._

"Brilliant, Harry," Remus and James said.

_There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then — He had gone_

"Merlin!" Lily exclaimed while Molly and Petunia screamed – it was not nice seeing anyone die.

_Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence. Silence except for the steady drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole right through it._

_Shaking all over, Harry pulled himself up. His head was spinning as though he'd just travelled miles by Floo powder. Slowly, he gathered together his wand and the Sorting Hat, and, with a huge tug, retrieved the glittering sword from the roof of the basilisk's mouth._

_Then came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. As Harry hurried toward her, she sat up. Her bemused eyes travelled from the huge form of the dead basilisk, over Harry, in his blood-soaked robes, then to the diary in his hand. She drew a great, shuddering gasp and tears began to pour down her face._

"That must have been a sight for you," Dudley said smiling at her sympathetically.

Ginny nodded, she was still pale and refused to let her hold on Harry go.

_"Harry — oh, Harry — I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy — it was me, Harry — but I — I s-swear I d-didn't mean to — R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over — and — how did you kill that — that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary —"_

_"It's all right," said Harry, holding up the diary, and showing Ginny the fang hole, "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon, Ginny, let's get out of here —"_

_"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and — w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"_

"Ginny, you were too young to remember Bill going to Hogwarts," Molly said but Ginny shrugged in a way that said, 'but I do.'

_Fawkes was waiting for them, hovering in the Chamber entrance. Harry urged Ginny forward; they stepped over the motionless coils of the dead basilisk, through the echoing gloom, and back into the tunnel. Harry heard the stone doors close behind them with a soft hiss._

_After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reached Harry's ears._

_"Ron!" Harry yelled, speeding up. "Ginny's okay! I've got her!"_

_He heard Ron give a strangled cheer, and they turned the next bend to see his eager face staring through the sizable gap he had managed to make in the rock fall._

_"Ginny!" Ron thrust an arm through the gap in the rock to pull her through first. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened? How — what — where did that bird come from?"_

Everyone landed back in the family room the sun was setting which showed they'd been in the pensieve for quite a while

"Ignore me once you noticed the bird, Ron," Ginny tried to scowl but when she met her brothers eyes she saw the pain there and gave him a small smile which he returned.

"It seems you left something's out whilst explaining to us what happened Harry," Molly said, frowning at him, from her seat on the sofa.

Harry just sent her an innocent smile over the top of Ginny's head, she was still holding on as though her life depended on it.

"I didn't want to worry you any more than you already were," he replied.

Her face softened into a grateful smile as she got up to hug Harry and Ginny in one bone crushing hug,

"We're nearly done how about we finish," Harry said. "And then get some food, I'm starved."

"You're always hungry." Ginny laughed returning to her old self, Harry laughed as well kissing her temple.

Everyone stood up waiting for Harry to change the memory when they entered Harry and Ron where standing in McGonagall's office with Dumbledore.

_"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," _Dumbledore was saying.

_Ron opened his mouth in horror._

_"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," Dumbledore went on, smiling._

"You can't really have thought you'd be expelled for that?" Dudley asked

Harry and Ron just shrugged.

_"You will both receive Special Awards for Services to the School_

"You should have enough of them, Uncle Harry," Teddy laughed.

_and — let me see — yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."_

"Woo!" all the Gryffindors cheered.

_Ron went as brightly pink as Lockhart's valentine flowers and closed his mouth again._

_"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore added. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"_

"I'd forgotten about him," Ron muttered.

"So had I," Harry admitted.

_Harry gave a start. He turned and saw that Lockhart was standing in a corner of the room, still wearing his vague smile. When Dumbledore addressed him, Lockhart looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking to._

_"Professor Dumbledore," Ron said quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart —"_

_"Am I a professor?" said Lockhart in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"_

"Yes," everyone chorused with a laugh.

_'He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explained quietly to Dumbledore._

_"Dear me," said Dumbledore, shaking his head, his long silver moustache quivering. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"_

"He knew!" exclaimed Lily

"He was probably the only one for the job," James said. "And I pity the person for next considering the two previous teachers."

Everyone who knew the Remus taught smirked at James' words.

_"Sword?" said Lockhart dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He pointed at Harry. "He'll lend you one."_

"Idiot!" Petunia said.

_"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore said to Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry…"_

_Lockhart ambled out. Ron cast a curious look back at Dumbledore and Harry as he closed the door._

_Dumbledore crossed to one of the chairs by the fire._

_"Sit down, Harry," he said, and Harry sat, feeling unaccountably nervous._

_"First of all, Harry, I want to thank you," said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling again. "You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you."_

"Dumbledore's man through and through," Ron and Hermione said proudly.

_He stroked the phoenix, which had fluttered down onto his knee. Harry grinned awkwardly as Dumbledore watched him._

_"And so you met Tom Riddle," said Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I imagine he was most interested in you…"_

"Interested… is not the word I'd use," said Teddy darkly.

_Suddenly, something that was nagging at Harry came tumbling out of his mouth._

_"Professor Dumbledore… Riddle said I'm like him. Strange likenesses, he said…"_

_"Did he, now?" said Dumbledore, looking thoughtfully at Harry from under his thick silver eyebrows. "And what do you think, Harry?"_

_"I don't think I'm like him!" said Harry, more loudly than he'd intended. "I mean, I'm — I'm in Gryffindor, I'm…"_

_But he fell silent, a lurking doubt resurfacing in his mind._

_"Professor," he started again after a moment. "The Sorting Hat told me I'd — I'd have done well in Slytherin. Everyone thought I was Slytherin's heir for a while… because I can speak Parseltongue…"_

_"You can speak Parseltongue, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly, "because Lord Voldemort — who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin — can speak Parseltongue. Unless I'm much mistaken, he transferred some of his own powers to you the night he gave you that scar. Not something he intended to do, I'm sure…"_

_Voldemort put a bit of himself in me?" Harry said, thunderstruck._

Lily, James and Teddy's eyes widened slightly before they remember that this was _Harry_.

_"It certainly seems so."_

_"So I should be in Slytherin," Harry said, looking desperately into Dumbledore's face. "The Sorting Hat could see Slytherin's power in me, and it —"_

_"Put you in Gryffindor," said Dumbledore calmly. "Listen to me, Harry. You happen to have many qualities Salazar Slytherin prized in his hand-picked students. His own very rare gift, Parseltongue — resourcefulness — determination — a certain disregard for rules,"_

"Hmm," Molly said.

"Hey, Uncle Harry?" Teddy began hesitantly. "Um, can I tell James that he can get in lots of trouble at Hogwarts because you weren't any better?"

"No!" Harry and Ginny yelled.

"That boy will get into enough trouble of his own without thinking I have no regard for rules!"

_he added, his moustache quivering again. "Yet the Sorting Hat placed you in Gryffindor. You know why that was. Think."_

_"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin…"_

_"Exactly, "said Dumbledore, beaming once more. "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."_

_Harry sat motionless in his chair, stunned. "If you want proof, Harry, that you belong in Gryffindor, I suggest you look more closely at this."_

_Dumbledore reached across to Professor McGonagall's desk, picked up the blood-stained silver sword, and handed it to Harry. Dully, Harry turned it over, the rubies blazing in the firelight. And then he saw the name engraved just below the hilt._

_Godric Gryffindor_

"The sword of Gryffindor," Lily breathed in awe

_"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat, Harry," said Dumbledore simply._

_For a minute, neither of them spoke. Then Dumbledore pulled open one of the drawers in Professor McGonagall's desk and took out a quill and a bottle of ink._

_"What you need, Harry, is some food and sleep. I suggest you go down to the feast, while I write to Azkaban —we need our gamekeeper back. And I must draft an advertisement for the Daily Prophet, too," he added thoughtfully. "We'll be needing a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher… Dear me, we do seem to run through them, don't we?"_

_Harry got up and crossed to the door. He had just reached for the handle, however, when the door burst open so violently that it bounced back off the wall._

_Lucius Malfoy stood there, fury in his face. And cowering behind his legs, heavily wrapped in bandages, was Dobby._

Everyone could hear Harry's teeth snapping together and looked at him curiously.

_"Good evening, Lucius," said Dumbledore pleasantly._

_Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face._

_The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoys shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was dishevelled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore._

_"So!" he said "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."_

_"Well, you see, Lucius," said Dumbledore, smiling serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasleys daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all._

"Because he is," all past Hogwarts students cheered.

_Very strange tales they told me, too… Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."_

_Mr. Malfoy went even paler than usual, but his eyes were still slits of fury._

_"So — have you stopped the attacks yet?" he sneered. "Have you caught the culprit?"_

_"We have," said Dumbledore, with a smile._

_"Well?" said Mr. Malfoy sharply. "Who is it?"_

_"The same person as last time, Lucius," said Dumbledore. "But this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary."_

_He held up the small black book with the large hole through the centre, watching Mr. Malfoy closely._

_Harry, however, was watching Dobby._

_The elf was doing something very odd. His great eyes fixed meaningfully on Harry; he kept pointing at the diary, then at Mr. Malfoy, and then hitting himself hard on the head with his fist._

Everyone frowned trying to figure out what he was saying.

_"I see…" said Mr. Malfoy slowly to Dumbledore._

_"A clever plan," said Dumbledore in a level voice, still staring Mr. Malfoy straight in the eye. "Because if Harry here —" Mr. Malfoy shot Harry a swift, sharp look "and his friend Ron hadn't discovered this book, why — Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will…"_

_Mr. Malfoy said nothing. His face was suddenly masklike._

_"And imagine," Dumbledore went on, "what might have happened then… The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and —killing Muggle-borns_

"It was him," Petunia said and everyone looked at her in shock.

"Of course," Dora said.

"Bloody Bastard," Sirius said

_… __Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise…"_

_Mr. Malfoy forced himself to speak._

_"Very fortunate," he said stiffly._

_And still, behind his back, Dobby was pointing, first to the diary, then to Lucius Malfoy, then punching himself in the head._

_And Harry suddenly understood. He nodded at Dobby, and Dobby backed into a corner, now twisting his ears in punishment._

_"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" said Harry._

_Lucius Malfoy rounded on him._

_"How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" he said._

"Ginny's not stupid!" everyone yelled at the memory

_"Because you gave it to her," said Harry. "In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"_

_He saw Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench._

_"Prove it," he hissed._

_"Oh, no one will be able to do that," said Dumbledore, smiling at Harry. "Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are traced back to you…"_

"Yes," Arthur said.

"He's locked away now,2 Molly said.

_Lucius Malfoy stood for a moment, and Harry distinctly saw his right hand twitch as though he was longing to reach for his wand. Instead, he turned to his house-elf. "We're going, Dobby!"_

_He wrenched open the door and as the elf came hurrying up to him, he kicked him right through it._

"Leave him alone!" Lily and Hermione yelled

_They could hear Dobby squealing with pain all the way along the corridor._

_Harry stood for a moment, thinking hard. Then it came to him —_

_"Professor Dumbledore," he said hurriedly. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"_

_"Certainly, Harry," said Dumbledore calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember…" Harry grabbed the diary and dashed out of the office. He could hear Dobby's squeals of pain receding around the corner. Quickly, wondering if this plan could possibly work, Harry took off one of his shoes, pulled off his slimy, filthy sock, and stuffed the diary into it. Then he ran down the dark corridor._

_He caught up with them at the top of the stairs._

_"Mr. Malfoy," he gasped, skidding to a halt, "I've got something for you —"_

_And he forced the smelly sock into Lucius Malfoy's hand._

_"What the —?"_

_Mr. Malfoy ripped the sock off the diary, threw it aside, then looked furiously from the ruined book to Harry. _

"Atta boy, Harry," said James who realized what his son had done.

_"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents' one of these days, Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too."_

Everyone hissed at him, stupid Malfoy.

"You're as bad as your parents though, Harry," Remus said smirking.

"They're nosy," Sirius finished. "It's a Potter trait, your mother just made it worse for you."

"Hey!" all involved parties yelled

_He turned to go._

_"Come, Dobby. I said, come."_

_But Dobby didn't move. He was holding up Harry's disgusting, slimy sock, and looking at it as though it were a priceless treasure._

_"Master has given a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."_

_"What's that?" spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"_

_"Got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master threw it, and Dobby caught it, and Dobby — Dobby is free."_

Lily and Hermione beamed at Harry before they saw his face, Lily not knowing what was going on frowned but Hermione spoke,

"You did the right thing, Harry," she said kindly. "He was happy afterwards. He lived his own way for himself and away from the torture the Malfoy's gave him. I think he would much rather have the few years of freedom, then remain the slave he was."

Harry nodded and smiled at her.

_Lucius Malfoy stood frozen, staring at the elf then he lunged at Harry._

_"You've lost me my servant, boy!"_

_But Dobby shouted, "You shall not harm Harry Potter!"_

_There was a loud bang, and Mr. Malfoy was thrown backward. He crashed down the stairs, three at a time, landing in a crumpled heap on the landing below._

"Brilliant Dobby!" Dudley cheered

_He got up, his face livid, and pulled out his wand, but Dobby raised a long, threatening finger._

_"You shall go now," he said fiercely, pointing down at Mr. Malfoy. "You shall not touch Harry Potter. You shall go now."_

_Lucius Malfoy had no choice. With a last, incensed stare at the pair of them, he swung his cloak around him and hurried out of sight._

_"Harry Potter freed Dobby!" said the elf shrilly, gazing up at Harry, moonlight from the nearest window reflected in his orb-like eyes. "Harry Potter set Dobby free!"_

_"Least I could do, Dobby," said Harry, grinning. "Just promise never to try and save my life again."_

Harry groaned he wasn't sure whether he wished Dobby listened to him or not.

_The elf's ugly brown face split suddenly into a wide, toothy smile._

_"I've just got one question, Dobby," said Harry as Dobby pulled on Harry's sock with shaking hands. "You told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, remember? Well —"_

_"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening, as though this was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed his name, could be freely named, you see?"_

"That's terrible," Hermione groaned, along with Remus, Lily and Teddy

_"Right," said Harry weakly. "Well, I'd better go. There's a feast, and my friend Hermione should be awake by now…"_

_Dobby threw his arms around Harry's middle and hugged him._

_"Harry Potter is greater by far than Dobby knew!" he sobbed. "Farewell, Harry Potter!"_

_And with a final loud crack, Dobby disappeared._

Everyone, for once, was smiling as they left the pensieve for the final time that day.

"Do you have a nice calm year, next year?" Lily asked desperately.

Harry and Sirius shared a glance with Remus before Harry answer, "No, sorry."

Lily, James and Petunia sunk into a seat at this new bit of information, James putting his head in his hands and Lily rubbing his back

Harry just smirked before going to get the kids and inform Kreacher of dinner.


	17. Chapter 16 - Slip Ups

The next morning everyone was up earlier than usual and breakfast was its usual affair. It was nice having so many people around the table, Harry found, it's why they rarely spent any time at Potter Manor – it was far too big for their middle sized family. Once breakfast was finished they all gathered in the family room to wait for the two Weasley couples. When they did, there were two red-haired men with Molly and Arthur.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind my brother's joining us," Molly smiled kindly at him.

"We were curious," Gideon said, chuckling slightly. "Since you are Ginny's-"

"Our niece's, husband and therefore, kind of our nephew," Fabian finished.

Harry and Ginny couldn't help laugh at the similarities between these two and Fred and George.

'"It's all right, Uncles," Ginny said, after a quick glance at Harry who was now adding a memory to the pensieve. "You're welcome to stay."

Everyone started standing up at the confirmation they were staying and made their way over to Harry knowing it was going to start soon. They'd figure out the routine of this over the last two days,

Soon everyone landed in the Dursleys dining room, with Petunia. Vernon, Marge, Dudley and Harry sitting at the table.

"I take it that's Aunt Marge?" Ron asked remembering what happened this year and trying desperately to keep a straight face.

Harry nodded and they both broke out into evil grins as the memory started.

_"You mustn't blame yourself for the way the boy's turned out, Vernon," _Everyone heard Marge say_ "If there's something rotten on the inside, there's nothing anyone can do about it." _

_Aunt Marge reached for her glass of wine._

_"It's one of the basic rules of breeding," she said. "You see it all the time with dogs. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there'll be something wrong with the pup —"_

James, Remus, Sirius and Harry all growled at that. Of course, she was Harry's mother and James' wife but although Sirius and Remus hadn't been very close to Lily until seventh year, when James deflated his head, she was James' world and they loved her like a sister. Everyone else eyes just narrowed dangerously.

_At that moment, the wineglass Aunt Marge was holding exploded in her hand. Shards of glass flew in every direction and Aunt Marge sputtered and blinked, her great ruddy face dripping._

"Did you just do accidental magic at 13, Harry?" Remus and Lily asked.

Harry nodded slowly wondering where they were going with this but they said no more.

"Brilliant!" James, Sirius and the Prewett twins said.

_"Marge!" squealed Aunt Petunia. "Marge, are you all right?"_

_"Not to worry," grunted Aunt Marge, mopping her face with her napkin. "Must have squeezed it too hard. Did the same thing at Colonel Fubster's the other day. No need to fuss, Petunia, I have a very firm grip…"_

"Did she know?" Teddy asked.

"No," Petunia said. "Vernon made up a story."

"Then you were lucky, Uncle Harry," Teddy said after nodding to his godfather's aunt.

_But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were both looking at Harry suspiciously, so he decided he'd better skip dessert and escape from the table as soon as he could._

"Probably for the best," Dudley said thinking about what happened afterwards.

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"Er, well, you see," Dudley stuttered, not sure what to say so as not to out his mother.

"Let's just say, it wasn't polite," Petunia said and Lily frowned.

"We're skipping a bit here," Harry informed them.

_"Aah," said Aunt Marge, smacking her lips and putting the empty brandy glass back down. "Excellent nosh, Petunia. It's normally just a fry-up for me of an evening, with twelve dogs to look after…" She burped richly and patted her great tweed stomach. "Pardon me. But I do like to see a healthy-sized boy," she went on, winking at Dudley._

"You really weren't a healthy sized boy," Sirius laughed.

"Sirius!" Lily, Molly and Petunia exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry," he said repeatedly cowering under the combined glares of the three women – although it was Lily and Molly he feared more, them being witches and red-heads (which said something about their tempers).

_"You'll be a proper-sized man, Dudders, like your father. Yes, I'll have a spot more brandy, Vernon…"_

_"Now, this one here —" She jerked her head at Harry, "This one's got a mean, runty look about him. You get that with dogs. I had Colonel Fubster drown one last year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak. Underbred."_

"Did she just imply you should be drowned?" Molly shrieked.

Petunia nodded slightly, knowing this wasn't going to be good for her and Lily.

_"It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia" — she patted Aunt Petunia's bony hand with her shovel-like one "but your sister was a bad egg._

"Lily was not a bad egg!" James exclaimed.

"Ignore her, James," Lily said, putting a hand on James arm. "She's Vernon's sister what do you expect."

James nodded, but he and the marauders where all seething with anger. As were the Prewett twins, who had gotten quite fond of Lily since she was a friend of their little sisters, and Harry. Everyone else was just glaring at the women – even if they had never known Lily.

_They turn up in the best families._

_'Then she ran off with a wastrel and here's the result right in front of us."_

"James is not a wastrel!" Sirius and Remus yelled, tired of this women insulting their best friends.

_"This Potter," said Aunt Marge loudly, seizing the brandy bottle and splashing more into her glass and over the tablecloth, "you never told me what he did?"_

_Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were looking extremely tense. Dudley had even looked up from his pie to gape at his parents._

"I was curious," Dudley defended himself as everyone looked at him in shock – all them judging by the size of him in the memory that he liked to eat more than anything.

_"He — didn't work," said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. "Unemployed."_

"What did you do?" Teddy asked curious.

"I was training to be an Auror," James said, proudly.

"So like Harry is?" Dudley asked confused, he didn't really get what his cousin did.

"Why didn't you say he was a policeman?" Lily asked Petunia glaring she obviously was thinking along different lines to everyone else. "I told you an Auror was the equivalent and that James was going to be one."

Everyone stopped talking to watch the sister's - one who was slightly anger and the other who looked like she'd been caught doing something wrong.

"… I forgot," Petunia said weakly.

Lily's glare, however, just deepened knowing it was a lie, while Harry grimaced, he should have thought of this, sadly James observant eye caught he grimace.

"Harry what's going on?" he asked catching Lily's attention from her sister, although she still shot her angry and confused looks.

But Harry just looked away and didn't answer which made Lily's glare come back slightly. They moved their gaze from one person to another knowing one would crack. The Prewett twins shrugged, looking at each other, having died before Harry lived with the Dursleys. Teddy didn't know anything, _stupid private godfather_, he thought. Ginny, Ron and Hermione wouldn't say a thing knowing it wasn't their place to say but when Lily looked at Molly she knew she could break the concerned mother hen of the Weasleys and Harry.

"Molly?" she asked sweetly – no one could resist Lily Potter at her most persuasive. "What isn't Petunia telling me?"

"No," James said, "a better question is what is our son keeping from us?"

Harry and Petunia shock their heads frantically behind the two annoyed parents but unsurprisingly Molly ignored them, seemingly think that telling the truth to Lily and James was the best in the situation.

"You remember on Monday they said that Harry's life before Hogwarts was normal and boring," Molly began as everyone started to shift uncomfortable at the atmosphere, Lily and James nodded, ignoring everyone else. "Well that's a lie."

Petunia put her face in her hands_, here we go_, she thought sadly but she couldn't really blame Molly she had always taken care of Harry in a way she, Petunia, should have and never did.

"Let's just finish this memory before you start, Molly," Harry said shortly and a little coldly. It started Molly a bit since he had never spoke to her that way before in his life.

Due to the fact that anyone could hear the slight trace anger wavering beneath his voice no one question, although, Lily, James and Molly were annoyed.

_"As I expected!" said Aunt Marge, taking a huge swig of brandy and wiping her chin on her sleeve. "A no-account, good-for-nothing, lazy scrounger who —"_

"How dare she!? Tonks exclaimed.

"She said that?" Hermione asked shocked and angered. "In front of you?"

Lily, James and Molly forgot their annoyance to hiss in anger with most people in the room.

_"He was not," said Harry suddenly._

"Uh oh," Teddy, Ron, Hermione and Ginny said knowing Harry's temper when it came to family.

"What?" Fabian and Gideon asked, slightly worried although though they were grinning.

_The table went very quiet. Harry was shaking all over. _

"Uh oh," they repeated again, although this time with Remus, Sirius, Dora, Molly and Arthur.

_"MORE BRANDY!" yelled Uncle Vernon, who had gone very white. He emptied the bottle into Aunt Marge's glass. "You, boy," he snarled at Harry. "Go to bed, go on —"_

_"No, Vernon," hiccoughed Aunt Marge, holding up a hand, her tiny bloodshot eyes fixed on Harry's. "Go on, boy, go on. Proud of your parents, are you?_

"Yes, actually," Harry couldn't help saying getting beaming smiles from Lily and James despite their annoyance with him.

_They go and get themselves killed in a car crash (drunk, I expect) —"_

"They weren't drunks," everyone yelled.

_"They didn't die in a car crash!" said Harry, who found himself on his feet._

Ron and Hermione flinched having been subjected to Harry's anger the most and could feel it building in the air of the memory.

_"They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!" screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. "You are an insolent, ungrateful little —"_

"Leave him alone," everyone in the room yelled.

_But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger — but the swelling didn't stop. Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged, and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech — next second, several buttons had just burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls — she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami…_

Harry was finding it hard not to laugh at everyone's faces – as the swelling continued the jaws had dropped further.

_"MARGE!" yelled Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia together as Aunt Marge's whole body began to rise off her chair toward the ceiling. She was entirely round, now, like a vast life buoy with piggy eyes, and her hands and feet stuck out weirdly as she drifted up into the air, making apoplectic popping noises._

"Brilliant, Harry," the marauders, the Weasleys (excluding Molly), Prewett's, and Teddy exclaimed, laughing, and although they didn't yell, Lily and Molly were wearing evil, as well as proud, smirks. Petunia and Dudley watched horrified, as they did the first time, but both felt she deserved it.

"I though you disapproved," Harry laughed mainly speaking to Hermione.

"Well, I take back everything I ever said," Hermione replied grinning, "the foul woman deserved it."

As silence fell everyone remember Lily and James' annoyance at Harry and Petunia, and they, Lily and James, swiftly turned to look at Molly who shifted awkwardly and she shot a look at Arthur.

"There's no way to soften the blow, dear," he said tiredly, taking his glasses off and giving them a clean.

"And it's too late to turn back," Lily said.

"Fine, well, I'm not positive but they didn't seem to feed him as much as they should've," Molly began weakly but then seemed to get stronger. "He always seemed so thin when he came to ours during the summer. Speaking of coming to ours, Fred, George and Ron rescued him from his room, saying they had starved him, put bars on the window, locked the door and barely gave him food – let alone decent food for a growing boy …"

Molly continued to rant about Harry's treatment at the Dursleys but Lily and James, well as Sirius and Remus, were too angry to really hear the words. Eventually it got too much.

"PETUNIA!" Lily shrieked, turning to face her sister who was cowering. "How dare you! My son, Petunia! My child! I thought you were sorry for how you treated me but if you really were then what reason do you have for treating Harry in such a foul way? If it had been the opposite way round you _know _I would have treated Dudley just as I did Harry!"

Petunia opened her mouth to say something but Lily wasn't finished. Everyone else shifted uncomfortable at the argument going on in front of them.

"Let's go for a walk," Fabian said,

"Excellent idea, my brother," Gideon agreed.

Slowly people began to trickle out, leaving Lily, James, Harry, Ginny, Petunia, and Dudley, in the room. Sirius and Remus had left unwillingly, as had the Weasley clan's parents.

"Mum –" Harry began, hesitantly, not really sure what his mum's temper was like.

"Oh, don't you start on me," Lily said trying not to yell at him. "How dare you not tell us?"

"Harry. Reason. Now," James ordered angrily but far calmer than Lily.

Harry rubbed a hand across the back of his next, sheepishly, before saying, 'I had my reasons.'

This however was not what Lily and James wanted, although it made Ginny smile.

"And those are," Lily asked in a deadly voice that made everyone in the room shiver.

"Let me explain," Ginny said placing her hands palms out. "Harry was being, as usual, a noble prat."

"Oi!" Harry exclaimed half-heartedly having heard it so many times.

"So?" Lily yelled. "I don't care if it was for the greater good or anything, I want the truth about what happened in that house! Right now."

"Harry slept in a cupboard for ten years," Ginny said, glancing at Harry and Petunia, apologetically. Lily Potter reminded her of Molly Weasley and Ginny, knowing her mum like she did, knew Petunia and Harry weren't getting out of this and the best thing to do would be to tell the truth.

"What?" Lily and James screamed.

"Before he got into Hogwarts," Petunia classified it was a lost cause and she just hoped Lily forgave her. "I'm sorry, Lils," Petunia took it as a good sign that Lily still smiled slightly at the nickname, "James. When I said we didn't have a very good relationship until he was seventeen, I was understating, we hated each other."

Harry chuckled at the truth in that statement but no one else seemed to find it amusing more frustrating. James, however, was thinking about Sirius' family and how they'd treated him.

"If you laid a hand on him –" he began dangerously.

"Mum always stopped Dad if he even so much as took a step toward Harry with the intention," Dudley said speaking for the first time during the argument.

Harry's parents and Ginny breathed a sigh of relief and Lily sent Petunia a small sad but grateful smile for this small favour.

"What changed?" James asked through gritted teeth, not wanting to hear how his son was mistreated by his own family even if it wasn't physical.

"I was worried and scared," Petunia admitted.

"Why?" Lily asked her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Voldemort came back and Harry made so sure that we were safe, which made me admire him slightly," Petunia explained, "and then he went off with the order people to do something, we heard of so many deaths and tortures that I was worried Harry would be next."

Everyone's expressions had softened thought her speech until there were slight smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, she was really scared," Dudley agreed. "So was I for that matter, we listened to Potterwatch, was it?" Harry and Ginny nodded. "Yeah, we listened to that every time it was on trying to find out if you were safe – well while Dad sulked."

"That sounds like Uncle Vernon," Harry laughed.

"Please, Lily," Petunia asked, not sounding like herself. "I really do want to be friends again."

"Mum, we've moved past this," Harry added. "You and Dad need too, as well."

Reluctantly Lily and James nodded although they weren't fully ready to forgive Petunia for everything, Harry knew better than to push them.

"I know you guys are out there," Ginny called towards the door now the fight-of-sorts was over. "Get in here!"

Everyone entered the room slightly sheepish at being caught eavesdropping outside the door.

"Can we continue?" Sirius asked being the impatient man he is.

Harry nodded slowly, keeping an eye on Lily and James

_Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the contents aside, however he straightened up suddenly, looking around him but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses._

"What's going on?" Molly asked.

"Harry ran away remember," Arthur reminded her.

"You, what?" Lily exclaimed.

"I wasn't going to stay there after I blew up Aunt Marge," Harry explained weakly.

_He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately stood up once more, his hand clenched on his wand. Harry squinted at the black alleyway. If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat or — something else._

"What's going on?" The twins asked.

_"Lumos," Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes._

"Oh, it's just Sirius," James said as he, Lily and Molly, breathed a sigh. "At least, I think."

"It's me!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

_Harry stepped backward. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand as he flung out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in the gutter._

_There was a deafening BANG, and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light…_

_With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying._

"Sorry for nearly getting you ran over," Sirius said, chuckling slightly although he looked a bit guilty.

_They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus._

"Urg, I hate the night bus," Lily groaned looking slightly green.

"I know, it makes me feel sick," Remus nodded.

"Why?" Petunia asked

_For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night._

_"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve—"_

_The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close up, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was, eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and quite a few pimples._

_"What were you doin' down there?" said Stan, dropping his professional manner._

"Stan," Arthur said, shaking his head.

_"Fell over," said Harry._

_"'Choo fall over for?" sniggered Stan._

"He didn't do it on purpose," Dora said. "It was my dear cousin's fault.'"

_"I didn't do it on purpose," said Harry, annoyed. One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and thehand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding_

"Oh no dear, were you alright?" Molly asked, worried_._

Fabian and Gideon stifled snickers: same old Molly, the mother hen.

_He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty._

_"'Choo lookin' at?" said Stan._

_"There was a big black thing," said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. "Like a dog… but massive…"_

"Excuse me, I am a dog," Sirius said, indignant.

"What?" Petunia exclaimed confused.

"I'm an Animagus," he said but she just looked more confused. "I can turn into an animal – in my case a dog."

"Wicked," Dudley yelled. "Can we see?"

"Sure, James'll show you too," Sirius said, grinning.

"I will?" James asked.

"Yes," Sirius laughed before changing into his grim-like appearance.

James shook his head before changing into a stag. Everyone except Lily and Remus stared open mouthed at the two animals who seemed to be smirking.

"He really does look like your Patronus," Teddy, surprisingly, said.

"That he does," Hermione agreed.

Those who didn't know what Harry's Patronus were looked at them in confusion wondering who and why they were talking about/why.

"Skipping, I assume," Fabian and Gideon said.

_Stan had unfurled a copy of the Daily Prophet and was now reading with his tongue between his teeth. A large photograph of a sunken-faced man with long, matted hair blinked slowly at Harry from the front page. _

_"That man!" Harry said, forgetting his troubles for a moment. "He was on the Muggle news!"_

_Stanley turned to the front page and chuckled._

_"Sirius Black," he said, nodding. "'Course 'e was on the Muggle news,_

"That's you," Petunia screamed, pointing at Sirius, earning glares from many in the room – she knew she recognized him from somewhere.

"Aunt Petunia calm down," Harry said tiredly. "Do you really think that if Sirius really did kill someone me and Ginny would let him near our children?"

"No, no, of course not," Petunia said quickly, "I'm so sorry, Sirius."

_Neville. Where you been?"_

"Neville?" Remus asked.

"I lied," Harry shrugged. "Ron was too obvious, Neville was who my mind went to next."

"I'm sure he'd be flattered," Ron laughed.

_He gave a superior sort of chuckle at the blank look on Harry's face, removed the front page, and handed it to Harry._

_"You oughta read the papers more, Neville."_

_Harry held the paper up to the candlelight and read._

_BLACK STILL AT LARGE_

_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress,_

"Azkaban!" James yelled. "What did you do, Sirius?"

"Nothing, James," Sirius mumbled bitterly dreading when James found out.

_is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today. "We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."_

_Fudge has been criticized by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis._

"He did the right thing," Dudley said remembering the report.

_"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it — who'd believe him if he did?"_

"No one," Hermione said. "He'd be called mad and eventually kicked out the office."

_While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse._

"No," Lily breathed wide-eyed as James yelled the same word.

"What?" The Prewett twins asked as though they'd misheard. The Sirius Black they had known from the Order would never do such a thing.

_"Scary-lookin' fing, inee?" said Stan, who had been watching Harry read._

"Yes," Remus coughed.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed.

Everyone else chuckled at the exchange, even James and Lily who were still thinking about what Sirius had supposedly done.

_"He murdered thirteen people?" said Harry, handing the page back to Stan, "with one curse?"_

_"Yep," said Stan, "in front of witnesses an' all. Broad daylight. Big trouble it caused, dinnit, Ern?"_

"Even Sirius isn't that stupid," Teddy and Dora said, before looking at each other and laughing along with everyone else.

"How do you know what he's like?" Lily asked.

"I've heard a lot of stories about his recklessness," Teddy said with a glance at Harry, who was grinning,

"Harry!" Sirius yelled, mock-hurt but Harry just shrugged.

"I't's true. Just be glad you're a story!"

_"Ar," said Ern darkly._

_Stan swivelled in his armchair, his hands on the back, the better to look at Harry._

_"Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," he said._

Lily and James were shaking their heads at this new bit of information, everything Sirius did was against Voldemort – Peter was the traitor.

_"What, Voldemort?" said Harry, without thinking._

"You really need to learn how to act like a normal wizard," Arthur said frowning.

"I'm a completely normal wizard," Harry defended himself,

Everyone who knew Harry well snorted or scoffed while he scowled.

_Even Stan's pimples went white; Ern jerked the steering wheel so hard that a whole farmhouse had to jump aside to avoid the bus._

_"You outta your tree?"_

"Yes," Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Teddy laughed.

_yelped Stan. "'Choo say 'is name for?"_

_"Sorry," said Harry hastily. "Sorry, I — I forgot —"_

"Oh, Harry," Molly said, shaking her head fondly.

_"Forgot!" said Stan weakly. "Blimey, my 'eart's goin' that fast…"_

_"So — so Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who?" Harry prompted apologetically._

"No," James said, forcefully, upset that his son believed this.

_"Yeah," said Stan, still rubbing his chest. "Yeah, that's right. Very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say… anyway, when little 'Arry Potter got the better of You-Know-'Oo" — Harry nervously flattened his bangs down again_

"That doesn't help much," Dora laughed.

_"all You-Know-'Oo's supporters was tracked down, wasn't they, Ern? Most of 'em knew it was all over, wiv You-Know-'Oo gone, and they came quiet._

_"But not Sirius Black. I 'eard he thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo 'ad taken over._

"I take offence to that," Sirius muttered. "Stop telling my godson lies."

_"Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street full of Muggles an' Black took out 'is wand and 'e blasted 'alf the street apart, an' a wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way._

"Sirius wouldn't do that," Lily said.

_'Orrible, eh? An' you know what Black did then?" Stan continued in a dramatic whisper._

_"What?" said Harry._

_"Laughed," said Stan._

"Sirius!" Remus, Teddy and Dora said none of them knowing this.

_"Jus' stood there an' laughed. An' when reinforcements from the Ministry of Magic got there, 'e went wiv em quiet as anyfink, still laughing 'is 'ead off. 'Cos 'e's mad, inee, Ern? Inee mad?"_

"Completely," said Fabian

"And utterly," added Gideon

"Mad," they finished together.

_"If he weren't when he went to Azkaban, he will be now," said Ern in his slow voice. "I'd blow meself up before I set foot in that place. Serves him right, mind you… after what he did…"_

"If he'd actually done that," said Arthur. "Then yes he would deserve it."

_"They 'ad a job coverin' it up, din' they, Ern?" Stan said. "'Ole street blown up an' all them Muggles dead. What was it they said 'ad 'appened, Ern?"_

_"Gas explosion," grunted Ernie._

"That's wasn't very convincing," Molly muttered, remembering the scene.

_"An' now 'e's out," said Stan, examining the newspaper picture of Black's gaunt face again. "Never been a breakout from Azkaban before, 'as there, Ern?_

"It's meant to be impossible," Ron said.

"Trust Sirius to do the impossible," James laughed,

_Beats me 'ow 'e did it. Frightenin', eh? Mind, I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh, Ern?"_

_Ernie suddenly shivered. "Talk about summat else, Stan, there's a good lad. Them Azkaban guards give me the collywobbles."_

"Me too," most said shivering slightly – Harry the worst.

_Stan put the paper away reluctantly, and Harry leaned against the window of the Knight Bus, feeling worse than ever. _

"He loves to gossip that man," Dora said.

Everyone nodded but Lily had something else on her mind.

"You were in Azkaban for how long, Sirius?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Just after you died," Remus said sadly stumbling over the word "died".

"What?!" Lily and James yelled.

"And he was innocent!" Harry muttered angrily.

Lily and James sunk onto a sofa, as they had been back in the family room since Dora first commented, looking heartbroken at the through of their innocent, fun loving Sirius being in Azkaban for twelve years especially when he was angry.

"Let's get another bad one out of the way," Harry muttered. "Then I'll try find a happy one."

Everyone smiled and entered the pensieve, just as Harry closed and locked his trunk in a room at the Leaky cauldron.

_Harry heard angry voices through the wall, and went to see what was going on._

_The door of number twelve was ajar and Percy was shouting._

_"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing —"_

"What's he polishing?" Fabian asked.

"His head boy badge," Molly and Ron said together – Molly proud, Ron glad he and Harry didn't go back to school, he didn't think he could handle if one of them became Head Boy, most likely, Harry,

_"I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back._

_"What's up?" said Harry._

_"My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, rounding on Harry._

"Don't take it out on them, son," Arthur said.

"It was probably Fred and George," Fabian and Gideon said, they'd spent a lot of time with the twins these last few days and found their two nephews very similar to themselves.

_"So's Scabbers's Rat Tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk to look. "I think I might've left it in the bar —"_

_"You're not going anywhere till you've found my badge!" yelled Percy._

"No offensive, Mrs Weasley," Teddy said hating to insult a member of the family who had taken both him and his godfather in without question, "but Percy seems troubled."

Molly and Arthur nodded sadly; he was distancing himself even at this time.

_"I'll get Scabbers's stuff, I'm packed," Harry said to Ron, and he went downstairs._

_Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, which was now very dark, when he heard another pair of angry voices coming from the parlour. A second later, he recognized them as Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys'. He hesitated, not wanting them to know he'd heard them arguing, when the sound of his own name made him stop, then move closer to the parlour door._

"Harry, don't eavesdrop," Lily scolded her son who just shrugged sheepishly.

_"… makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and —"_

"You heard us from there," Molly said looking at Harry with pity and shock, she also looked disapproving along with Lily but there was nothing anyone was going to be able to about the boy and listening it.

James of course was grinning at his sons' marauders side coming into play slightly.

_"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"_

"Oh," Sirius muttered realising what this was about.

_"I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves — they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice!_

"Sorry," Harry and Ron laughed.

_But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him."_

"He would have been fine," Hermione said smiling slightly.

_But he's not dead, he's fine, so what's the point —"_

_"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban,_

"See that, Sirius," James laughed. "Someone thinks you're clever."

_and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands._

_The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after —"_

_"But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."_

_"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."_

_"But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry —"_

"You were after Harry?" Petunia, Dudley and the Prewett twins asked shocked – even they knew Harry loved his godfather but now it was making less sense as to why.

"I can't believe you people thought I was after Harry," Sirius exclaimed, still slightly angry that people thought he would harm his godson, harm James' son.

"Harry was Sirius's world, just as much as he was mine and Lily's!" James complained. "You people are mad, Sirius would never hurt Harry!"

_There was a thud on wood, _

_"Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Blacks been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… he's at Hogwarts.'_

"That doesn't mean he's after Uncle Harry," Teddy said reasonably sounding like his father. "That means nothing at all."

_Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power_

"Even Sirius isn't that stupid," Fabian laughed.

_Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that…"_

"Yes he did, but not in the way you're thinking, Dad," Ginny said softly and sadly. She hated to think of Sirius sat in that cell in moments of total sanity thinking about James and Lily and Harry, thinking that it was his fault they did and knowing that Peter was still alive and free out there.

_There was a silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more._

_"Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's Headmaster. I suppose he knows about all this?"_

2Normally, I'd agree," said Lily "but Harry had a knack at getting hurt even with Dumbledore there."

_"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed."_

"Who would be happy?" Gideon asked shuddering slightly.

_"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"_

_"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that… but when you're dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."_

_"If they save Harry —"_

"Save Harry!" Hermione screeched causing everyone to jump in suprise. "They were the only thing that endangered Harry that year."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "If it wasn't for them, we'd have had a normal year at Hogwarts."

_"– then I will never say another word against them," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up…"_

_Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlour door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were climbing the stairs._

_The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr. and Mrs. Wesley's bedroom door close then headed back upstairs with the bottle._

_Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in search of his badge._

_"We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry._

_"We've been improving it."_

_The badge now read Bighead Boy._

"Boys," Molly sighed as everyone except Lily laughed.

"Brilliant," her brothers chuckled through their laughter.

_Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, then shut himself in his room and lay down on his bed._

_He scowled at the dark ceiling. "I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said out loud._

_"That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily._

"Indeed it is," Petunia said marvelling at how calm he was, not bothering to sit down as Harry was already changing the memory.

"You weren't scared a bit, were you?" Dudley asked hovering at his mother's side and wondering how he was be behaving.

"Not really," Harry said frowning slightly but not paying a great deal of attention to the question

"No self-preservation," Ginny muttered.

She had hated it when he became a full trained Auror, two years after the war had ended – couldn't she have a little bit longer without having to worry that he was going to get killed. She, and the kids, for that matter, had tried to get him quit but he refused to say it was part of whom he was and that he was keeping the family safe.

"Ted, you'll like this memory," Harry laughed jolting Ginny out of her thoughts

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione checked on the threshold. The Hogwarts Express was usually reserved for students and they had never seen an adult there before, except for the witch who pushed the food cart._

_The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey._

"Remus!" Sirius and James yelled.

"You don't look to good," Lily murmured concerned so quiet compared to Remus' other friends.

"It was the full moon the night before," Remus explained flinching as he remembered that transformation; it was one of his worst.

_"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window._

_"Professor R. J. Lupin." whispered Hermione at once._

_"How'd you know that?"_

_"It's on his case," she replied, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped across one corner in peeling letters._

_"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile._

_"That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defence Against the Dark Arts."_

"Congratulations, Remus," Lily laughed hugging him. "You always wanted to be a teacher."

"Yeah, nice one, mate," James said clapping him on the back. "I bet you were a good one."

"Best one we ever had," Hermione said proudly as Harry, Ron and Ginny nodded beside her ignoring the fact that the competition wasn't that hard.

Lily hugged Remus again as Dora smiled proudly at her husband.

"You could go for it again, Remus," Harry said. "Hermione here has removed all the werewolf laws."

Remus smiled at Harry and Hermione but looked thoughtful.

_"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he?_

"Ron," Molly said frowning at him but he just shrugged and Remus simply smiled.

_Anyway…" he turned to Harry, "what were you going to tell us?"_

_Harry explained all about Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's argument and the warning Mr. Weasley had just given him. When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. She finally lowered them to say, "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry… you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry…"_

_"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."_

"True," everyone muttered.

"But you seemed to be a magnet for it," Teddy added smirking at his godfathers face.

_"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily._

"You went looking for Voldemort," Molly reminded them.

"We didn't go looking for him," Harry replied.

"At the beginning," Ron added stupidly.

"No, Ron and I didn't go looking for him," Hermione corrected Harry who rolled his eyes.

Their conversation had confused everyone who died but they knew that Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't going to let anything on.

"You two did take that badly," Petunia observed.

"They took it worse than I expected," Harry told her.

"What did you expect?" Ron exclaimed.

"We just found out that a supposed mass murderer was after you, this is time one that was actually meant to be alive," Hermione said wide-eyed. "We weren't going to sit their calmly, you're our brother."

"Yeah, mate," Ron said smirking. "The marriages just made it legal."

Harry rolled his eyes and then couldn't resist adding, "so that's the only reason you too married then."

"Harry!" they exclaimed as everyone else laughed.

Lily, James and Sirius were simply glad that Harry had a family since a young age even if he had to live with his, at the time, horrible relatives.

_"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," said Ron uncomfortably. "No one's ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."_

They all flinched thinking how many dementors he'd have had swarming around his all the time.

_"But they'll catch him, won't they?" said Hermione earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too…"_

"I'd just change into a dog and run," Sirius said thinking of the time he nearly got caught.

_"What's that noise?" said Ron suddenly._

_A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment._

_"It's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A moment later he had pulled the Pocket Sneakoscope out from between Harry's robes. It was spinning very fast in the palm of Ron's hand and glowing brilliantly._

_"Is that a Sneakoscope?" said Hermione interestedly, standing up for a better look._

_"Yeah… mind you, it's a very cheap one," Ron said. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errol's leg to send it to Harry."_

_"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said Hermione shrewdly._

_"No! Well… I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys… but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?"_

"Ron…" Molly and Arthur scolded, thinking of poor Errol flying all the way from Egypt at his age

_"Stick it back in the trunk," Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, "or it'll wake him up."_

_He nodded toward Professor Lupin._

"No need," Remus said slyly. "I was already up."

"Remus!" Hermione shocked. "You eavesdropped on us."

"I may be the most 'innocent' marauder," he said smiling with a hint of pride, "but nonetheless I'm still a marauder."

_Ron stuffed the Sneakoscope into a particularly horrible pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks, which deadened the sound, then closed the lid of the trunk on it._

_"We could get it checked in Hogsmeade," said Ron, sitting back down._

"I doubted you people want to listen to our pointless talking so were skipping," Harry said, making Ron breathe a sigh of relief thinking about what he'd said.

_The Hogwarts Express moved steadily north and the scenery outside the window became wilder and darker while the clouds overhead thickened overhead. People were chasing backwards and forwards past the door of their compartment. Crookshanks had now settled in an empty seat, his squashed face turned towards Ron, his yellow eyes on Ron's top pocket._

_At one o'clock the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door._

_"D'you think we should wake him up?" Ron asked awkwardly, nodding towards Professor Lupin. "He looks like he could do with some food."_

_Hermione approached Professor Lupin cautiously._

_"Er — Professor?" she said. "Excuse me — Professor?"_

_He didn't move._

Lily raised an eyebrow, "you must have been hungry, Remus."

"I was more curious," Remus said smirking slightly. "Plus I hadn't seen Harry since he went to the Dursleys on Dumbledore's orders that he had a relatively normal childhood."

Lily's expression softened thinking how hard that would be for Remus – Harry had been all of their worlds and Remus had loved him deeply. He was the only one she trusted Harry along with.

_"Don't worry, dear," said the witch, as she handed a large stack of cauldron cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."_

_"I suppose he is asleep?" said Ron quietly, as the witch slid the compartment door closed. "I mean — he hasn't died, has he?"_

"Ron!" Teddy and Dora exclaimed.

"I thank you, Ronald," Remus said dryly.

"Sorry," Ron muttered.

_"No, no, he's breathing," whispered Hermione, taking the cauldron cake Harry passed her._

_Mid-afternoon, just as it had started to rain, blurring the rolling hills outside the window, they heard footsteps outside in the corridor again, and their three least favourite people appeared at the door: Draco Malfoy, flanked by his cronies, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle._

"Oh what a joy," the Prewett twins said together - Molly had told them about these boys and they knew how bad the Malfoy family was.

_"Well, look who it is," said Malfoy in his usual lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. "Potty and the Weasel."_

"How creative," Teddy said rolling his eyes.

_Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly._

_"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Did your mother die of shock?"_

Fabian and Gideon growled protectively: they were as protective of Molly as the Weasley boys were of Ginny.

_Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks's basket to the floor. Professor Lupin gave a snort._

_"Who's that?" said Malfoy, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin._

_"New teacher," said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in case he needed to hold Ron back. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"_

"He's too much of a cowered to do anything now," Sirius said chuckling.

_Malfoy's pale eyes narrowed; _

_"C'mon," he muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappeared._

_Harry and Ron sat down again, Ron massaging his knuckles._

_"I'm not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year," he said angrily. "I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I'm going to get hold of his head and —"_

_Ron made a violent gesture in midair._

"Ronald," Molly hissed.

_"Ron," hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin, "be careful…"_

Some laughed at Hermione reprimanding Ron as Harry told them they were skipping a bit now.

_"We must be nearly there," said Ron, leaning forward to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window._

_The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down._

_"Great," said Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving. I want to get to the feast…"_

_"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch._

"Oh dear," Teddy said knowing something was wrong: the Hogwarts train never stopped.

_"So why're we stopping?"_

_The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain sounded louder than ever against the windows._

_Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments._

_The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness._

_"What's going on?" said Ron's voice from behind Harry._

_"Ouch!" gasped Hermione. "Ron, that was my foot!"_

_Harry felt his way back to his seat._

_"D'you think we've broken down?"_

"It's a magical train, Harry," Lily smiled.

_"Dunno…"_

_There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out._

_"There's something moving out there," Ron said. "I think people are coming aboard…"_

"Oh no," Molly breathed.

"Crap," Sirius said knowing what was happening, "Ow, Lily."

To everyone's amusement Lily had hit him round the head for his language.

_The compartment door suddenly opened and someone fell painfully over Harry's legs._

_"Sorry! D'you know what's going on? Ouch! Sorry —"_

_"Hullo, Neville," said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak._

_"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"_

_"No idea! Sit down —"_

_There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks._

Teddy flinched as Harry, Ron and Hermione laughed.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"You remember the other day, me and Teddy went over theirs," Harry said nodding to Ron and Hermione. "Teddy sat on Crookshanks."

Everyone laughed except Teddy who stubbornly refused to admit it was funny and he said so.

"Of course not, kid," Dora said, trying to hold in her laughter.

_"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. Harry felt her pass him, heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain._

_"Who's that?"_

_"Who's that?"_

_"Ginny?"_

_"Hermione?"_

_"What are you doing?"_

_"I was looking for Ron —"_

"Sure," Fabian and Gideon sniggered. "Not Harry."

"Oh shut up," Ginny said: Merlin, these two reminded her of Fred and George.

_"Come in and sit down —"_

_"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "I'm here!"_

The twins raised the eyebrows at her but Molly hit them before they could say anything.

_"Ouch!" said Neville._

_"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly._

_Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last._

_Harry could hear movements in his corner._

_None of them spoke._

"Someone listened to you then, Remus," James laughed. "That's a first!"

"Not like we ever did!" Sirius added laughing as well as he remembered all the times Remus tried and failed to get him and James to shut up.

_There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames._

_They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary._

_"Stay where you are." he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him._

_But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it_

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Lily and Molly started to chant_._

_Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water…_

"It's a Dementor," Arthur breathed.

"That's what they look like?" Dudley asked nerviously his eyes wide.

"Yep, Dud, that's what they look like," Harry agreed nodding his head.

_But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak._

_And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings._

_An intense cold swept over them all. Harry's eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn't see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder…_

"What going on?" Petunia asked breathless as everything went black,

"It's Harry memory," Hermione explained breathing hard. "For some reason we're feeling the same thing."

_And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, pleading screams. He wanted to help whoever it was, he tried to move his arms, but couldn't… a thick white fog was swirling around him, inside him —_

_"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"_

"Oh, thank goodness," Lily said getting her breath back,

James was really pale: he'd know that screaming anywhere. The scream of his wife, of Lily, scared and in danger. No one felt like speaking so they watched the memory in silence for a while, not even Fabian and Gideon felt like say anything.

_Someone was slapping his face._

_"W-what?"_

_Harry opened his eyes; there were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking — the Hogwarts Express was moving again and the lights had come back on. He seemed to have slid out of his seat onto the floor. Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him, and above them he could see Neville and Professor Lupin watching. Harry felt very sick; when he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, he felt cold sweat on his face._

_Ron and Hermione heaved him back onto his seat._

_"Are you okay?" Ron asked nervously._

_"Yeah," said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. The hooded creature had vanished. "What happened? Where's that — that thing? Who screamed?"_

_"No one screamed," said Ron, more nervously still._

_Harry looked around the bright compartment. Ginny and Neville looked back at him, both very pale._

_"But I heard screaming —"_

_A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces._

_"Here," he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. "Eat it. It'll help."_

_Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it._

_"What was that thing?" he asked Lupin._

_"A Dementor," said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban."_

"Just your luck, hey Remus," Dora muttered to her husband. "First time you see Harry in 12 years and you have to tell him about those horrible creatures."

_Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket._

_"Eat," he repeated. "It'll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…"_

_He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor._

_"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously._

_"I don't get it… what happened?" said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face._

_"Well — that thing — the Dementor — stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I couldn't see its face) — and you — you —"_

_"I thought you were having a fit or something," said Ron, who still looked scared. "You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching —"_

_"And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand," said Hermione, "and he said, 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the Dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…"_

_"It was horrible," said Neville, in a higher voice than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?"_

_"I felt weird," said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be cheerful again…"_

_Ginny, who was huddled in her corner looking nearly as bad as Harry felt, gave a small sob; Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her._

_"But didn't any of you — fall off your seats?" said Harry awkwardly._

_"No," said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. "Ginny was shaking like mad, though…"_

"You saw the chamber didn't you, Aunt Ginny?" Teddy asked,shuddering himself as he remembered his mother figure so helpless. Ginny just nodded to his question giving him a reassuring smile.

_Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small smile, "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know…"_

_Harry took a bite _

_"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," said Professor Lupin. "Are you all right, Harry?"_

_Harry didn't ask how Professor Lupin knew his name._

_"__Fine," he muttered, embarrassed._

Everyone landed back in the family room, feeling shocked and sad. The atmosphere in the room was heavy and everyone felt it pressing down on them but having nothing to say to lift it. Harry went out and got everyone drinks and biscuits. Eventually Fabian spoke.

"Cheerful that," he said.

Harry smiled weakly, "yeah, well the happy bit, I guess was Remus, it was at least good at some points for Teddy."

Teddy smiled more successfully than his godfather, thinking about his father and how calm he seemed, knowing exactly what to do.

"I've got it!" Harry said suddenly, after a few moments of silence, making everyone jump.

He changed the memory and rushed everyone in. They land in the defence against dark arts classroom with the class filling in but Remus wasn't their yet.

_They all out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room. Lupin smiled sat down, took vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals._

_"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."_

"Practical defence lesson," Lily said smiling they were the only time that defence was her favourite subject.

"They're the best," the twins said.

_A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. _

_"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."_

_Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum._

_Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song._

_"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin —"_

"Hmm," Remus said looking at James and Sirius who just grinned at him unabashed – obviously they had made the song up.

_Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling._

_"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."_

"I think that was the idea, Remus," Dora said smiling at him. She loved how serene her husband was at this time.

_However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry._

"Charming," Petunia said scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"That Peeves," Ginny said although she was smiling.

_Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand._

_"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."_

_He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves._

_With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing._

Everyone laughed at that except Molly who tutted his language.

_"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement._

_"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?"_

_They set off again, and he led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door._

_"Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back._

_The staffroom, a long, panelled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. _

"Great we have to deal with this idiot," Sirius muttered and James gave him pleading look.

_His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."_

"Sev!" Lily exclaimed - she could vaguely understand his dislike to Harry, being James son, but Neville, the poor boy never did anything wrong and neither did his father.

_Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape .Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows._

_"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."_

Everyone smiled at Remus's confidence in Neville.

"And he did," Remus said smiling largely and proudly.

_Neville's face went, if possible, even redder. Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap._

_"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall._

_"Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there."_

_Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively._

_"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice._

_"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?"_

_Hermione put up her hand._

_"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."_

_"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears._

_"This means," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"_

_"Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"_

"You are distracting, you now that?" Harry teased Hermione.

"Oh, shut up," she said but she was smiling.

_"Precisely," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed._

_"It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening._

"No," Sirius agreed, having been it that class, "but it was funny."

_The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter._

_What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing._

_"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please… riddikulus!"_

_"Riddikulus!" said the class together._

_"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."_

_The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows._

_"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"_

_Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out._

_"I didn't catch that, Neville, sorry," said Professor Lupin cheerfully._

_Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."_

"Wise, for him," Arthur said.

"Yes but he shouldn't be afraid of a teacher," Molly said sternly.

_Nearly everyone laughed. Even Neville grinned apologetically. Professor Lupin, however, looked thoughtful._

_"Professor Snape… hmmm… Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"_

_"Er — yes," said Neville nervously. "But — I don't want the Boggart to turn into her either."_

"Again, wise," James said thinking of Frank's mum who he'd meet on countless occasions.

_"No, no, you misunderstand me," said Professor Lupin, now smiling. "I wonder, could you tell us what sort of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"_

'Remus?' Lily asked slowly wondering if he was going where she thought he was with this but he ignored her smiling.

_Neville looked startled, but said, "Well… always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress… green, normally… and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."_

_"And a handbag?" prompted Professor Lupin._

_"A big red one," said Neville._

_"Right then," said Professor Lupin. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"_

_"Yes," said Neville uncertainty, plainly wondering what was coming next._

_"When the Boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand — thus — and cry 'Riddikulus' — and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into that vulture-topped hat, and that green dress, with that big red handbag."_

Everyone laughed at the thought.

"Brilliant, Dad," Teddy laughed, and Remus' face seemed to brighten at the word.

_There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently._

_"If Neville is successful, the Boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn," said Professor Lupin. "I would like all of you to take a moment now to think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…"_

_Harry shivered, then looked around, hoping no one had noticed. Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, "Take its legs off." _

"Spiders?" Fabian asked, his lips twitching when Ron nodded.

_"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin. "Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward… Everyone back, now, so Neville can get a clear shot —"_

_They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready._

_"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One — two — three —now!"_

Everyone grinning in anticipation.

_A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville._

_Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes._

_"R — r — riddikulus! " squeaked Neville._

_There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag._

Everyone burst into laughter as they landed back in the family room, many falling onto chairs or the floor as the laughter over took them.

"Oh my god," Lily said through her laughter, tears if mirth rolling down her cheeks.

"That's what we needed after the last memory," Hermione said trying and falling to control her laughter.

It took everyone a good fifteen minutes to calm down and still then when somebody thought of it they couldn't help let a giggle escape.

Ginny bought some food in before Sirius said they should get back to, using his words, 'the bloody, depressing memories', to Molly's and Lily's disapproval.

They landed back in a corridor following a lone Harry, wondering where Ron and Hermione were.

_"Harry?"_

_Harry doubled back to see who had spoken and met Professor Lupin, looking around his office door._

"Oh good, Remus," Dora said smiling knowing he could cheer Harry up.

_"What are you doing?" said Lupin. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"_

_"Hogsmeade," said Harry, in a would-be casual voice._

"Ooh," everyone sighed, their confusion cleared up.

_"Ah," said Lupin. He considered Harry for a moment. "Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a Grindylow for our next lesson."_

_"A what?" said Harry._

_He followed Lupin into his office. In the corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers._

_"Water demon," said Lupin, surveying the Grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas._

_The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle."_

"Remus," Lily laughed, "you do realize you are trying to cheer him up by teaching him, if he's too much like James …."

Remus grimaced slightly while James and Sirius laughed.

"Nice, Dad." Teddy said sarcastically although he was grinning.

"Don't worry, Remus, it still worked," Harry said chuckling a bit.

Remus' face brightened again.

_The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner._

_"Cup of tea?" Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one."_

_"All right," said Harry awkwardly._

_Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout._

_"Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid — but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?"_

"Divination," Ginny said laughing slightly – that had gone round the school quick.

_Harry looked at him. Lupin's eyes were twinkling._

_"How did you know about that?" Harry asked._

_"Professor McGonagall told me," said Lupin, passing Harry a chipped mug of tea. "You're not worried, are you?"_

_"No," said Harry._

"Course not," Hermione and Ron groaned

_"Anything worrying you, Harry?"_

_"No," Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched the Grindylow brandishing a fist at him. "Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. "You know that day we fought the Boggart?"_

_"Yes," said Lupin slowly._

_"Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly._

_Lupin raised his eyebrows._

_"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised._

_Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he'd done any such thing, was taken aback._

_"Why?" he said again._

_"Well," said Lupin, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort."_

"Harry's not scared of Voldemort," Teddy laughed before adding in mock disappointment. "Really, Dad, and Uncle Harry told me you were clever."

Everyone laughed as Dora and Remus smiled at Harry thankful he'd told Teddy things about them.

_Harry stared. Not only was this the last answer he'd expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort's name. The only person Harry had ever heard say the name aloud (apart from himself) was Professor Dumbledore._

_"Clearly, I was wrong," said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staffroom. I imagined that people would panic."_

_"I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry honestly. "I — I remembered those Dementors."_

"You're scared of Dementors?" Dudley asked, shocked, he hadn't noticed but then he was scared himself. After a while he added. "I don't blame you."

_"I see," said Lupin thoughtfully. "Well, well… I'm impressed." He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry."_

"Wow," Petunia said shocked, she never thought Harry would be scared of fear.

_Harry didn't know what to say to that, so he drank some more tea._

"Couldn't take a compliment then, either, huh, Harry?" Sirius laughed remembering how Harry shuffled uncomfortable whenever anyone complimented him.

"Shut up, Sirius!" Harry said.

_"So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the Boggart?" said Lupin shrewdly._

_"Well… yeah," said Harry. He was suddenly feeling a lot happier. "Professor Lupin, you know the Dementors —"_

_He was interrupted by a knock on the door._

_"Come in," called Lupin._

"Next one Quidditch," Harry said grinning.

'Change it!' the twins said with Sirius, Teddy and James. 'Quickly!'

To begin with Fabian and Gideon had thought it was strange how worried and curious for a boy they'd never actually met before he'd checked them in the Head Auror office but now they thought about it, it wasn't that strange he was their nephew by marriage but even if he wasn't he was still a person that their Molly loved as a son and they, therefore, cared for him just as much. Not to mention watching someone go through this was terrifying whether they knew the person of not

Harry had obliged the five simultaneous requests and had changed the memory, not bothering to tell them this wasn't a normal match – they really should have learnt by now.

_The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Wood but Wood now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded._

_Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, "Mount your brooms."_

_He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — they were off._

_Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain._

_Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred red and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game. He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind. The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger; his vision was so clouded by the rain on his glasses he hadn't seen them coming._

"How can you play in this?" Arthur moaned

_He lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. Twice Harry nearly hit another player, without knowing whether it was a teammate or opponent; everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick, he could hardly tell them apart…_

_With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Harry could just see the outline of Wood through the thick rain, gesturing him to the ground. The whole team splashed down into the mud._

_"I called for time-out!" Wood roared at his team. "Come on, under here —"_

_They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them hurriedly on his robes._

_"What's the score?"_

_"We're fifty points up," said Wood, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."_

_"I've got no chance with these on," Harry said exasperatedly, waving his glasses._

_At that very moment, Hermione appeared at his shoulder;_

"Hermione to the rescue," Dora laughed.

_she was holding her cloak over her head and was, inexplicably, beaming._

_"I've had an idea, Harry! Give me your glasses, quick!"_

_He handed them to her, and as the team watched in amazement, Hermione tapped them with her wand and said,_

_"There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!"_

_Wood looked as though he could have kissed her._

_"Brilliant!" he called hoarsely after her as she disappeared into the crowd. "Okay, team, let's go for it!"_

_Hermione's spell had done the trick. Harry was still numb with cold, still wetter than he'd ever been in his life, but he could see. Full of fresh determination, he urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, ducking beneath Diggory, who was streaking in the opposite direction…_

_There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly —_

_He turned, intending to head back toward the middle of the field, but at that moment, another flash of lightning illuminated the stands, and Harry saw something that distracted him completely, the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats._

_Harry's numb hands slipped on the broom handle and his Nimbus dropped a few feet. Shaking his sodden bangs out of his eyes, he squinted back into the stands. The dog had vanished._

_"Harry!" came Wood's anguished yell from the Gryffindor goal posts. "Harry, behind you!"_

_Harry looked wildly around. Cedric Diggory was pelting up the field, and a tiny speck of gold was shimmering in the rain-filled air between them…_

_With a jolt of panic, Harry threw himself flat to the broom handle and zoomed toward the Snitch._

_"Come on!" he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face. "Faster!"_

_But something odd was happening. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf — what was going on?_

_And then a horribly familiar wave of cold swept over him, inside him, just as he became aware of something moving on the field below…_

"No," everyone breathed even Petunia remembering the feeling from before.

_Before he'd had time to think, Harry had taken his eyes off the Snitch and looked down._

_At least a hundred Dementors, their hidden faces pointing up at him, were standing beneath him. It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again… Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head… a woman…_

_"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

"No!" Lily screamed in a voice that most likely broke everyone's heart in the room, James wrapped and arm around her pulling her too him with a pained expression, knowing expactly what had her so upset.

_"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…"_

_"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead —"_

"No," Molly breathed looking at the women who was the mother of the boy she loved like a son.

She was barely an adult herself, younger than many of Molly's own children but she made the choice every good mother would: her child's life over her own. Molly knew she'd do the same without a spilt second thought but to her a mother begging for her child's life just pulled at her heartstrings and she began to sob, of course not as badly as Lily was. Arthur pulled her in to a hug, as a few tears trickled down his face.

There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Teddy was imagining what it would feel like if that was the only memory he had of his mother and how painful that would be. He stuck between hugging his godfather, who was obviously upset, or his mother, who he knew did the same damn thing as Lily Potter – trying to make the world a better place for her son to live in and for him to survive even if she didn't. He settled for hugging Harry and holding his mothers' hand as Remus had pulled her in hugging her to give himself strength as well as comfort her.

Ginny, Ron and Hermione were all frozen with shock, of course they all knew this was what Harry had heard, but hearing it, actually hearing his mothers' voice begging for his life was completely different and they couldn't even imagine the pain of that.

_He was falling, falling through the icy mist._

_"Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…"_

_A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and Harry knew no more._

"Thank heavens," Petunia breathed, not wanting to hear the last moments of her sisters' life, or at least the first haf; it was far too painful to the heart.

_"Lucky the ground was so soft."_

_"I thought he was dead for sure."_

_"But he didn't even break his glasses."_

_Harry could hear the voices whispering, but they made no sense whatsoever. He didn't have a clue where he was, or how he'd got there, or what he'd been doing before he got there. All he knew was that every inch of him was aching as though it had been beaten._

_That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life."_

_Harry's eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they'd just climbed out of a swimming pool._

_"Harry!" said Fred, who looked extremely white underneath the mud. "How're you feeling?"_

Arthur nodded firmly.

_"What happened?" he said, sitting up so suddenly they all gasped._

"When will you understand that injured means rest, mate?" Ron asked weakly, still upset for hearing his best mate's worst experience - in third year his was probably the spider incident with Fred and George.

"About the same time Sirius admits that Hufflepuff is far better than Gryffindor," Dora tried to joke, to everyone's, mainly Teddy, relief.

"Never," Sires yelled.

_"You fell off," said Fred. "Must've been — what — fifty feet?"_

_"We thought you'd died," said Alicia, who was shaking._

"Alicia, actually all the girls on the team, said you were like their little brother," Ron said before adding, while snickering, "Perfect little brother, material."

_Hermione made a small, squeaky noise. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot._

"Hermione," Lily breathed.

"I was so scared," Hermione said, weakly, remembering watching one of her best friends falling to what she thought had been a painful death.

_"But the match," said Harry. "What happened? Are we doing a replay?"_

"Are you joking me?" Lily, Petunia and Molly screeched once again.

_No one said anything. The horrible truth sank into Harry like a stone._

_"We didn't — lose?"_

_"Diggory got the Snitch," said George. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square… even Wood admits it."_

_"Where is Wood?" said Harry, suddenly realizing he wasn't there._

_"Still in the showers," said Fred. "We think he's trying to drown himself."_

"It's just a game," Dudley said, getting exasperated looks from the Quidditch fanes.

_Harry put his face to his knees, his hands gripping his hair. Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly._

_"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."_

_"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George._

_"It's not over yet," said Fred. "We lost by a hundred points."_

_"Right? So if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"_

_"Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George._

_"But if they beat Ravenclaw…"_

_"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…"_

_"It all depends on the points — a margin of a hundred either way —"_

"They finish each other's sentences almost as much as we do," Fabian and Gideon laughed, gleefully.

_Harry lay there, not saying a word. _

_After ten minutes or so, Madam Pomfrey came over to tell the team to leave him in peace._

_"We'll come and see you later," Fred told him. "Don't beat yourself up Harry, you're still the best Seeker we've ever had."_

_The team trooped out, trailing mud behind them. Madam Pomfrey shut the door behind them, looking disapproving. Ron and Hermione moved nearer to Harry's bed._

_"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione said in a quaking voice. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the Dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away… He was furious they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him —"_

"Only seen him that angry … twice?" Ron said uncertainly.

"When's the second time?" Harry asked warily.

"Mundungus, fifth year," was all Hermione said as Dora, Remus, Sirius, Molly and Arthur shuddered remembering

_"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," said Ron. "And walked up to school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were…"_

_His voice faded,_

"Oh Ron," Molly muttered thinking how he must have felt.

"Scared the living daylights out of me," Ron said with Hermione nodding at his side.

_"Did someone get my Nimbus?"_

_Ron and Hermione looked quickly at each other._

"Oh no," James groaned.

_"Er —"_

_"What?" said Harry, looking from one to the other._

_"Well… when you fell off, it got blown away," said Hermione hesitantly._

_"And?"_

_"And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow."_

"Stupid tree," James and Sirius muttered before they realized it.

"Sorry," Remus muttered before being hit round the head by Lily and Dora who then grinned at each other.

"I got someone on my side at last," Lily said.

"You really have my pity having to deal with all three of them," Dora muttered.

_"And?" he said, dreading the answer._

_"Well, you know the Whomping Willow," said Ron. "It — it doesn't like being hit."_

"Just say it," Arthur advised.

_"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," said Hermione in a very small voice._

_Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry's faithful, finally beaten broomstick._

"Bad luck, Harry," Dudley said knowing how much Harry loved broomsticks and Quidditch.

Teddy grimaced at the thought of the broomstick, as James would of if he hadn't still been calming Lily down.

"Fabian, Gideon, Marauders," Harry said. "You like this memory…or at least part of it."

Their faces lit up but dropped slightly at the end.

"Well we might as well get on without," Remus said tiredly wondering how they were going to survive the rest of the week.

_On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Harry bid good-bye to Ron and Hermione, who were wrapped in cloaks and scarves, then turned up the marble staircase alone, and headed back toward Gryffindor Tower. Snow had started to fall outside the windows, and the castle was very still and quiet._

_"Psst — Harry!"_

"What now?" Molly asked.

_He turned, halfway along the third-floor corridor, to see Fred and George peering out at him from behind a statue of a humpbacked, one-eyed witch._

_"What are you doing?" said Harry curiously. "How come you're not going to Hogsmeade?"_

_"We've come to give you a bit of festive cheer before we go," said Fred, with a mysterious wink. "Come in here…"_

_He nodded toward an empty classroom to the left of the one-eyed statue. Harry followed Fred and George inside. George closed the door quietly and then turned, beaming, to look at Harry._

_"Early Christmas present for you, Harry," he said._

_Fred pulled something from inside his cloak with a flourish and laid it on one of the desks. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with nothing written on it. Harry, suspecting one of Fred and George's jokes, stared at it._

The Marauders grinned at the sight of the map they knew so well as did Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Teddy.

_What's that supposed to be?"_

_"This, Harry, is the secret of our success," said George, patting the parchment fondly._

_"It's a wrench, giving it to you," said Fred, "but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."_

_"Anyway, we know it by heart," said George. "We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."_

_"And what do I need with a bit of old parchment?" said Harry._

"Harry!" Sirius yelled as he and James looked extremely hurt.

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

_"A bit of old parchment!" said Fred, closing his eyes with a grimace as though Harry had mortally offended him. "Explain, George."_

_"Well… when we were in our first year, Harry — young, carefree, and innocent —"_

"Yeah, right," Hermione scoffed.

"You two were never innocent," Ginny said as though speaking to Fred and George at that moment,

_Harry snorted. _

"See Harry agrees," Hermione and Ginny said.

_" —well, more innocent than we are now — we got into a spot of bother with Filch."_

"Don't you always?" Ron laughed to the annoyance of his mother.

_"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason —"_

_"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual —"_

_"— detention —"_

_"— disembowelment —"_

_"— and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."_

"Yes!" James and Sirius yelled, making everyone jump as Remus smiled widely.

"They didn't…" Molly frowned.

_"Don't tell me —" said Harry, starting to grin._

_Well, what would you've done?" said Fred. "George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open, and grabbed — this."_

_"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," said George. "We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."_

_"And you know how to work it?"_

_"Oh yes," said Fred, smirking. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."_

"You're welcome," James and Sirius cheered as Remus rolled his eyes fondly.

_"You're winding me up," said Harry, looking at the ragged old bit of parchment._

_"Oh, are we?" said George._

_He took out his wand, touched the parchment lightly, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

_And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:_

_Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs_

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present_

_THE MARAUDER'S MAP_

_It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing was the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labelled with a name in minuscule writing._

"Cool," Dudley breathed in awe – magical was awesome.

_Astounded, Harry bent over it. A labelled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room. And as Harry's eyes travelled up and down the familiar corridors, he noticed something else._

_This map showed a set of passages he had never entered. And many of them seemed to lead —_

_"Right into Hogsmeade," said Fred, tracing one of them with his finger. "There are seven in all. Now, Filch knows about these four" —he pointed them out — "but we're sure we're the only ones who know about these. Don't bother with the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor. We used it until last winter, but it's caved in — completely blocked._

_'And we don't reckon anyone's ever used this one, because the Whomping Willow's planted right over the entrance._

The marauders glanced at each other, James knowing at least four people who'd used it and Sirius and Remus four more.

_But this one here, this one leads right into the cellar of Honeydukes. We've used it loads of times. And as you might've noticed, the entrance is right outside this room, through that one-eyed old crone's hump."_

_"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," sighed George, patting the heading of the map. "We owe them so much."_

_"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," said Fred solemnly._

_"Right," said George briskly. "Don't forget to wipe it after you've used it —"_

_"— or anyone can read it," Fred said warningly._

_"Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank."_

"I wonder how they worked that all out," James said thoughtfully making a note to ask them next time he saw them as he and most other people grinned.

_"So, young Harry," said Fred, in an uncanny impersonation of Percy, "mind you behave yourself."_

_"See you in Honeydukes," said George, winking._

_They left the room, both smirking in a satisfied sort of way._

"Great, now they've corrupted, Harry," Lily said wishfully.

"Harry didn't need corrupting," Sirius laughed at the idea.

_Harry stood there, gazing at the miraculous map. _

_Harry traced the secret passage to Honeydukes with his finger._

_Then, quite suddenly, as though following orders, he rolled up the map, stuffed it inside his robes, and hurried to the door of the classroom. He opened it a couple of inches. There was no one outside. Very carefully, he edged out of the room and behind the statue of the one-eyed witch._

"Yes, Harry!" James, Sirius, Gideon, and Fabian yelled happily.

_What did he have to do? He pulled out the map again and saw to his astonishment, that a new ink figure had appeared upon it, labelled 'Harry Potter'. This figure was standing exactly where the real Harry was standing, about halfway down the third-floor corridor. Harry watched carefully. His little Ink self appeared to be tapping the witch with his minute wand. Harry quickly took out his real wand and tapped the statue. Nothing happened. He looked back at the map. The tiniest speech bubble had appeared next to his figure. The word inside said, 'Dissendium.'_

_"Dissendium!" Harry whispered, tapping the stone witch again._

_At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit a fairly thin person. Harry glanced quickly up and down the corridor, then tucked the map away again, hoisted himself into the hole headfirst, and pushed himself forward._

_He slid a considerable way down what felt like a stone slide, then landed on cold, damp earth. He stood up, looking around. It was pitch dark. He held up his wand, muttered, "Lumos!" and saw that he was in a very narrow, low, earthy passageway. He raised the map, tapped it with the tip of his wand, and muttered, "Mischief managed!" The map went blank at once. _

"Now just watch out for the ending," the marauders said together each of them rubbing their heads remembering how many time they'd hit them on the trapdoor.

Harry grimaced remembering too before speaking, "Skipping a bit and, by the way, your probably not going to like anymore of this memory."

The joyful atmosphere in the room suddenly disappeared and the temperature dropped a couple of degrees.

_It was extremely crowded, noisy, warm, and smoky. A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar._

_"That's Madam Rosmerta," said Ron. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" he added, going slightly red._

_Harry and Hermione made their way to the back of the room, where there was a small, vacant table between the window and a handsome Christmas tree, which stood next to the fireplace. Ron came back five minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot butterbeer._

_"Happy Christmas!" he said happily, raising his tankard._

_Harry drank deeply. _

"I don't see anything wrong," Petunia said, frowning.

'Don't count your chickens before they're hatched,' Lily said laughing when all the purebloods looked confused. "Muggle expression."

_A sudden breeze ruffled his hair. The door of the Three Broomsticks had opened again. Harry looked over the rim of his tankard and choked._

_Professors McGonagall and Flitwick had just entered the pub with a flurry of snowflakes, shortly followed by Hagrid, who was deep in conversation with a portly man in a lime-green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak — Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic._

"There's the problem," Sirius muttered knowing where this was going.

_In an instant, Ron and Hermione had both placed hands on the top of Harry's head and forced him off his stool and under the table._

"Clever," Arthur nodded in approval.

_Dripping with Butterbeer and crouching out of sight, Harry clutched his empty tankard and watched the teachers' and Fudge's feet move toward the bar, pause, then turn and walk right toward him. Somewhere above him, Hermione whispered, "Mobiliarbus!"_

"Brilliant, Hermione," Remus praised

_The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding them from view._

_Staring through the dense lower branches, Harry saw four sets of chair legs move back from the table right beside theirs, then heard the grunts and sighs of the teachers and minister as they sat down._

_Next he saw another pair of feet, wearing sparkly turquoise high heels, and heard a woman's voice._

_"A small gillywater —"_

_"Mine," said Professor McGonagall's voice._

_"Four pints of mulled mead —"_

_"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid._

_"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella —"_

_"Mmm!" said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips._

_"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."_

_"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge's voice. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us…"_

_"Well, thank you very much, Minister."_

_Harry watched the glittering heels march away and back again. His heart was pounding uncomfortably in his throat. Why hadn't it occurred to him that this was the last weekend of term for the teachers too? And how long were they going to sit there? He needed time to sneak back into Honeydukes if he wanted to return to school tonight… Hermione's leg gave a nervous twitch next to him._

_"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" came Madam Rosmerta's voice._

_Harry saw the lower part of Fudge's thick body twist in his chair as though he were checking for eavesdroppers. Then he said in a quiet voice, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"_

"What happened?" Dora asked, having not heard the story.

"Sirius attacked the fat lady," Hermione said.

Dora nodded but frowned wanting to know more, but Sirius assured her that now was not the time, some other time.

_"I did hear a rumour," admitted Madam Rosmerta._

_"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" said Professor McGonagall exasperatedly._

_"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta._

_"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly._

_"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, a slight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away… It's very bad for business, Minister."_

_"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably. "Necessary precaution… unfortunate, but there you are… I've just met some of them. They're in a fury against Dumbledore — he won't let them inside the castle grounds."_

_"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?"_

_"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground._

_"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse…We all know what Black's capable of…"_

_"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought…I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead."_

"Thanks, Rosmerta," Sirius beamed.

"Sirius had a crush on her at school," Remus stage-whispered to Teddy who tried to keep his laughter in.

"I did not!" Sirius exclaimed seeing the look on Harry and Ron's faces at the thought.

"Yeah you did, Padfoot," James laughed. "It was terrible!"

"So did, Ron," Ginny laughed as she danced out of reach. "That's what he's looking so disgruntled at."

"And Harry?" Lily laughed.

"I just don't like the thought," Harry groaned.

_"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known."_

_"The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"_

_"I certainly do," said Fudge._

_"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?"_

_"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"_

"Crap!" Lily said shocking everyone as she cursed but she shook her head when some looked at her quizzically.

_"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"_

_Harry dropped his tankard with a loud clunk. _

"That," Molly said sadly thinking how much of a shock that would have been and how much it would have hurt.

_Ron kicked him._

_"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers —"_

_"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Fred and George Weasley could give 'em a run fer their money."_

_"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick. "Inseparable!"_

"That's because we are," Sirius and James said at the same time making everyone smile.

_"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothingchanged when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry._

"So that's how you found out," Sirius pouted, upset at how his precious godson found out that he _was _his godson.

_Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."_

"He seemed perfectly fine with it actually," Dudley said thinking back to that summer.

_"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosmerta._

_"Worse even than that, m'dear…" Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them. Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number of useful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."_

"What's that?" Petunia asked curiously – she was sure Lily must have explained it to her at the time but she had been too bitter and angry at that time.

"It's explained," Hermione said.

_"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat._

_"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"_

"Handy," Petunia said; now her question was answered but she was how wondering how it was possible that Lily was killed.

_"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta._

_"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were,_

Sirius nodded his head firmly at this, it was completely true.

_that Black was planning to go into hiding himself… _

Sirius nodded again.

_and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."_

_"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta._

_"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."_

_"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"_

_"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed —"_

_"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta._

"No!" Lily said angrily but she was looking at her son sadly; it must have hurt him badly to hear all these lies and not being aware they were lies.

_"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it —"_

_"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet._

_"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall._

_"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed!_

"Thank you," Lily breathed as though Hagrid could hear her; she had thought that Harry had sat in the ruins of their home till morning.

_Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead… _

Molly's eyes filled with tears as she remembered that she had probably been celebrating by this time and not really thinking about the poor little boy who know had no parents and how that would affect his life.

_an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. _

"Of course he was," Remus said sadly he'd been the same.

_An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared._

_"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!"_

_"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'!_

"No," Sirius said getting frustrated at all the lies – no wonder Harry had tried to kill him the first time they'd met if this is what he'd been told, the only things he knew.

_An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him —' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's._

_Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says._

_"I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace. Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him._

_"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh?_

"I'd be dead by now," Harry muttered but obviously too loud as Sirius looked at him shocked and hurt.

"What?" he said, his throat dry before trying to pass it of as a joke. "You doubt that I could have looked after you?"

"No! No, no, no," Harry muttered realizing what he'd said.

"Blood protection," Petunia said, as Harry stumbled over his words.

_I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea._

"Never," Dora said, knowing how much Sirius loved Harry.

_His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and no one that matters to em anymore…"_

_A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!"_

_"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little Peter Pettigrew_

Everyone in the room, except the Muggles and the Prewett twins growled at the name.

_another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, _

"No," Hermione said. "Not grief. Power."

_- and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, hewent after Black himself."_

_"Pettigrew… that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta._

_"Hero — worshipped Black and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now…" She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold._

_"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses — Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black. They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for his wand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens…"_

_Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy… foolish boy… he was always hopeless at dueling… should have left it to the Ministry…"_

_"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around with wands — I'd 've ripped him limb — from — limb," Hagrid growled._

Everyone in the room flinched at that.

_"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Black once he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him… a heap of bloodstained robes and a few — a few fragments —"_

_Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of five noses being blown._

_"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin, First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban ever since."_

_Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh._

_"Is it true he's mad, Minister?"_

"Yep," Remus and Teddy.

"No!" James and Sirius yelled. "We don't need another Remus!"

Everyone laughed at them as Remus hit them over the back of the head

_"I wish I could say that he was," said Fudge slowly. "I certainly believe his master's defeat unhinged him for a while._

"Something unhinged him that night but it wasn't that," Ginny said sadly.

"That night?" James asked incredulously. "He lost it long before that."

"So true," Ginny said smirking at Sirius' face.

_The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of a cornered and desperate man — cruel… pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection of Azkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them… but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored —_

"I was," Sirius said, following his friends and Ginny's advice and joking about it. "Not a place I'd recommend for a holiday."

_asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him — and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night."_

_"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?"_

_"I daresay that is his — er — eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch Black long before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing… but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again…"_

_There was a small chink of glass on wood. Someone had set down their glass._

_"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to the castle," said Professor McGonagall._

_One by one, the pairs of feet in front of Harry took the weight of their owners once more; hems of cloaks swung into sight, and Madam Rosmerta's glittering heels disappeared behind the bar. The door of the Three Broomsticks opened again, there was another flurry of snow, and the teachers had disappeared._

_"Harry?"_

_Ron's and Hermione's faces appeared under the table. They were both staring at him, lost for words._

"Skipping," Harry said sounding completely normal.

"Oh dear," Petunia sighed, knowing how protective Harry was of his parents.

"Oh, Harry," Molly and Lily sighed remembering that Harry was actually watching this, not knowing that it was all a lie.

"No, no, no!" Teddy yelped, waving his hands. "Don't give him pity, he hates pity."

Everyone quickly removed their sympathetic gazes from Harry, as he shifted uncomfortable. Despite the situation Remus and Dora couldn't help a small smile at how well Teddy knew his godfather.

"Ready?" Harry asked, and once everyone had nodded, the memory continued.

_"Harry, you — you look terrible."_

"Blunt," the twins laughed at the slightly blushing Hermione.

"She's right, though," Lily said. "You don't look very well."

"I couldn't sleep," Harry said smiling slightly at her concern.

_"Where is everyone?" said Harry._

_"Gone! It's the first day of the holidays, remember?" said Ron, watching Harry closely. "It's nearly lunchtime; I was going to come and wake you up in a minute."_

_Harry slumped into a chair next to the fire. Snow was still falling outside the windows. Crookshanks was spread out in front of the fire like a large, ginger rug._

_"You really don't look well, you know," Hermione said, peering anxiously into his face._

_"I'm fine," said Harry._

Molly sighed annoyed but Arthur was the one who spoke, "you really say that too often – especially when you're not fine. It's okay to admit that you're hurt or something, it's not a sigh of weakness."

Harry rolled his eyes but smiled slightly, he knew all that, it was just a habit and he didn't want people's compassion or their fussing.

_"Harry, listen," said Hermione, exchanging a look with Ron, "you must be really upset about what we heard yesterday. But the thing is, you mustn't go doing anything stupid."_

_"Like what?" said Harry._

_"Like trying to go after Black," said Ron sharply._

"Listen to them, Harry," James said, sternly.

_"You won't, will you, Harry?" said Hermione._

_"Because Black's not worth dying for," said Ron._

Harry was doing his best not to show that he still disagreed with that statement but Ron and Hermione's knowing look told him he didn't succeed.

_Harry looked at them. They didn't seem to understand at all._

_"D'you know what I see and hear every time a Dementor gets too near me?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads, looking apprehensive. "I can hear my mum screaming and pleading with Voldemort. And if you'd heard your mum screaming like that, just about to be killed, you wouldn't forget it in a hurry. And if you found out someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers betrayed her and sent Voldemort after her —"_

_"There's nothing you can do!" said Hermione, looking stricken. "The Dementors will catch Black and he'll go back to Azkaban and — and serve him right!"_

"Sorry, Sirius," Hermione said but Sirius just waved his hand, if he had done the things he was imprisoned for he would have said the same.

_"You heard what Fudge said. Black isn't affected by Azkaban like normal people are. It's not a punishment for him like it is for the others."_

_"So what are you saying?" said Ron, looking very tense. "You want to — to kill Black or something?"_

_"Don't be silly," said Hermione in a panicky voice. "Harry doesn't want to kill anyone, do you, Harry?"_

"What about Voldemort?" Teddy suggested innocently.

"That's not the point right now, Ted," Harry said trying not to laugh, "and actually I never wanted to kill Voldemort – I wanted him gone but I didn't want to have to go up a kill him."

_Again, Harry didn't answer. _

_"Malfoy knows," he said abruptly. "Remember what he said to me in Potions? 'If it was me, I'd hunt him down myself… I'd want revenge.'"_

_"You're going to take Malfoy's advice instead of ours?" said Ron furiously._

_"Listen… you know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black had finished with him? Dad told me — the Order of Merlin, First Class, and Pettigrew's finger in a box. That was the biggest bit of him they could find. Black's a madman, Harry, and he's dangerous —"_

_"Malfoy's dad must have told him," said Harry, ignoring Ron. "He was right in Voldemort's inner circle —"_

_"Say You-Know-Who, will you?" interjected Ron angrily._

"No," Harry said chuckling slightly

_"—so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working for Voldemort —"_

_"—and Malfoy'd love to see you blown into about a million pieces, like Pettigrew! Get a grip. Malfoy's just hoping you'll get yourself killed before he has to play you at Quidditch."_

_"Harry, please," said Hermione, her eyes now shining with tears, "Please be sensible. Black did a terrible, terrible thing, but d-don't put yourself in danger, it's what Black wants… Oh, Harry, you'd be playing right into Black's hands if you went looking for him. Your mum and dad wouldn't want you to get hurt, would they? They'd never want you to go looking for Black!"_

_"I'll never know what they'd have wanted, because thanks to Black, I've never spoken to them," said Harry shortly._

"Harry," Lily and James sighed.

"Technically, you did say hi to Lily once," Remus said, remembering how happy they had been.

"We're talking about thing's he remembers, Moony," Sirius said, chuckling, although his face was softer as he remember all the times Harry had had with his parents before they were unfairly ripped from him.

"Do Christmas next, Harry," Remus said remembering the time of the last one.

Harry did as he was told and everyone entered, it was Christmas morning and Ron had just thrown a pillow at Harry.

_"Oi! Presents!"_

"That'll wake you up," Teddy laughed knowing what he, himself, was like.

_Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, squinting through the semi-darkness to the foot of his bed, where a small heap of parcels had appeared. Ron was already ripping the paper off his own presents._

_"Another sweater from Mum… maroon again… see if you've got one."_

"Of course, he had one," Molly said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

_Harry had. Mrs. Weasley had sent him a scarlet sweater with the Gryffindor lion knitted on the front, also a dozen home-baked mince pies, some Christmas cake, and a box of nut brittle. As he moved all these things aside, he saw a long, thin package lying underneath._

_"What's that?" said Ron, looking over, a freshly unwrapped pair of maroon socks in his hand._

_"Dunno…"_

_Harry ripped the parcel open and gasped as a magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled out onto his bedspread. Ron dropped his socks and jumped off his bed for a closer look._

"What's that?" James asked, loving all the new broomsticks that had been invented after he died although he hated that he never had gotten one for himself or had the opportunity to buy one for Harry.

"Firebolt," Ginny said.

_"I don't believe it," he said hoarsely._

_It was a Firebolt. Its handle glittered as he picked it up. He could feel it vibrating and let go; it hung in midair, unsupported, at exactly the right height for him to mount it._

_His eyes moved from the golden registration number at the top of the handle, right down to the perfectly smooth, streamlined birch twigs that made up the tail._

_"Who sent it to you?" said Ron in a hushed voice._

"Me!" Sirius yelled.

"Brilliant!" James shouted.

"Thanks, Padfoot," Lily said, having gotten into the habit of using the marauders names, well except James'

_"Look and see if there's a card," said Harry._

_Ron ripped apart the Firebolt's wrappings._

_"Nothing! Blimey, who'd spend that much on you?"_

"Now or then?" Teddy asked laughing.

"What?" Dora asked.

"Uncle Harry's always getting sent stuff but he just sends it back or to charity," Teddy said frowning. "It annoys me and Jamie a lot."

_"Well," said Harry, feeling stunned, "I'm betting it wasn't the Dursleys."_

_"I bet it was Dumbledore," said Ron, now walking around and around the Firebolt, taking in every glorious inch. "He sent you the Invisibility Cloak anonymously…"_

_"That was my dad's, though," said Harry. "Dumbledore was just passing it on to me. He wouldn't spend hundreds of Galleons on me. He can't go giving students stuff like this —"_

_"That's why he wouldn't say it was from him!" said Ron. "In case some git like Malfoy said it was favouritism. Hey, Harry —" Ron gave a great whoop of laughter — "Malfoy! Wait 'til he sees you on this! He'll be sick as a pig! This is an international standard broom, this is!"_

Everyone in the room grinned either, imagining or remembering the look that would/had been on Malfoys face.

_"I can't believe this," Harry muttered, running a hand along the Firebolt, while Ron sank onto Harry's bed, laughing his head off at the thought of Malfoy. "Who—?"_

_"I know," said Ron, controlling himself, "I know who it could've been — Lupin!"_

"If I could afford a Firebolt, I'd buy myself some new robes," Remus said, smiling – he wished he could have bought Harry and Teddy things like that.

_"What?" said Harry, now starting to laugh himself "Lupin? Listen, if he had this much gold, he'd be able to buy himself some new robes."_

Everyone laughed at the similarities between the two sentences.

_"Yeah, but he likes you," said Ron._

"More than like, Ron," Remus said serenely

_"And he was away when your Nimbus got smashed, and hemight've heard about it and decided to visit Diagon Alley and get this for you —"_

_"What d'you mean, he was away?" said Harry. "He was ill when I was playing in that match."_

_"Well, he wasn't in the hospital wing," said Ron. "I was there, cleaning out the bedpans on that detention from Snape, remember?"_

"Uh oh," James said, that's how he and Sirius had found out.

_Harry frowned at Ron._

_"I can't see Lupin affording something like this."_

_"What're you two laughing about?"_

_Hermione had just come in, wearing her dressing gown and carrying Crookshanks, who was looking very grumpy, with a string of tinsel tied around his neck._

_"Don't bring him in here!" said Ron, hurriedly snatching Scabbers from the depths of his bed and stowing him in his pyjama pocket._

_But Hermione wasn't listening. She dropped Crookshanks onto Seamus's empty bed and stared, open-mouthed, at the Firebolt._

_"Oh, Harry! Who sent you that?"_

_"No idea," said Harry. "There wasn't a card or anything with it."_

_To his great surprise, Hermione did not appear either excited or intrigued by the news. On the contrary, her face fell, and she bit her lip._

"She knows!" Sirius moaned - he wondered why he hadn't seen Harry flying it before the match and practicing on the school brooms.

_"What's the matter with you?" said Ron._

_"I don't know," said Hermione slowly, "but it's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, this is supposed to be quite a good broom, isn't it?"_

_Ron sighed exasperatedly. "It's the best broom there is, Hermione," he said._

Teddy laughed, causing everyone too look at him curiously,

"What are you laughing at?" Dora asked, smiling fondly.

"They still do that about Quidditch, Hermione being, no offense, stupid and Ron annoyed by her lack of knowledge."

Harry laughed as well, remembering times very similar to this.

_"So it must've been really expensive…"_

_"Probably cost more than all the Slytherins' brooms put together," said Ron happily._

_"Well… who'd send Harry something as expensive as that, and not even tell him they'd sent it?" said Hermione._

_"Who cares?" said Ron impatiently. "Listen, Harry, can I have a go on it? Can I?"_

_"I don't think anyone should ride that broom just yet!" said Hermione shrilly._

"We're skipping lunch," Harry said.

"Why?" Dudley asked.

"Teddy's always hungry and I don't want to make him any more so," Harry answered, laughing at Teddy affronted face.

Harry and Ron were sat admiring the Firebolt at every angle in the common room when the memory stopped moving through time.

_the portrait hole opened, and Hermione came in, accompanied by Professor McGonagall._

"What's she doing in the common room," James asked shocked, not having seen the head of Gryffindor in the common room unless there was very bad or good news.

"But she's head of house…" Petunia said, confused.

"Yes but she doesn't come in very often," Hermione said smiling slightly. "The common room is very much a student only place."

_He and Ron stared at her, both holding the Firebolt. Hermione walked around them, sat down, picked up the nearest book and hid her face behind it._

_"So that's it, is it?" said Professor McGonagall beadily, walking over to the fireside and staring at the Firebolt. "Miss Granger has just informed me that you have been sent a broomstick, Potter."_

_Harry and Ron looked around at Hermione. They could see her forehead reddening over the top of her book, which was upside-down._

_"May I?" said Professor McGonagall, but she didn't wait for an answer before pulling the Firebolt out of their hands. She examined it carefully from handle to twig-ends. "Hmm. Andthere was no note at all, Potter? No card? No message of any kind?"_

_"No," said Harry blankly._

_"I see…" said Professor McGonagall. "Well, I'm afraid I will have to take this, Potter."_

_"W — what?" said Harry, scrambling to his feet. "Why?"_

_"It will need to be checked for jinxes," said Professor McGonagall. "Of course, I'm no expert, but I daresay Madam Hooch and Professor Flitwick will strip it down —"_

"No!" all the Quidditch fanes except Ron, Ginny and Harry yelled.

Lily sighed annoyed, "it doesn't hurt it."

_Strip it down?" repeated Ron, as though Professor McGonagall was mad._

_"It shouldn't take more than a few weeks," said Professor McGonagall. "You will have it back if we are sure it is jinx-free."_

_"There's nothing wrong with it!" said Harry, his voice shaking slightly. "Honestly, Professor —"_

_"You can't know that, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, quite kindly, "not until you've flown it, at any rate, and I'm afraid that is out of the question until we are certain that it has not been tampered with. I shall keep you informed."_

_Professor McGonagall turned on her heel and carried the Firebolt out of the portrait hole, which closed behind her. Harry stood staring after her, the tin of High-Finish Polish still clutched in his hands. Ron, however, rounded on Hermione._

_"What did you go running to McGonagall for?"_

_Hermione threw her book aside. She was still pink in the face, but stood up and faced Ron defiantly._

_"Because I thought — and Professor McGonagall agrees with me — that that broom was probably sent to Harry by Sirius Black!"_

"Damn it!" Sirius cursed, rather loudly.

"Hermione!" James groaned to his son's best friend and sister-in-law. "It's an international standard broom."

"You should be more worried for you sons' safety, James!" Lily said her voice rising slightly.

"Sirius' isn't going to hurt Harry," James said brushing it aside.

"But Hermione doesn't know that, and nor do Harry and Ron," Dora said coming to her new friends aid.

Lily sent her a grateful smile to which she returned. Remus beamed at the fact that the two marauder wives were getting along so well, despite the age difference.

"It's getting late," Ginny said glancing out the window, "Perhaps we should continue tomorrow?"

"Let's do a few more, unless you need to get your kids…" Dudley said but it sounded more like a question at the end.

"They're staying till we finish," Harry said. "Since it wasn't logical to keep taking them to a family member and bringing them back every evening."

"Let's continue then," Petunia said as many of the others nodded.

"Can we eat first, though?" Gideon said.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Fabian added.

"Me, too," Teddy said.

Ginny nodded and went to tell Kreacher.

After dinner, in the dining room, everyone settled down again and waited for Harry to sort his thoughts and memories out. Eventually he changed the memory and everyone entered. Harry was sitting in the history of magic classroom and Remus had just arrived carrying a large packing case, which he put on Binn's desk.

_"What's that?" said Harry._

_"Another Boggart," said Lupin, stripping off his cloak. "I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet. It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor._

"What do you want a Dementor for?" Dudley asked shuddering.

"What are you doing, Remus?" Lily asked nervously not wanting to have Harry hearing her beg for his life.

"Teaching – under request," was all Remus said in reply.

_The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when he sees you, so we'll be able to practice on him. I can store him in my office when we're not using him; there's a cupboard under my desk he'll like."_

_"Okay," said Harry_

_"How does it work?" said Harry nervously._

_"Well, when it works correctly, It conjures up a Patronus," said Lupin, "which is a kind of anti-Dementor — a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor._

_"The Patronus is a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the Dementor feeds upon — hope, happiness, the desire to survive — but it cannot feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can't hurt it. But I must warn you, Harry, that the charm might be too advanced for you. Many qualified wizards have difficulty with it."_

_"What does a Patronus look like?" said Harry curiously._

_"Each one is unique to the wizard who conjures it."_

_"And how do you conjure it?"_

_"With an incantation, which will work only if you are concentrating, with all your might, on a single, very happy memory."_

_"Right," he said._

_"The incantation is this —" Lupin cleared his throat. "Expecto patronum!"_

_"Expecto patronum," Harry repeated under his breath, "expecto patronum."_

_"Concentrating hard on your happy memory?"_

_"Oh — yeah —" said Harry. "Expecto patrono — no, patronum — sorry — expecto patronum, expecto patronum"_

_Something whooshed suddenly out of the end of his wand; it looked like a wisp of silvery gas._

"Something happened!" Fabian said shocked as he and everyone else stared at Harry.

_"Did you see that?" said Harry excitedly. "Something happened!"_

_"Very good," said Lupin, smiling. "Right, then — ready to try it on a Dementor?"_

_"Yes," Harry said, gripping his wand very tightly, and moving into the middle of the deserted classroom_

_Lupin grasped the lid of the packing case and pulled._

_A Dementor rose slowly from the box, its hooded face turned toward Harry, one glistening, scabbed hand gripping its cloak. The lamps around the classroom flickered and went out. The Dementor stepped from the box and started to sweep silently toward Harry, drawing a deep, rattling breath. A wave of piercing cold broke over him —_

Everyone took a deep breath as they felt the cold as well.

_"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto —"_

_But the classroom and the Dementor were dissolving… Harry was falling again through thick white fog, and his mother's voice was louder than ever, echoing inside his head — "Not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything —"_

"Not again," James groaned hating to hear his wife begging for their son's life: he wasn't sure how many time's he could hear it without going insane himself.

_"Stand aside — stand aside, girl —"_

_"Harry!"_

"Thank god," Dudley breathed glad Harry had been woken up quickly.

_Harry jerked back to life. He was lying flat on his back on the floor. The classroom lamps were alight again. He didn't have to ask what had happened._

_"Sorry," he muttered, sitting up and feeling cold sweat trickling down behind his glasses._

_"Are you all right?" said Lupin._

_"Yes…" Harry pulled himself up on one of the desks and leaned against it._

_"Here —" Lupin handed him a Chocolate Frog. "Eat this before we try again. I didn't expect you to do it your first time; in fact, I would have been astounded if you had."_

_"It's getting worse," Harry muttered, biting off the Frog's head. "I could hear her louder that time — and him — Voldemort —"_

_Lupin looked paler than usual._

"Sorry," Harry said thinking how Remus must have felt. He might have been more tactful had he known who Remus really was.

Remus gave him a small smile as Dora squeezed his hand.

_"Harry, if you don't want to continue, I will more than understand —"_

_"I do!" said Harry fiercely, stuffing the rest of the Chocolate Frog into his mouth. "I've got to! What if the Dementors turn up at our match against Ravenclaw? I can't afford to fall off again. If we lose this game we've lost the Quidditch Cup!"_

"Is that all you care about?" Molly screeched.

"Molly, couldn't you tell that was a lie?" Teddy asked, shocked that she had missed it when it was so obvious to him – maybe it was to do with the link he and Harry had in common.

_"All right then…" said Lupin. "You might want to select another memory, a happy memory, I mean, to concentrate on… That one doesn't seem to have been strong enough…"_

_He gripped his wand tightly again and took up his position in the middle of the classroom._

_"Ready?" said Lupin, gripping the box lid._

_"Ready," said Harry._

_"Go!" said Lupin, pulling off the lid. The room went icily cold and dark once more. The Dementor glided forward, drawing its breath; one rotting hand was extending toward Harry —_

_"Expecto patronum!" Harry yelled. "Expecto patronum! Expecto Pat —"_

_White fog obscured his senses… big, blurred shapes were moving around him… then came a new voice, a man's voice, shouting, panicking —_

_"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —"_

Lily, Sirius, Remus and Harry all flinched at that and where hugged by their partners, or in Sirius' case Hermione.

_The sounds of someone stumbling from a room — a door bursting open — a cackle of high- pitched laughter —_

_"Harry! Harry… wake up…"_

Everyone breathed out again, glad that it was over.

_Lupin was tapping Harry hard on the face. This time it was a minute before Harry understood why he was lying on a dusty classroom floor._

_"I heard my dad," Harry mumbled. "That's the first time I've ever heard him — he tried to take on Voldemort himself, to give my mum time to run for it…"_

_Harry suddenly realized that there were tears on his face mingling with the sweat. He bent his face as low as possible, wiping them off on his robes, pretending to do up his shoelace, so that Lupin wouldn't see._

_"You heard James?" said Lupin in a strange voice._

"Oh Remus," Ginny said knowing Harry didn't want her pity just holding her gave him comfort.

_"Yeah…" Face dry, Harry looked up. "Why — you didn't know my dad, did you?"_

_"I — I did, as a matter of fact," said Lupin. "We were friends at Hogwarts._

"Is that it, Moony?" James asked, mock-hurt. "Just friends?"

Everyone gave a weak laugh at that as Lily hit him over the head.

_Listen, Harry — perhaps we should leave it here for tonight. This charm is ridiculously advanced… I shouldn't have suggested putting you through this…"_

_"No!" said Harry. He got up again. "I'll have one more go! I'm not thinking of happy enough things, that's what it is… hang on…"_

Everyone tensed as they waited for the heart-breaking voices to start up again.

_Harry got to his feet after a while and faced the packing case once more._

_"Ready?" said Lupin, who looked as though he were doing this against his better judgment._

"You don't think it was a good idea, do you?" Sirius said recognising the look on the memory's face – Remus had pulled it enough times over the years.

"Nearly everything I did for Harry I didn't think was a good idea," Remus laughed, "but this came in handy."

_"Concentrating hard? All right — go!"_

_He pulled off the lid of the case for the third time, and the Dementor rose out of it; the room fell cold and dark —_

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry bellowed. "EXPECTO PATRONUM! EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_The screaming inside Harry's head had started again — except this time, it sounded as though it were coming from a badly tuned radio — softer and louder and softer again… and he could still see the Dementor… it had halted… and then a huge, silver shadow came bursting out of the end of Harry's wand, _

"Amazing," Fabian and Gideon said together.

"Wow," Hermione, Dora and Lily said staring wide-eyed.

"How did you do that?" James asked in shock.

"You shouldn't be able to do even that so soon," Sirius laughed as was his way of showing his shock.

_to hover between him and the Dementor, and though Harry's legs felt like water, he was still on his feet — though for how much longer, he wasn't sure…_

_"Riddikulus!" roared Lupin, springing forward._

_There was a loud crack, and Harry's cloudy Patronus vanished along with the Dementor; he sank into a chair, and felt his legs shaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Professor Lupin forcing the Boggart back into the packing case with his wand; it had turned into a silvery orb again._

_"Excellent!" Lupin said, striding over to where Harry sat. "Excellent, Harry! That was definitely a start!"_

_"Can we have another go? Just one more go?"_

"No!"' Lily and Molly yelled sternly.

_"Not now," said Lupin firmly_

"Thank you," Lily said.

_"You've had enough for one night. Here —"_

_He handed Harry a large bar of Honeydukes' best chocolate._

_"Eat the lot, or Madam Pomfrey will be after my blood. Same time next week?"_

_"Okay," said Harry. He took a bite of the chocolate and watched Lupin extinguishing the lamps that had rekindled with the disappearance of the Dementor. _

"How did you do that?" Arthur asked in fascination. "That's highly advanced magic."

"You knew I could do it," Harry frowned confused.

"Yes but I didn't realize you managed it so quickly," Arthur replied calmly. "It's unbelievable."

"Determination?" Ginny suggested.

"Power?" Hermione said.

"I believe it's probably both," Remus said, frowning slightly, he'd been completely shocked that Harry had done the spell so quickly when most adult wizards couldn't manage it.

"Wicked, Uncle Harry," Teddy said laughing slightly.

"Thank you, Teddy," Harry said smiling slightly but feeling slightly awkward with everyone looking at him. "Let's move on!"

He entered the memory without waiting for anyone to agree or even nod.

Harry was walking down a corridor and was so lost in his thought's he walked straight into Professor McGonagall halfway up the stairs.

_"Do watch where you're going, Potter!"_

_"Sorry, Professor —"_

_"I've just been looking for you in the Gryffindor common room. Well, here it is, we've done everything we could think of, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it at all _

"Of course there isn't," Dora said, smiling.

_you've got a very good friend somewhere, Potter…"_

"Yes he does," Sirius said, proudly.

_Harry's jaw dropped. She was holding out his Firebolt, and it looked as magnificent as ever._

_"I can have it back?" Harry said weakly. "Seriously?"_

_"Seriously," said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually smiling. "I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter —do try and win, won't you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night…"_

_Speechless, Harry carried the Firebolt back upstairs toward Gryffindor Tower. As he turned a corner, he saw Ron dashing toward him, grinning from ear to ear._

_"She gave it to you? Excellent! Listen, can I still have a go on it? Tomorrow?"_

_"Yeah… anything…" said Harry, his heart lighter than it had been in a month. "You know what — we should make up with Hermione… She was only trying to help…"_

_"Yeah, all right," said Ron. "She's in the common room now working — for a change." _

"Right let's watch the game then continue tomorrow," Ginny said before anyone could speak on the last short memory; she was getting tired and didn't want to have to deal with a stressful memory whilst so. "No speaking!"

_They walked out onto the field to tumultuous applause. The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She smiled at Harry as the teams faced each other behind their captains_

_"Wood, Davies, shake hands," Madam Hooch said briskly, and Wood shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain._

_"Mount your brooms… on my whistle… three — two — one —"_

_Harry kicked off into the air and the Firebolt zoomed higher and faster than any other broom; he soared around the stadium and began squinting around for the Snitch, listening all the while to the commentary, which was being provided by the Weasley twins' friend Lee Jordan._

_"They're off, and the big excitement this match is the Firebolt that Harry Potter is flying for Gryffindor. According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt's going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship —"_

_"Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" interrupted Professor McGonagall's voice._

_"Right you are, Professor — just giving a bit of background information — the Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and —"_

_"Jordan!"_

_"Okay, okay, Gryffindor in possession, Katie Bell of Gryffindor heading for goal…"_

_Harry streaked past Katie in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Cho Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier — she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction._

_"Show her your acceleration, Harry!" Fred yelled as he whooshed past in pursuit of a Bludger that was aiming for Alicia._

_Harry urged the Firebolt forward as they rounded the Ravenclaw goal posts and Cho fell behind. Just as Katie succeeded in scoring the first goal of the match, and the Gryffindor end of the field went wild, he saw it — the Snitch was close to the ground, flitting near one of the barriers._

_Harry dived; Cho saw what he was doing and tore after him — Harry was speeding up, excitement flooding him; dives were his specialty, he was ten feet away —_

_Then a Bludger, hit by one of the Ravenclaw Beaters, came pelting out of nowhere; Harry veered off course, avoiding it by an inch, and in those few, crucial seconds, the Snitch had vanished._

The Quidditch fanes made noises of disappointment but didn't say anything at Ginny's glare.

_There was a great "Ooooooh" of disappointment from the Gryffindor supporters, but much applause for their Beater from the Ravenclaw end. George Weasley vented his feelings by hitting the second Bludger directly at the offending Beater, who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it._

_"Gryffindor leads by eighty points to zero, and look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting it through its paces now, see it turn — Chang's Comet is just no match for it, the Firebolt's precision — balance is really noticeable in these long —"_

_"JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"_

_Ravenclaw was pulling back; they had now scored three goals, which put Gryffindor only fifty points ahead — if Cho got the Snitch before him, Ravenclaw would win. Harry dropped lower, narrowly avoiding a Ravenclaw Chaser, scanning the field frantically — a glint of gold, a flutter of tiny wings — the Snitch was circling the Gryffindor goal post…_

_Harry accelerated, eyes fixed on the speck of gold ahead — but just then, Cho appeared out of thin air, blocking him —_

_"HARRY, THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN!" Wood roared as Harry swerved to avoid a collision. "KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!"_

"Don't teach my son bad manners, Wood!" Lily said before looking apologetically at Ginny.

_Harry turned and caught sight of Cho; she was grinning. The Snitch had vanished again. Harry turned his Firebolt upward and was soon twenty feet above the game. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cho following him… She'd decided to mark him rather than search for the Snitch herself… _

_He dived again, and Cho, thinking he'd seen the Snitch, tried to follow; Harry pulled out of the dive very sharply; she hurtled downward; he rose fast as a bullet once more, and then saw it, for the third time — the Snitch was glittering way above the field at the Ravenclaw end._

_He accelerated; so, many feet below, did Cho. He was winning, gaining on the Snitch with every second — then —_

_"Oh!" screamed Cho, pointing._

_Distracted, Harry looked down._

_Three Dementors, threetall, black, hooded Dementors, were looking up at him._

_He didn't stop to think. Plunging a hand down the neck of his robes, he whipped out his wand and roared, "Expecto patronum!"_

_Something silver-white, something enormous, erupted from the end of his wand._

"What is it?" James asked the shape seemed familiar to him but it was too blurry to make out – to his annoyance no one answered his question.

_He knew it had shot directly at the Dementors but didn't pause to watch; his mind still miraculously clear, he looked ahead — he was nearly there. He stretched out the hand still grasping his wand and just managed to close his fingers over the small, struggling Snitch._

_Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Harry turned around in midair and saw six scarlet blurs bearing down on him; next moment, the whole team was hugging him so hard he was nearly pulled off his broom. Down below he could hear the roars of the Gryffindors in the crowd._

_"That's my boy!" Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina, and Katie had all kissed Harry; Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off. In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the field, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd._

_"Yes!" Ron yelled, yanking Harry's arm into the air. "Yes! Yes!"_

_"Well done, Harry!" said Percy, looking delighted. "Ten Galleons to me!Must find Penelope, excuse me —"_

_"Good for you, Harry!" roared Seamus Finnigan._

_"Ruddy brilliant!" boomed Hagrid over the heads of the milling Gryffindors._

_"That was quite some Patronus," said a voice in Harry's ear._

"Dad," Teddy said beaming but cowered slightly aw Ginny's glare for silence was directed towards him.

_Harry turned around to see Professor Lupin, who looked both shaken and pleased._

_"The Dementors didn't affect me at all!" Harry said excitedly. "I didn't feel a thing!"_

_"That would be because they — er — weren't Dementors," said Professor Lupin. "Come and see —"_

_He led Harry out of the crowd until they were able to see the edge of the field._

_"You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright," said Lupin._

_Harry stared. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground were Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Marcus Flint, the Slytherin team Captain, all struggling to remove themselves from long, black, hooded robes. It looked as though Malfoy had been standing on Goyle's shoulders. Standing over them, with an expression of the utmost fury on her face, was Professor McGonagall._

"How dare they?!" Molly and Lily shrieked.

James, Sirius and Dora were shaking with anger while everyone else glared at the four Slytherin's as though they could see them.

_"An unworthy trick!" she was shouting. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin! I shall be speaking to Professor Dumbledore about this, make no mistake! Ah, here he comes now!"_

_If anything could have set the seal on Gryffindor's victory, it was this. Ron, who had fought his way through to Harry's side, doubled up with laughter as they watched Malfoy fighting to extricate himself from the robe, Goyle's head still stuck inside it._

_"Come on, Harry!" said George, fighting his way over. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"_

_"Right," said Harry, and feeling happier than he had in ages, he and the rest of the team led the way, still in their scarlet robes, out of the stadium and back up to the castle._

"That was bloody brilliant," Sirius said. He hadn't been around for that game and now wished that he had been.

"Amazing!" the twins shouted.

Lily and James were beaming proudly at their son.

After everyone had laughed, spoke, and congratulated Harry on/about the game. Ginny sent them all to bed with a glare no one challenged before she and Harry flopped onto their own bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

But Lily and James didn't have such luck. They lay, as they had for the last few days, thinking about their son, just staring into each other's eyes. They had joined the order to stop their son having a need to defend himself effectively but if his first, second and third years were any indication they hadn't succeeded.


	18. Chapter 17 - The Marauders

They next morning after a delicious breakfast made by Lily – it was Kreacher's day off, Hermione instance although it didn't take much to convince the two Potters – they all settled in the family room again and talked about what they had learned the day before. They did this most days at breakfast but for some reason today felt tenser.

"There's no need to tell you the whole Buckbeak story but Hermione will tell you the basics," Harry said before adding to Hermione "Basics, Hermione, just the basics."

She glared at him before speaking, "Buckbeak's a hippogriff, one of Hagrid's, Malfoy didn't listen to Hagrid and got himself hurt during a lesson, therefore Buckbeak's being executed. There you go Harry that was just the basic."

She glared at Harry, and taking the childish route, he stuck his tongue out back. Everyone had watched the strange pair and laughed as Hermione smirked and stuck her tongue out back.

They started quickly, as was their way, and soon they were in the pensieve again.

_Ahead they could see Malfoy, who was walking with Crabbe and Goyle, and kept looking back, laughing derisively._

_"S'no good, Ron," said Hagrid sadly as they reached the castle steps. "That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that…"_

_Hagrid turned around and hurried back toward his cabin, his face buried in his handkerchief._

_"Look at him blubber!"_

_Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had been standing just inside the castle doors, listening._

_"Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?" said Malfoy. "And he's supposed to be our teacher!"_

_Harry and Ron both made furious moves toward Malfoy, but Hermione got there first — SMACK!_

"Hermione!" Molly and Lily said shocked but James and Sirius went to congratulate her on 'a great slap.'

_She had slapped Malfoy across the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Harry, Ron, Crabbe, and Goyle stood flabbergasted as Hermione raised her hand again._

_"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul — you evil —"_

"Ferret," Ron suggested calmly before he, Ginny, Harry and Hermione burst out laughing to the confusion of everyone else.

_"Hermione!" said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her hand as she swung it back._

_"Get off, Ron!"_

_Hermione pulled out her wand. Malfoy stepped backward. _

_"Hermione!" Ron said again, sounding both stunned and impressed._

_"Harry, you'd better beat him in the Quidditch final!" Hermione said shrilly. "You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin wins!"_

"Hermione, niece-in-law, we love you," Fabian and Gideon cheered laughing.

Hermione blushed slightly as the memories started up again.

_"Seen anything yet?" Harry asked them after a quarter of an hour's quiet crystal gazing._

_"Yeah, there's a burn on this table," said Ron, pointing. "Someone's spilled their candle."_

"Ronald!" Molly reprimanded.

_"This is such a waste of time," Hermione hissed. "I could be practicing something useful. I could be catching up on Cheering Charms —"_

_Professor Trelawney rustled past._

_"Would anyone like me to help them interpret the shadowy portents within their Orb?" she murmured over the clinking of her bangles._

_"I don't need help," Ron whispered. "It's obvious what this means. There's going to be loads of fog tonight."_

"Was there?" Dudley asked.

"Can't remember," Hermione and Harry said. "It's likely."

_Both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing._

_"Now, really!" said Professor Trelawney as everyone's heads turned in their direction. Parvati and Lavender were looking scandalized. "You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!" She approached their table and peered into their crystal ball. _

"Oh, here we go," Ginny muttered.

_"There is something here!" Professor Trelawney whispered, lowering her face to the ball, so that it was reflected twice in her huge glasses. "Something moving… but what is it?"_

_Harry was prepared to bet everything he owned, including his Firebolt, that it wasn't good news, whatever it was. And sure enough —_

_"My dear," Professor Trelawney breathed, gazing up at Harry. "It is here, plainer than ever before… my dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer… the Gr —"_

"Oh for goodness' sake," Lily snapped knowing where this was going - she had no patience with Divination.

_"Oh, for goodness' sake!" said Hermione loudly. "Not that ridiculous Grim again!"_

_Professor Trelawney raised her enormous eyes to Hermione's face. Parvati whispered something to Lavender, and they both glared at Hermione, too. Professor Trelawney stood up, surveying Hermione with unmistakable anger._

_"I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane."_

_There was a moment's silence. Then —_

_"Fine!" said Hermione suddenly, getting up and cramming Unfogging the Future back into her bag. "Fine!" she repeated, swinging the bag over her shoulder and almost knocking Ron off his chair. "I give up! I'm leaving!"_

"Hermione!" it wasn't Molly or Lily this time, it was Remus, although he'd heard she'd stop taking Divination.

He was surprised Hermione, _Hermione Granger_, eager face, sat straight, hand in air, _Hermion_e, had just walked out of her class.

_And to the whole class's amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight._

_It took a few minutes for the class to settle down again. Professor Trelawney seemed to have forgotten all about the Grim. She turned abruptly from Harry and Ron's table, breathing rather heavily as she tugged her gauzy shawl more closely to her._

_"Ooooo!" said Lavender suddenly, making everyone start. "Ooooo, Professor Trelawney, I've just remembered! You saw her leaving, didn't you? Didn't you, Professor? 'Around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever!' You said it ages ago, Professor!"_

_Professor Trelawney gave her a dewy smile._

_"Yes, my dear, I did indeed know that Miss Granger would be leaving us. One hopes, however, that one might have mistaken the Signs… The Inner Eye can be a burden, you know…"_

_Lavender and Parvati looked deeply impressed, and moved over so that Professor Trelawney could join their table instead._

_"Some day Hermione's having, eh?" Ron muttered to Harry, looking awed._

_"Yeah…"_

"Boy's," Hermione said fondly as the memory skipped though time again.

_Lost appeal. They're going to execute at sunset. Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it._

_Hagrid_

"Oh no," Arthur said.

_"We've got to go," said Harry at once. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner!"_

_"Sunset, though," said Ron, who was staring out the window ill a glazed sort of way. "We'd never be allowed… 'specially you, Harry…"_

_Harry sank his head into his hands, thinking._

_"If we only had the Invisibility Cloak…"_

_"Where is it?" said Hermione._

_Harry told her about leaving it in the passageway under the one-eyed witch._

_"…if Snape sees me anywhere near there again, I'm in serious trouble," he finished._

_"That's true," said Hermione, getting to her feet. "If he sees you… How do you open the witch's hump again?"_

_"You — you tap it and say, 'Dissendium,'" said Harry. "But —"_

_Hermione didn't wait for the rest of his sentence; she strode across the room, pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait and vanished from sight._

_"She hasn't gone to get it?" Ron said, staring after her._

_She had. Hermione returned a quarter of an hour later with the silvery cloak folded carefully under her robes._

_"Hermione, I don't know what's gotten into you lately!" said Ron, astounded. "First you hit Malfoy, then you walk out on Professor Trelawney —"_

_Hermione looked rather flattered._

"Was has gotten into you?" James asked.

"Nothing," Hermione said.

"Boys! You corrupted her," Molly said sternly,

"Sorry," said Harry and Ron grinning not meaning it in the slightest.

_They reached Hagrid's cabin and knocked. He was a minute in answering, and when he did, he looked all around for his visitor, pale-faced and trembling._

_"It's us," Harry hissed. "We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."_

_"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered, but he stood back, and they stepped inside. Hagrid shut the door quickly and Harry pulled off the cloak._

_Hagrid looked like a man who did not know where he was or what to do. This helplessness was worse to watch than tears._

_"Wan' some tea?" he said. His great hands were shaking as he reached for the kettle._

_"Where's Buckbeak, Hagrid?" said Hermione hesitantly._

_"I — I took him outside," said Hagrid, spilling milk all over the table as he filled up the jug. "He's tethered in me pumpkin patch. Thought he oughta see the trees an' — an' smell fresh air — before —"_

_Hagrid's hand trembled so violently that the milk jug slipped from his grasp and shattered all over the floor._

"Poor Hagrid," Dudley said finding it weird that he felt sorry for a man who tried to turn him into a pig.

_"I'll do it, Hagrid," said Hermione quickly, hurrying over and starting to clean up the mess._

_"There's another one in the cupboard," Hagrid said, sitting down and wiping his forehead on his sleeve. Harry glanced at Ron, who looked back hopelessly._

_"Isn't there anything anyone can do, Hagrid?" Harry asked fiercely, sitting down next to him. "Dumbledore —"_

_"He's tried," said Hagrid. "He's got no power ter overrule the Committee. He told 'em Buckbeak's all right, but they're scared… Yeh know what Lucius Malfoy's like… threatened 'em, I expect… an' the executioner, Macnair, he's an old pal o' Malfoy's… but it'll be quick an' clean… an' I'll be beside him…"_

_Hagrid swallowed. His eyes were darting all over the cabin as though looking for some shred of hope or comfort._

_"Dumbledore's gonna come down while it — while it happens. Wrote me this mornin'. Said he wants ter — ter be with me. Great man, Dumbledore…"_

_Hermione, who had been rummaging in Hagrid's cupboard for another milk jug, let out a small, quickly stifled sob. She straightened up with the new jug in her hands, fighting back tears._

_"We'll stay with you too, Hagrid," she began, but Hagrid shook his shaggy head._

_"Yeh're ter go back up ter the castle. I told yeh, I don' wan' yeh watchin'. An' yeh shouldn' be down here anyway… If Fudge an' Dumbledore catch yeh out without permission, Harry, yeh'll be in big trouble."_

_Silent tears were now streaming down Hermione's face, but she hid them from Hagrid, bustling around making tea. Then, as she picked up the milk bottle to pour some into the jug, she let out a shriek._

_"Ron, I don't believe it — it's Scabbers!"_

Sirius growled again at the mention on the rat.

_Ron gaped at her._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Hermione carried the milk jug over to the table and turned it upside down. With a frantic squeak, and much scrambling to get back inside, Scabbers the rat came sliding out onto the table._

_"Scabbers!" said Ron blankly. "Scabbers, what are you doing here?"_

_He grabbed the struggling rat and held him up to the light. Scabbers looked dreadful. He was thinner than ever, large tufts of hair had fallen out leaving wide bald patches, and he writhed in Ron's hands as though desperate to free himself._

_"It's okay, Scabbers!" said Ron. "No cats! There's nothing here to hurt you!"_

_Hagrid suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on the window. His normally ruddy face had gone the colour of parchment._

_"They're comin'…"_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione whipped around. A group of men was walking down the distant castle steps. In front was Albus Dumbledore, his silver beard gleaming in the dying sun. Next to him trotted Cornelius Fudge. Behind them came the feeble old Committee member and the executioner, Macnair._

_"Yeh gotta go," said Hagrid. Every inch of him was trembling. "They mustn' find yeh here… Go now…"_

_Ron stuffed Scabbers into his pocket and Hermione picked up the cloak. "I'll let yeh out the back way," said Hagrid._

_They followed him to the door into his back garden. Harry felt strangely unreal, and even more so when he saw Buckbeak a few yards away, tethered to a tree behind Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Buckbeak seemed to know something was happening. He turned his sharp head from side to side and pawed the ground nervously._

_"It's okay, Beaky," said Hagrid softly. "It's okay…" He turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Go on," he said. "Get goin'."_

_But they didn't move._

_"Hagrid, we can't —"_

_"We'll tell them what really happened —"_

_"They can't kill him —"_

_"Go!" said Hagrid fiercely. "It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"_

_They had no choice. As Hermione threw the cloak over Harry and Ron, they heard voices at the front of the cabin. Hagrid looked at the place where they had just vanished from sight._

_"Go quick," he said hoarsely. "Don' listen…"_

_And he strode back into his cabin as someone knocked at the front door._

_Slowly, in a kind of horrified trance, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off silently around Hagrid's house. As they reached the other side, the front door closed with a sharp snap._

_"Please, let's hurry," Hermione whispered. "I can't stand it, I can't bear it…"_

_They started up the sloping lawn toward the castle. The sun was sinking fast now; the sky had turned to a clear, purple-tinged gray, but to the west there was a ruby-red glow._

_Ron stopped dead._

_"Oh, please, Ron," Hermione began._

"Get out of there," Arthur said, not wanting them to see. They'd seen enough all ready.

_"It's Scabbers — he won't — stay put —"_

_Ron was bent over, trying to keep Scabbers in his pocket, but the rat was going berserk; squeaking madly, twisting and flailing, trying to sink his teeth into Ron's hand._

_"Scabbers, it's me, you idiot, it's Ron," Ron hissed._

_They heard a door open behind them and men's voices._

_"Oh, Ron, please let's move, they're going to do it!" Hermione breathed._

_"Okay — Scabbers, stay put —"_

_They walked forward; Harry, like Hermione, was trying not to listen to the rumble of voices behind them. Ron stopped again._

_"I can't hold him — Scabbers, shut up, everyone'll hear us —"_

_The rat was squealing wildly, but not loudly enough to cover up the sounds drifting from Hagrid's garden. There was a jumble of indistinct male voices, a silence, and then, without warning, the unmistakable swish and thud of an axe._

"No!" Lily and Petunia exclaimed sadly.

_Hermione swayed on the spot._

_"They did it!" she whispered to Harry. "I d — don't believe it — they did it!"_

_The three of them stood transfixed with horror under the Invisibility Cloak. The very last rays of the setting sun were casting a bloody light over the long-shadowed grounds. Then, behind them, they heard a wild howling._

_"Hagrid," Harry muttered. Without thinking about what he was doing, he made to turn back, _

"Good friend,2 James said proudly before adding sternly, "but now's not the time."

_but both Ron and Hermione seized his arms._

_"We can't," said Ron, who was paper-white. "He'll be in worse trouble if they know we've been to see him…"_

_Hermione's breathing was shallow and uneven._

_"How — could — they?" she choked. "How could they?"_

_"Come on," said Ron, whose teeth seemed to be chattering._

_They set off back toward the castle, walking slowly to keep themselves hidden under the cloak. The light was fading fast now._

_By the time they reached open ground, darkness was settling like a spell around them._

_"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling madly. Ron came to a sudden halt, trying to force Scabbers deeper into his pocket._

_"What's the matter with you, you stupid rat? Stay still — OUCH! He bit me!"_

_"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione whispered urgently. "Fudge'll be out here in a minute —"_

_"He won't — stay — put —" _

_Scabbers was plainly terrified. He was writhing with all his might, trying to break free of Ron's grip._

_"What's the matter with him?"_

_But Harry had just seen — stinking toward them, his body low to the ground, wide yellow eyes glinting eerily in the darkness — Crookshanks. Whether he could see them or was following the sound of Scabbers's squeaks, Harry couldn't tell._

_"Crookshanks!" Hermione moaned. "No, go away, Crookshanks! Go away!"_

_But the cat was getting nearer —_

_"Scabbers — NO!"_

_Too late — the rat had slipped between Ron's clutching fingers, hit the ground, and scampered away. In one bound, Crookshanks sprang after him, and before Harry or Hermione could stop him, Ron had thrown the Invisibility Cloak off himself and pelted away into the darkness._

_"Ron!" Hermione moaned._

_She and Harry looked at each other, then followed at a sprint; it was impossible to run full out under the cloak; they pulled it off and it streamed behind them like a banner as they hurtled after Ron; they could hear his feet thundering along ahead and his shouts at Crookshanks._

_"Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come here —"_

_There was a loud thud._

_"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat —"_

_Harry and Hermione almost fell over Ron; they skidded to a stop right in front of him. He was sprawled on the ground, but Scabbers was back in his pocket; he had both hands held tight over the quivering lump._

_"Ron — come on back under the cloak —" Hermione panted. "Dumbledore — the Minister — they'll be coming back out in a minute —"_

_But before they could cover themselves again, before they could even catch their breath, they heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws… Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog._

"Sirius," Remus said.

_Harry reached for his wand, but too late — the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him on the chest; he keeled over backward in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth — but the force of its leap had carried it too far; it rolled off him. Harry tried to stand up; he could hear it growling as it skidded around for a new attack._

_Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, he seized a handful of the brute's hair, but it was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll —_

"Sirius!" everyone except Harry, Ron, Hermione and Sirius yelled.

"Sorry, sorry," Sirius said, raising his hands in defence. "I _was_ going for the rat."

_Then, out of nowhere, something hit Harry so hard across the face he was knocked off his feet again. He heard Hermione shriek with pain and fall too._

_Harry groped for his wand, blinking blood out of his eyes_

_"Lumos!" he whispered._

_The wandlight showed him the trunk of a thick tree; they had chased Scabbers into the shadow of the Whomping Willow and its branches were creaking as though in a high wind, whipping backward and forward to stop them going nearer._

_And there, at the base of the trunk, was the dog, dragging Ron backward into a large gap in the roots — Ron was fighting furiously, but his head and torso were slipping out of sight —_

_"Ron!" Harry shouted, trying to follow, but a heavy branch whipped lethally through the air and he was forced backward again._

_All they could see now was one of Ron's legs, which he had hooked around a root in an effort to stop the dog from pulling him farther underground — but a horrible crack cut the air like a gunshot; Ron's leg had broken,_

"Sirius Black!" Molly screamed.

"I'm sorry, sorry, Molly, Ron, Arthur," Sirius said quickly repeating "Sorry".

"It's fine," Ron said but Molly didn't seem stratified.

_and a moment later, his foot vanished from sight._

_"Harry — we've got to go for help —" Hermione gasped;_

"Exactly," Molly said.

_she was bleeding too; the Willow had cut her across the shoulder._

_"No! That thing's big enough to eat him; we haven't got time —"_

_"Harry — we're never going to get through without help —"_

_Another branch whipped down at them, twigs clenched like knuckles._

_"If that dog can get in, we can," Harry panted, darting here and there, trying to find a way through the vicious, swishing branches, but he couldn't get an inch nearer to the tree roots without being in range of the tree's blows._

_"Oh, help, help," Hermione whispered frantically, dancing uncertainly on the spot, "Please…"_

_Crookshanks darted forward. He slithered between the battering branches like a snake and placed his front paws upon a knot on the trunk._

_Abruptly, as though the tree had been turned to marble, it stopped moving. Not a leaf twitched or shook._

_"Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered uncertainly. She now grasped Harry's arm painfully hard. "How did he know —?"_

_"He's friends with that dog," said Harry grimly. "I've seen them together. Come on — and keep your wand out —"_

_They covered the distance to the trunk in seconds, but before they had reached the gap in the roots, Crookshanks had slid into it with a flick of his bottlebrush tail. Harry went next; he crawled forward, headfirst, and slid down an earthy slope to the bottom of a very low tunnel._

_Crookshanks was a little way along, his eyes flashing in the light from Harry's wand. Seconds later, Hermione slithered down beside him._

_"Where's Ron?" she whispered in a terrified voice._

_"This way," said Harry, setting off, bent-backed, after Crookshanks._

_"Where does this tunnel come out?" Hermione asked breathlessly from behind him._

"Shrieking Shack," James said.

"We know," Harry and Hermione replied and James blushed slightly causing Lily to smile at him fondly.

_"I don't know… It's marked on the Marauder's Map but Fred and George said no one's ever gotten into it… It goes off the edge of the map, but it looked like it was heading for Hogsmeade…"_

_They moved as fast as they could, bent almost double; ahead of them, Crookshanks's tail bobbed in and out of view. _

_He and Hermione paused, gasping for breath, edging forward. Both raised their wands to see what lay beyond._

_It was a room, a very disordered, dusty room. Paper was peeling from the walls; there were stains all over the floor; every piece of furniture was broken as though somebody had smashed it. The windows were all boarded up._

_Harry glanced at Hermione, who looked very frightened but nodded._

_Harry pulled himself out of the hole, staring around. The room was deserted, but a door to their right stood open, leading to a shadowy hallway. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again. Her wide eyes were travelling around the boarded windows._

_"Harry," she whispered, "I think we're in the Shrieking Shack."_

"Indeed you are," Teddy said. "Horrible place, no offence, Dad."

"How do you know?" Remus asked, frowning.

"I was curious,?" Teddy said.

Remus' frowned turned into a sad smile that matched Dora's.

_Harry looked around. His eyes fell on a wooden chair near them. Large chunks had been torn out of it; one of the legs had been ripped off entirely._

_"Ghosts didn't do that," he said slowly._

"No," said Sirius cheerfully. "It was a werewolf."

"What!?" Petunia and Dudley yelled.

"Nothing, nothing," Remus and Dora said glaring at Sirius.

_At that moment, there was a creak overhead. Something had moved upstairs. Both of them looked up at the ceiling._

_He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded again and let go._

_Quietly as they could, they crept out into the hall and up the crumbling staircase. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust except the floor, where a wide shiny stripe had been made by something being dragged upstairs._

_They reached the dark landing._

_"Nox," they whispered together, and the lights at the end of their wands went out. Only one door was open. As they crept toward it, they heard movement from behind it; a low moan, and then a deep, loud purring. They exchanged a last look, a last nod._

_Wand held tightly before him, Harry kicked the door wide open._

_On a magnificent four-poster bed with dusty hangings lay Crookshanks, purring loudly at the sight of them. On the floor beside him, clutching his leg, which stuck out at a strange angle, was Ron._

_Harry and Hermione dashed across to him._

_"Ron — are you okay?"_

_"Where's the dog?"_

_"Not a dog," Ron moaned. His teeth were gritted with pain. "Harry, it's a trap —"_

_"What —"_

_"He's the dog… he's an Animagus."_

"Yes, I am," Sirius sang proud of himself.

_Ron was staring over Harry's shoulder. Harry wheeled around. With a snap, the man in the shadows closed the door behind them._

_A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have been a corpse. The waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull. His yellow teeth were bared in a grin. It was Sirius Black._

"You really do look bad mate," James said after he sucked in a sharp breath. Sirius's good looks had been restored in death and you could hardly tell he had met the dementors or that he spent thirteen years around them.

_"Expelliarmus!" he croaked, pointing Ron's wand at them._

_Harry's and Hermione's wands shot out of their hands, high in the air, and Black caught them. Then he took a step closer. His eyes were fixed on Harry._

_"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely._

_His voice sounded as though he had long since lost the habit of using it. "Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful… it will make everything much easier…"_

"Merlin, that was the wrong thing to say," Sirius said, that made it sound like he wanted to kill Harry. He realised he was going to be kicking himself a lot today at all the things his past self did that now he would know to never say in front of Harry.

_Without knowing what he was doing, he started forward, but there was a sudden movement on either side of him and two pairs of hands grabbed him and held him back…_

_"No, Harry!" Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black._

_"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" he said fiercely, though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more colour, and he swayed slightly as he spoke._

Lily and James smiled at their son having such loyal friends- friends like Remus and Sirius

_Something flickered in Black's shadowed eyes._

_"Lie down," he said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."_

"First clue to his innocence," Teddy said smiling. "A mass murder wouldn't care."

_"Did you hear me?" Ron said weakly, though he was clinging painfully to Harry to stay upright. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"_

_"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black, and his grin widened._

"Argh!" Sirius groaned.

"Bad thing to say, Padfoot," Lily said sadly, hating how Harry believed his godfather to be a murderer.

"_Why's that?" Harry spat, trying to wrench himself free of Ron, and Hermione. "Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew… What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?"_

"Shh, Harry," Petunia said.

_"Harry!" Hermione whimpered. "Be quiet!"_

_"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, and with a huge effort he broke free of Hermione's and Ron's restraint and lunged forward —_

"Harry!" everyone expect the trio, Remus and Sirius yelled shocked that Harry would attack his godfather. Harry flinched slightly.

_one of Harry's hands fastened over his wasted wrist, forcing the wand tips away; the knuckles of Harry's other hand collided with the side of Black's head and they fell, backward, into the wall —_

_Hermione was screaming; Ron was yelling; there was a blinding flash as the wands in Black's hand sent a jet of sparks into the air that missed Harry's face by inches;_

_Harry felt the shrunken arm under his fingers twisting madly, but he clung on, his other hand punching every part of Black it could find._

_But Black's free hand had found Harry's throat_

_"No," he hissed, "I've waited too long —"_

_The fingers tightened, Harry choked, his glasses askew._

"Sirius!" the same people yelled, this time Sirius flinched

_Then he saw Hermione's foot swing out of nowhere. Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain; Ron had thrown himself on Black's wand hand and Harry heard a faint clatter —_

_He fought free of the tangle of bodies and saw his own wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself toward it but_

_"Argh!"_

_Crookshanks had joined the fray; both sets of front claws had sunk themselves deep into Harry's arm; Harry threw him off, but Crookshanks now darted toward Harry's wand —_

_"NO YOU DON'T!" roared Harry, and he aimed a kick at Crookshanks that made the cat leap aside, spitting; Harry snatched up his wand and turned —_

_"Get out of the way!" he shouted at Ron and Hermione._

_They didn't need telling twice. Hermione, gasping for breath, her lip bleeding, scrambled aside, snatching up her and Ron's wands. Ron crawled to the four-poster and collapsed onto it, panting, his white face now tinged with green, both hands clutching his broken leg._

"You just listened," Dudley said shocked.

"Harry really is the leader," Ron said.

"And by then, we've learnt to listen," Hermione added smiling slightly. "Act first, and then ask later."

"Bet that's hard for you," Sirius laughed.

_Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart._

_"Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered._

"What are you doing?" Petunia said shocked.

_Harry stopped right above him, his wand still pointing at Black's chest, looking down at him. A livid bruise was rising around Black's left eye and his nose was bleeding._

_"You killed my parents," said Harry, his voice shaking slightly, but his wand hand quite steady._

_Black stared up at him out of those sunken eyes._

_"I don't deny it," he said very quietly._

"Wrong thing to say again, mate," James said. "And it wasn't your fault – we all trusted Peter."

_"But if you knew the whole story."_

_"The whole story?" Harry repeated, a furious pounding in his ears. "You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."_

_"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't… You don't understand…"_

Harry closed his eyes, thinking how much he would regret that, and Ginny grasped his hand while Sirius clapped his shoulder lightly, both of them knowing what he was thinking.

_I understand a lot better than you think," said Harry, and his voice shook more than ever. "You never heard her, did you? My mum… trying to stop Voldemort killing me… and you did that… you did it…"_

_Before either of them could say another word, something ginger streaked past Harry; Crookshanks leapt onto Black's chest and settled himself there, right over Black's heart. Black blinked and looked down at the cat._

_"__Get off," he murmured, trying to push Crookshanks off him._

_But Crookshanks sank his claws into Black's robes and wouldn't shift. He turned his ugly, squashed face to Harry and looked up at him with those great yellow eyes. To his right, Hermione gave a dry sob._

_Harry stared down at Black and Crookshanks, his grip tightening on the wand. Harry raised the wand. The seconds lengthened. And still Harry stood frozen there, wand poised, Black staring up at him, Crookshanks on his chest. Ron's ragged breathing came from near the bed; Hermione was quite silent._

"You couldn't do it," Dudley said actually quite shocked, he'd never seen Harry that angry.

_And then came a new sound —_

_Muffled footsteps were echoing up through the floor — someone was moving downstairs._

_"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE — SIRIUS BLACK — QUICK!"_

_Black made a startled movement that almost dislodged Crookshanks; Harry gripped his wand convulsively. The footsteps were thundering up the stairs and Harry still hadn't done it._

_The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. _

"Remus," everyone breathed relieved.

_His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and bleeding at Harry's feet._

_"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted._

_Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the two Hermione was holding. Lupin caught them all deftly, then moved into the room, staring at Black, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across his chest._

_Harry stood there,_

_Then Lupin spoke, in a very tense voice._

_"Where is he, Sirius?"_

_Harry looked quickly at Lupin then he turned to look at Black again._

_Black's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds, he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered._

"What?" Gideon and Fabian said confused and frowning - they hated being confused.

_"But then…" Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "… why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" — Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "— unless he was the one… unless you switched… without telling me?"_

"Work it all out yourself, Dad," Teddy laughed.

_Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Lupin's face, Black nodded._

_"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on —?"_

_But he never finished the question, because what he saw made his voice die in his throat. Lupin was lowering his wand, gazing fixed at Black. The Professor walked to Black's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Black like a brother._

"Not clever," Ginny said, knowing the trio.

Remus and Sirius nodded grimly – this looked bad from Harry's view.

_Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach._

_"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed._

_Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. "You — you —"_

_"Hermione —"_

_"–you and him!"_

_"Hermione, calm down —"_

_"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you —"_

"Thanks, Hermione," Dora said smiling, glad Hermione had protected her husband's secret although personally at the time she had no reason to.

_"Hermione, listen to me, please" Lupin shouted. "I can explain —"_

_"I trusted you," Harry shouted at Lupin, his voice wavering, out of control, "and all the time you've been his friend!"_

_"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now — Let me explain…"_

_"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too — he's a werewolf!"_

"What?" Petunia and Dudley yelled moving away from Remus.

"Oi, there's nothing wrong with my dad!" Teddy shouted fuming.

Harry put a hand on his arm which calmed Teddy down a great deal before turning to his aunt.

"There is nothing wrong with werewolves," Harry explained calmly. "You've spent time around Remus; you've liked him, right?" They nodded, still not looking convinced. "Does his being a werewolf make him a bad person?"

They stared at Harry, whose own angry was starting to rise now, and actually thought about what he was saying. Dudley shook his head, as he and his mother moved back to the group.

"Sorry," he said.

"I'm very sorry, Remus," Petunia said, sighing, "We shouldn't let the preconceptions of our world judge who you are. You're a perfectly nice man, and shouldn't be treated any differently because of your –"

"…furry little problem," Harry said, getting a glare from Remus but a huge grin from James.

"Furry little problem," Petunia finished uncertainly.

"I thank you," Remus said, although he still thought they should keep their distance.

_There was a ringing silence. Everyone's eyes were now on Lupin, who looked remarkably calm, though rather pale._

_"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione," he said. "Only one out of three_

"We're not in class, Moony," James laughed.

_, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead." An odd shiver passed over his face. "But I won't deny that I am a werewolf."_

_Ron made a valiant effort to get up again but fell back with a whimper of pain. Lupin made toward him, looking concerned, but Ron gasped, "Get away from me, werewolf!"_

"Ron!" Molly, Ginny and Arthur moaned disappointed.

_Lupin stopped dead. Then, with an obvious effort, he turned to Hermione and said, "How long have you known?"_

_"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay…"_

_"He'll be delighted," said Lupin coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realise what my symptoms meant… _

"Greasy git," Sirius muttered under his breath.

_Did you check the lunar chart and realise that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realise that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"_

_"Both," Hermione said quietly._

"Do you have to do your homework so thoroughly?" James muttered glad everyone didn't do that.

_Lupin forced a laugh._

_"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."_

_"I'm not," Hermione whispered. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"_

_"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."_

_"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf," Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"_

"Yes," said Gideon

"But not because of this," Fabian finished laughing.

_"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy —"_

_"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL THE TIME!"_

_He was pointing at Black, who suddenly crossed to the four-poster bed and sank onto it, his face hidden in one shaking hand. Crookshanks leapt up beside him and stepped onto his lap, purring. Ron edged away from both of them, dragging his leg._

_"I have not been helping Sirius," said Lupin. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look —"_

_He separated Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his, stunned._

_"There," said Lupin, sticking his own wand back into his belt "You're armed, we're not. Now will you listen?"_

"Risky, Remus," Arthur muttered.

_"If you haven't been helping him," Harry said, with a furious glance at Black, "how did you know he was here?"_

_"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it —"_

_"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously._

"Of course he does," James and Sirius cheered

_"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony — that was my friends' nickname for me at school."_

"And after," Lily said smiling then added, "Moony."

_"You wrote —?"_

_"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"_

"You knew us so well," Ron muttered half annoyed that someone had been able to predict them.

_He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet._

_"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry—"_

_"How d'you know about the cloak?"_

_"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it…" said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again._

"You know, they might have trusted you more, Remus," Dora began hesitantly, "if you'd told Harry how close you were to James."

_"The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map._

_I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."_

"No, they weren't," Dudley said frowning.

_"What?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!"_

_"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"_

_"No one was with us!" said Harry._

_"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labelled Sirius Black… I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow —"_

_"One of us!" Ron said angrily._

_"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you."_

_He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron._

_"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly._

"What?" Gideon and Fabian said catching on.

_"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"_

_"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"_

_Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's leg and made a soft hissing noise._

_Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers._

_"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"_

_"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly._

"Yes, it is," Petunia said confused.

_"What d'you mean — of course he's a rat —"_

_"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."_

_"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."_

_It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in. _

_"You're both mental." Ron said._

"True," Teddy said, laughing at the look on his father's face. "Sirius more so than Dad."

"Harry, what have you been telling him?" Dora asked trying not to laugh.

"Nothing that could have given him the idea that Remus was mental," Harry said frowning while he looked over at his godson for answers.

"George," was all Teddy said, and that cleared up everyone's confusion

_"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly._

"Under normal circumstances I'd agree," Lily said: it did sound mad.

_"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Black, whose face twitched convulsively._

_"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me… not this time, though!"_

_And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg._

"Sirius, please be careful," Arthur said.

_"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that — they need to understand — we've got to explain —"_

_"We can explain afterwards!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried toescape._

_"They've — got — a — right — to — know — everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry — you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!"_

_Black stopped struggling,_

"Knew that would stop you," Remus said smirking.

"Probably one of the only things that would," Sirius said grudgingly. "Stupid Moony."

_though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands._

_"All right, then," Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat. "Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for…"_

_"You're nutters, both of you," said Ron shakily, looking round at Harry and Hermione for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."_

"Just listen, Ron," James said. "Also, you're not getting far on that leg."

_He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers._

_"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen."_

_"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Harry caught him am pushed him back down to the bed._

"Thank Merlin, for you reflexes," Hermione breathed thinking of all the times they'd come in handy.

_Then, ignoring Black, Harry turned to Lupin._

_"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," he said. "A whole street full of them…"_

_"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" said Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands._

_"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself — until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies… Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."_

"He's not going to believe you," Dora said, knowing what Harry was like.

_Harry looked down at Ron, Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Professor Lupin to talk sensibly._

_"But Professor Lupin… Scabbers can't be Pettigrew… it just can't betrue, you know it can't…"_

_"Why can't it be true?" Lupin said calmly, as though they were in class,_

_"Because… because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework — the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things… and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."_

"But there was three unregistered Animagus at Hogwarts at one point," Lily said, frowning at her husband and his friends.

_Lupin started to laugh._

_"Right again, Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."_

_"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years; I'm not going to wait much longer."_

"Gotten more impatient haven't you, Padfoot," James laughed.

_"All right… but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began…"_

_Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord_

"That's not good," Teddy muttered, knowing the place was never haunted.

"Harry…" James had clicked it. "Where's the cloak?"

_. All five of them stared at it. Then Lupin strode toward it and looked out into the landing._

_"No one there…"_

_"This place is haunted!" said Ron._

_"It's not," said Lupin, still looking at the door in a puzzled way. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted… The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."_

"Oh Remus," Lily sighed sadly, hating the pain her friend went through.

_He pushed his greying hair out of his eyes, thought for a moment then said, "That's where all of this starts — with my becoming a werewolf. None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten… and if I hadn't been so foolhardy…"_

_He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, but Hermione, said, "Shh!" She was watching Lupin very intently._

_"I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery._

"What potion?" James asked.

"Wolfsbane," Molly answered, she was so glad that potion had been discovered.

_It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform… I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again._

"That's handy," Fabian and Gideon laughed.

_"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me._

_"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic._

"As Dumbledore was," Ginny said smiling.

_He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school…" Lupin sighed, and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" — Lupin looked miserably around the room, — "the tunnel that leads to it — they were built for my use._

_Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous."_

_The only sound apart from Lupin's voice was Scabbers's frightened squeaking._

_"My transformations in those days were — were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead._

"Remus," Dora sighed grabbing his hand.

_The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumour… Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it…_

_"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black… Peter Pettigrew… and, of course, your father, Harry — James Potter._

_"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her…_

"They were bloody terrible," Sirius laughed.

"And they only got worse," James added chuckling.

_I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth…_

_"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."_

_"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded._

"No need to sound so shocked, Harry," James laughed.

_"Yes, indeed," said Lupin. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."_

_"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled._

"Thanks for asking that, Hermione," Dudley said, he was really curious about the world his cousin lived in.

_"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed… Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."_

Everyone smiled at the great friends James and Sirius were and that Peter had been.

_"Hurry up, Remus," snarled Black, who was still watching Scabbers with a horrible sort of hunger on his face._

_"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there… well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night._

"Remus!" Dora said, shocked.

"That's dangerous," Lily said speaking to all three marauder though of course she had known. Remus had cornered her one time against one of school rules when she had snuck out unable to sleep. James had saved her, of course, his stag form standing between them with Sirius barking from behind. She had been so confused when 10 minutes after Remus had gone, James came jogging towards her with concern and fear written clear as day across his face.

_Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did… And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."_

_"What sort of animal —?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off. "That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"_

Molly nodded firmly glad Hermione had sense.

_"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless — carried away with our own cleverness._

They all grimaced at what idiots they had been at school.

_"I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course… he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed…"_

"Huh?" Lily asked, now as confused as everyone else.

_Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me… and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it… so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."_

"Remus!" Everyone yelled.

_"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"_

_"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione._

"Nasty shock," Sirius muttered angrily.

_"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defence Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons… you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me —"_

_Black made a derisive noise._

_"It served him right," he sneered. _

"It does not!" Lily shrieked.

_"Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to… hoping he could get us expelled…"_

_"Severus was very interested in where I went every month." Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we — er — didn't like each other very much._

"Understatement," Harry and Ron laughed.

_He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field…_

"That wasn't it, and you know it," James said frowning at Remus

_anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be — er — amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it — if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf — but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life… _

Everyone who didn't know the story of what happened and was alive when Harry did similar things, grinned at how similar James was to Harry in saving someone he hated.

_Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was…"_

_"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"_

_"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin._

_Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin._

"Urg, just what you need," Dora groaned.

_Hermione screamed. Black leapt to his feet. _

_"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the cloak aside,_

James groaned, his question from earlier answered.

"I hope you washed that, Uncle Harry," Teddy said.

"Teddy," Harry said, sternly.

_careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Lupin's chest. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you…"_

_Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along._

"Arg," Teddy muttered, he'd heard this story before, just not in much detail.

_And very lucky I did… lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."_

_"Severus —" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him._

_"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout —"_

_"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't heard everything — I can explain — Sirius is not here to kill Harry —"_

"He doesn't care about me, Remus," Harry said.

_"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this… He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin… a tame werewolf —"_

"Severus!" Lily and Petunia frowned as everyone, except the obvious, looked at Petunia wondering how she knew Snape.

_"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"_

_BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move._

"I hate him," Dora muttered.

_With a roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes._

_"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."_

"Stop, Sirius," Lily and James breathed knowing Severus wouldn't wait. He'd used Sectumsempra on James as he was walking away from a fight.

_Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred._

_Harry stood there, paralyzed. He glanced around at Ron and Hermione. Ron looked just as confused as he did, still fighting to keep hold on the struggling Scabbers. Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape — it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"_

"Not at all," said Arthur. "It wouldn't hurt anyone."

_"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."_

_"But if — if there was a mistake —"_

_"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted,_

"Don't call Hermione stupid!" Ron and Harry yelled.

_looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"_

"She understands a lot more than you do, Severus," Remus said tiredly.

_A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione fell silent._

_"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you…"_

_"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" — he jerked his head at Ron — "I'll come quietly…"_

_"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black… pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay… I —"_

James growled at that, really beginning to wonder what he did to gain so much respect form Harry. He was beginning to hate Snape despite what he'd told Remus all those years ago.

_What little colour there was in Black's face left it._

_"You — you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat — look at the rat —"_

_But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes._

"He's too far gone," Lily said recognising it. "He'll listen to no reason."

_"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too —"_

Teddy's eyes widen as he turned to look at his godfather, he'd been wondering what made Harry name Al "Severus" all of Al's life but even more so the last few days.

_Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door._

"Atta boy, Harry," Arthur said.

"_Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin —"_

_"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defence lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"_

"Reason! Logic!" Fabian and Gideon cried covering their ears.

_"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter."_

_"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN —"_

Everyone grinned at Harry yelling at Snape, even Lily; he really did deserve it at the moment.

_"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter!_

"That's actually a compliment," Remus said laughing.

_I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! _

Everyone narrowed their eyes at that phrase.

_You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black — now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"_

_Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he had raised his wand._

_"Expelliarmus!" he yelled — except that his wasn't the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out._

"That's was brilliant," Sirius said.

"Wicked!" the twins yelled.

"Don't encourage them!" Molly said hitting them.

_Harry looked around. Both Ron and Hermione had tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment. Snape's wand soared in a high arc and landed on the bed next to Crookshanks._

_"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at Harry. "You should have left him to me…"_

_Harry avoided Black's eyes. _

_"We attacked a teacher… We attacked a teacher…" Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble —"_

"Because _that's_ the problem right now," Ginny teased.

_Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them._

_"Thank you, Harry," he said._

_"I'm still not saying I believe you," he told Lupin._

_"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy — give me Peter, please. Now."_

"You know his name, Remus," Dudley said, remembering how his father had always called Harry 'boy'.

_Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest._

_"Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean…" He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat — there are millions of rats — how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"_

"How did you know that?" Lily asked curious.

_"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"_

_Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others._

_It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers._

"Oh," James laughed. "Fudge."

_"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck._

_"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder… I knew him at once… how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts… to where Harry was…"_

_"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw…"_

_"What about it?" said Ron defiantly._

_"He's got a toe missing," said Black._

_"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple… so brilliant… he cut it off himself?"_

"I hate to admit it, but it is clever," Petunia said uncertain about how her comment would be received.

_"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself — and sped down into the sewer with the other rats…"_

_"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."_

_"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right —"_

_"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"_

_"We — we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron._

"Oh Ron," Molly and Arthur said fondly.

_"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again…"_

_"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed._

_"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely._

"Sirius, you're defending a cat!" James said shocked Sirius, fittingly enough, hated them.

_He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me… Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me…"_

_"What do you mean?" breathed Hermione._

_"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't… so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me… As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table…"_

"Neville's," Remus nodded.

_Harry's brain seemed to be sagging under the weight of what he was hearing. It was absurd… and yet…_

_"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." croaked Black. "This cat — Crookshanks, did you call him? — told me Peter had left blood on the sheets… I supposed he bit himself… Well, faking his own death had worked once."_

_These words jolted Harry to his senses._

_"And why did he fake his death?" he said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"_

_No," said Lupin, "Harry—"_

_"And now you've come to finish him off!"_

_"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers._

_"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted._

_"Harry," said Lupin hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down — but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father — Sirius tracked Peter down —"_

_"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"_

_He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over bright._

_"Harry… I as good as killed them," he croaked._

"Sirius," Lily breathed hugging him tightly. "That's not true."

_"I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me… I'm to blame, I know it…_

"No, you're not," James said clapping a hand on Sirius' shoulder.

_The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies… I realized what Peter must've done… what I'd done…"His voice broke._

"You'd done nothing, you were trying to protect us better," James said firmly. "It was just bad luck."

_He turned away._

_"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."_

_"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely._

_"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."_

_Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. "Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin._

_Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face._

_"Together?" he said quietly._

_"I think so", said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One — two — THREE!"_

_A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly — Ron yelled — the rat fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then —_

_It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up._

_He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione. His thin, colourless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes._

"He doesn't look so good either," Petunia said, she remembered seeing him at Lily and James' wedding.

_He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. Harry saw his eyes dart to the door and back again._

_"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly. "Long time, no see."_

_"S—Sirius… R—Remus…" Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends… my old friends…"_

"Idiot," Petunia said glaring at the man who got her little sister killed.

_Black's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual._

_"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed —"_

The Prewett twins tried to hold their laughter in as they knew that this wasn't the time.

_"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you…? He tried to kill me, Remus…"_

_"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so —"_

_"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too… You've got to help me, Remus…"_

_Black's face looked more skull-like than ever as he stared at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes._

_"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Lupin._

_"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"_

"How did he know Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" Dora asked sceptically.

_"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"_

_"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"_

_Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room._

_"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said._

_Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him._

_"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"_

_"Don't know what you mean, Sirius —" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now._

_"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter… They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them… I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information… and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter —"_

_"Don't know… what you're talking about…" said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever._

_He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this — this madness, Remus —"_

_"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly._

_"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban — the spy, Sirius Black!"_

_Black's face contorted._

_"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear sized dog he had been. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter — I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us… me and Remus… and James…"_

_Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath._

_"Me, a spy… must be out of your mind… never… don't know how you can say such a —"_

"Oh, just stop talking," Arthur muttered annoyed.

_"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan… a bluff… Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you… It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."_

_Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy," but he couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen colour of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door._

_"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can — can I say something?"_

_"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously._

_"Well — Scabbers — I mean, this — this man — he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"_

"That's a fair point," Dudley said.

_"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"_

_"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case you're old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him…"_

"Oh," Dudley said that seemed obvious.

_Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk._

_"Er — Mr. Black — Sirius?" said Hermione._

_Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her._

"Not used to being called Mr Black, Mr Black?" Fabian and Gideon said.

_"If you don't mind me asking, how — how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"_

_"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I —"_

"Oh _shut up_!" Teddy said, wondering how his dad put up with him.

_But Lupin silenced him with a look._

"Thank you."

_Black was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he was annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer._

_"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me… but it kept me sane and knowing who I am… helped me keep my powers… so when it all became… too much… I could transform in my cell… become a dog._

_Dementors can't see, you know…" He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions… They could tell that my feelings were less — less human, less complex when I was a dog… but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand…_

_"But then I saw Peter in that picture… I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry… perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again…"_

_Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized._

_"…ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies… and to deliver the last Potter to them. If he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honours…_

_"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive…"_

"He's at Hogwarts," Lily sighed remembering an earlier memory.

_"It was as if someone had lit a fire in my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it… It wasn't a happy feeling… it was an obsession… but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog… It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused… I was thin, very thin… thin enough to slip through the bars… I swam as a dog back to the mainland… I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry…"_

Harry and James grinned at each other.

"Better," Sirius grinned.

_He looked at Harry, who did not look away._

_"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."_

_And at long last, Harry believed him. He nodded._

Everyone smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, even if they already knew what happened.

_"No!"_

_Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, grovelling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying._

_"Sirius — it's me… it's Peter… your friend… you wouldn't —"_

_Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled._

_"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Black._

"Good one," Fabian said.

_"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this — wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"_

_"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head._

_"Forgive me, Remus," said Black._

_"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"_

_"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"_

_"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly._

"Dad!" Teddy said his eyes wide.

_"You wouldn't… you won't…" gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron._

_"Ron… haven't I been a good friend… a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you… you're on my side, aren't you?"_

_But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion._

_"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said._

"Nice!" Gideon chuckled.

Hermione cracked a smile, "is that all you could think of, Ron?"

_"Kind boy… kind master…" Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it… I was your rat… I was a good pet…"_

_"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly._

"Good point, Padfoot," James laughed.

_Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes._

_"Sweet girl… clever girl… you — you won't let them… Help me…"_

"This is pathetic," Lily said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Ginny muttered.

_Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified._

_Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry._

_"Harry… Harry… you look just like your father… just like him…"_

_"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black._

"Oh dear," Molly said, remembering how protective Sirius was of his godson – of course he had every reason to.

_"HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES INFRONT OF HIM?"_

_"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed… James would have understood, Harry… he would have shown me mercy…"_

"Mercy if you're lucky, Peter," James spat that name, "but I wouldn't, don't, understand."

_Both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them._

_"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"_

_Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor._

_"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord… you have no idea… he has weapons you can't imagine… I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen… He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me —"_

_"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"_

_"He — he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"_

"Innocent lives!" Molly and Dora screamed.

"_What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"_

"Oh god," Dora said. "Molly, we've spent too much time around Sirius."

_"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"_

_"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"_

Remus, James and Lily nodded in agreement.

_Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised._

_"You should have realised," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."_

_Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall._

_"NO!" Harry yelled._

"Atta boy, Harry," Lily said smiling as James let out a breath.

_He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."_

_Black and Lupin both looked staggered._

"You shocked, Remus," James laughed loudly. "That's my boy."

_"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."_

"I think he realizes that, Sirius," Petunia said sadly, hating how horrible she'd been to her only nephew.

_"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand himover to the Dementors… He can go to Azkaban… but don't kill him."_

_"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. _

"Get off him," Teddy snarled.

_"You — thank you — it's more than I deserve — thank you —"_

_"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because — I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers — just for you."_

James grinned. His son knew him, somehow even if the only spent a bit more than a year together his son knew his essence well enough to understand this. His grin faltered a bit that he had only had a year with his only child and as he looked over at his son it hit him how much of his life he'd miss. Of course it wasn't his choice or his fault but … he shook the thoughts out of his head as Lily took his hand, probably thinking the same.

_No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in wheezes as he clutched his chest. Black and Lupin were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands._

_"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Black. "But think… think what he did…"_

_"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does…"_

_Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him._

_"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry."_

_Harry hesitated._

_"I'm going to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear."_

_Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged._

_"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"_

_Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him._

_"Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey,_

"And unlike Lockhart you're not stupid enough to try," Hermione muttered.

_so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing."_

_He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and muttered, "Ferula." Bandages spun up Ron's leg, strapping it tightly to a splint. Lupin helped him to his feet; Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg and didn't wince._

"Thank you, Remus," Molly said smiling but Remus just dipped his head slightly in return

_"That's better," he said. "Thanks."_

_"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape's prone figure._

"Leave him," Dudley suggested blandly.

_"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little — overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er — perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're safety back in the castle. We can take him like this…"_

_He muttered, "Mobilicorpus." As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling._

"That's creepy," Dudley shuddered. Harry grinned and nudged him playfully.

_Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket._

_"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure."_

_"I'll do it," said Lupin._

_"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward._

_Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leapt lightly off the bed and led the way out of the room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high._

_Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race. Next came Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and Hermione brought up the rear._

_Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. _

_"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"_

"You're free," James said

_"You're free," said Harry._

Lily smiled.

_"Yes…" said Black. "But I'm also — I don't know if anyone ever told you — I'm your godfather."_

"Crappy way you found out," Sirius muttered angrily.

_"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry._

_"Well… your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them…"_

_Harry waited. "I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But… well… think about it. Once my name's cleared… if you wanted a… a different home…"_

_"What — live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"_

"No need to sound so happy," Petunia said with a tight, teasing smile although she couldn't blame him.

_"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd —"_

_"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's._

"We've already discussed this," Fabian said.

"He is, complete and utterly insane," Gideon said, smiling as Molly rolled her eyes.

_"Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"_

_Black turned right around to look at him; Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care._

_"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"_

_"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry._

_Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding._

"That's better," Dora said.

_They did not speak again until they had reached the end of the tunnel. Crookshanks darted up first; he had evidently pressed his paw to the knot on the trunk, because Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron clambered upward without any sound of savaging branches._

_Black saw Snape up through the hole then stood back for Harry and Hermione to pass. At last, all of them were out._

_The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Without a word, they set off. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering_

_"One wrong move, Peter," said Lupin threateningly ahead. His wand was still pointed sideways at Pettigrew's chest._

_Silently they tramped through the grounds, the castle lights growing slowly larger. Snape was still drifting weirdly ahead of Black, his chin bumping on his chest. And then -_

_A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight._

"Remus isn't safe," Lily breathed grasping James' hand.

_Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly._

_Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stop._

_Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake._

_"Oh, my —" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"_

_"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now."_

_But Harry couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leapt forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back._

_"Leave it to me — RUN!"_

"They aren't leaving," Arthur said knowing that Harry and Hermione would never leave Ron if he was in danger and the same the other way around.

_There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away —_

_As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other._

_Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. It was Hermione's scream that alerted him — Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light — and Ron lay motionless on the ground._

"What did he do?" Molly fretted.

"I was fine," Ron said tiredly.

_Another bang — Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap._

"Poor Crookshanks," Ginny said - she had a soft spot for the strange cat, Harry thought she was mad.

_"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward._

_Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass._

"No!" James yelled.

_There was a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest —_

_"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled._

_Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds._

_Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron._

_"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them._

_"I don't know…"_

_Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone… they had no one but Snape for company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair._

"Creepy," Petunia said repeating what her son had said unintentionally.

"He is on his best day as well," Dora told her.

_"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come —"_

_But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain…_

"Sirius," Lily whimpered.

_"Sirius," Harry muttered, staring into the darkness._

"I thought the saying like father like son," Fabian said.

"Not mother like son," Gideon finished his brothers thought.

_He had a moment's indecision, but there was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and by the sound of it, Black was in trouble —_

_Harry set off at a run, Hermione right behind him. The yelping seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake. They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean –_

"No," James said again but this time it was just a breath.

_The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why — Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head._

_"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo… please…"_

_And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them,_

"Bloody Hell," Teddy said eyes-wide.

"Teddy," Harry and Ginny frowned before Dora opened her mouth but when they looked at her apologetically she simple smiled.

_gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them…_

_"Hermione, think of something happy!" Harry yelled, raising his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision, shaking his head to rid it of the faint screaming that had started inside it — he began to chant: "Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"_

_Black gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death._

"Sirius," Lily and James muttered anxiously.

_"Expectopatronum! Hermione, help me! Expecto patronum!"_

_"Expecto —" Hermione whispered, "expecto — expecto —"_

"She won't be able to do it," Remus said wisely.

_But she couldn't do it._

_The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Harry and Hermione, and were getting closer…_

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled, trying to blot the screaming from his ears. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_A thin wisp of silver escaped his wand and hovered like mist before him. At the same moment, Harry felt Hermione collapse next to him. _

"Hermione," Molly sighed.

_"Expecto — expecto patronum —"_

_Harry felt his knees hit the cold grass. Fog was clouding his eyes. _

_"Expecto patronum!" he gasped._

_By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a Dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside._

_"No — no —" Harry gasped. "He's innocent… expecto expecto patronum —"_

_He could feet them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands — and lowered its hood._

"No!" everyone in the room screamed except Harry.

He'd never gone into much detail about this night, Hermione only knew because she'd overheard Fudge talking to Snape but she still didn't want to see it.

_Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, grey scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth… a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle._

"Oh my," Arthur said.

_Harry's Patronus flickered and died._

_White fog was blinding him. He couldn't see… and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming … he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm… they weren't going to take him…_

_But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harry's neck. They were forcing his face upward… He could feel its breath… It was going to get rid of him first… He could feel its putrid breath… His mother was screaming in his ears… She was going to be the last thing he ever heard —_

_And then, through the fog that was drowning him, he thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter… He felt himself fall forward onto the grass… Facedown and shaking, Harry opened his eyes. The Dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him… The screaming had stopped; the cold was ebbing away…_

_Something was driving the Dementors back… It was circling around him and Black and Hermione… They were leaving…_

_The air was warm again…_

"Oh, thank Merlin," Molly and Lily sighed heavily.

_With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw an animal amid the light, galloping away across the lake… Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what it was… It was as bright as a unicorn… Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched it canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming it back… raising his hand to pat it… someone who looked strangely familiar… but it couldn't be…_

_Harry's head hit the ground as he fainted_

"Shit," Sirius cursed.

"Sirius!" Lily shrieked whacking him round the head.

"Sorry. Lils," Sirius said, not sounding sorry at all with his brain trapped in his thoughts.

His godson had nearly lost his own soul because he was trying to protect him, Sirius, from losing from losing his. He hated the fact that he'd caused Harry so much pain while he was really trying to protect him. It always seemed to be the case.

"Skipping," Hermione sighed.

"I know this is a really long memory but I couldn't think how to break it up," Harry apologised.

_Harry was sitting up, putting his glasses back on, and picking up his wand._

_"I need to see the headmaster," he said._

_"Potter," said Madam Pomfrey soothingly, "it's all right. They've got Black. He's locked away upstairs. The Dementors will be performing the kiss any moment now —"_

"What?!" James and Lily yelled.

_"WHAT?"_

_Harry jumped up out of bed; Hermione had done the same. But his shout had been heard in the corridor outside; next second, Cornelius Fudge and Snape had entered the ward._

"Just what you need," Fabian and Gideon said.

"The bat," Gideon continued

"And the prat," Fabian finished.

_"Harry, Harry, what's this?" said Fudge, looking agitated. "You should be in bed — has he had any chocolate?" he asked Madam Pomfrey anxiously._

_"Minister, listen!" Harry said. "Sirius Black's innocent! Peter Pettigrew faked his own death! We saw him tonight! You can't let the Dementors do that thing to Sirius, he's —"_

_But Fudge was shaking his head with a small smile on his face._

"Jerk," Dudley said annoyed that Fudge wasn't even listening to his cousin.

_"Harry, Harry, you're very confused, you've been through a dreadful ordeal, lie back down, now, we've got everything under control…"_

_"YOU HAVEN'T!" Harry yelled. "YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN!"_

_"Minister, listen, please," Hermione said; she had hurried to Harry's side and was gazing imploringly into Fudge's face._

_"I saw him too. It was Ron's rat, he's an Animagus, Pettigrew, I mean, and —"_

_"You see, Minister?" said Snape. "Confunded, both of them… Black's done a very good job on them…"_

_"WE'RE NOT CONFUNDED!" Harry roared._

"Confunded people don't usually act like that," Dora said smirking at Harry.

The boy, who was like a younger brother to her and the godfather of her son, was yelling at the minister of magic and his potions master, she was allowed to find it funny.

_"Minister! Professor!" said Madam Pomfrey angrily. "I must insist that you leave. Potter is my patient and he should not be distressed!"_

"Because them leaving would make him less 'distressed'," Ginny scoffed shaking her head.

_"I'm not distressed, I'm trying to tell them what happened!" Harry said furiously. "If they'd just listen —"_

_But Madam Pomfrey suddenly stuffed a large chunk of chocolate into Harry's mouth; he choked, and she seized the opportunity to force him back onto the bed._

"Doesn't play fair, does she?" Fabian said.

"She'll take any opportunity," Gideon added.

_"Now, please, Minister, these children need care. Please leave."_

_The door opened again. It was Dumbledore. Harry swallowed his mouthful of chocolate with great difficulty and got up again._

"Of course he did," Hermione said fondly.

_"Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black —"_

_"For heaven's sake!" said Madam Pomfrey hysterically. "Is this a hospital wing or not? Headmaster, I must insist —"_

_"My apologies, Poppy, but I need a word with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger," said Dumbledore calmly. "I have just been talking to Sirius Black —"_

_"I suppose he's told you the same fairy tale he's planted in Potter's mind?" spat Snape. "Something about a rat, and Pettigrew being alive —"_

_"That, indeed, is Black's story," said Dumbledore, surveying Snape closely through his half-moon spectacles._

_"And does my evidence count for nothing?" snarled Snape. "Peter Pettigrew was not in the Shrieking Shack, nor did I see any sign of him on the grounds."_

_"That was because you were knocked out, Professor!" said Hermione earnestly. "You didn't arrive in time to hear."_

"You can't fight Severus with logic when he's like this," Lily told the young Hermione as though she could hear her.

_"Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!"_

"Stop shouting at your students, Severus," Remus said trying not to smile. "Especially "confounded" ones."

_"Now, Snape," said Fudge, startled, "the young lady is disturbed in her mind, we must make allowances —"_

_"I would like to speak to Harry and Hermione alone," said Dumbledore abruptly. "Cornelius, Severus, Poppy — please leave us."_

_"Headmaster!" sputtered Madam Pomfrey. "They need treatment, they need rest —"_

"Yes they do," Molly said firmly. "Will please remember that injuries mean rest, Harry!"

"No," Harry said as the others laughed.

_"This cannot wait," said Dumbledore. "I must insist."_

_Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and strode away into her office at the end of the ward, slamming the door behind her. Fudge consulted the large gold pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat._

_"The Dementors should have arrived by now," he said. "I'll go and meet them. Dumbledore, I'll see you upstairs."_

_He crossed to the door and held it open for Snape, but Snape hadn't moved._

_"You surely don't believe a word of Black's story?" Snape whispered, his eyes fixed on Dumbledore's face._

_"I wish to speak to Harry and Hermione alone," Dumbledore repeated._

_Snape took a step toward Dumbledore._

_"Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen," he breathed. "You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me?"_

The marauders flinched remembering that incident; Remus hadn't talked to Sirius for months after it.

_"My memory is as good as it ever was, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly._

_Snape turned on his heel and marched through the door Fudge was still holding. It closed behind them, and Dumbledore turned to Harry and Hermione. They both burst into speech at the same time._

_"Professor, Black's telling the truth — we saw Pettigrew — he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf —"_

_"—he's a rat —"_

_"—Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off —"_

_"— Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius —"_

"Slow down, you two," Arthur said calmly.

_But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations._

_"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me, because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word — and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper."_

_"Professor Lupin can tell you —" Harry said, unable to stop himself_

"Dad won't be much use to you, Uncle Harry," Teddy said angrily he hated the old laws against werewolves.

_"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than dead. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little and the fact that heand Sirius are old friends —"_

_"But —"_

_"Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand me?_

"How did you manage this?" Dora said shocked. "Even Dumbledore's given up hope."

_You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours."_

_"He hates Sirius," Hermione said desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him —"_

"You seem nearly as upset as Harry," Petunia observed.

"I didn't want Harry to lose someone else," Hermione sighed. "Nor did I want an innocent to lose his soul!"

_"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady — entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife — without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence."_

_"But you believe us."_

_"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore quietly. "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic…_

_"What we need," said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, "is more time."_

_"But —" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round. "OH!"_

"What?" Dudley said.

_"Now, pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low, and very clearly. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight._

"Have I missed something?" Arthur asked.

"I think we all have," James assured him frowning.

_But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law — you know what is at stake… You — must — not — be —seen."_

_. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door._

_"I am going to lock you in. It is —" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck."_

_"Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"_

"It seems Harry has no more idea than we do," Petunia laughed.

_But Hermione was fumbling with the neck of her robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain._

_"Harry, come here," she said urgently. "Quick!"_

_Harry moved toward her, completely bewildered._

_She was holding the chain out. He saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it._

"It's a time-turner," Molly gasped, they'd never told her how Harry and Hermione had saved Sirius just that they did.

_"Here —"_

_She had thrown the chain around his neck too._

_"Ready?" she said breathlessly._

_"What are we doing?" Harry said, completely lost._

_Hermione turned the hourglass over three times._

_The dark ward dissolved. Harry had the sensation that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past him, his ears were pounding, he tried to yell but couldn't hear his own voice —_

_And then he felt solid ground beneath his feet, and everything came into focus again —_

_He was standing next to Hermione in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He looked wildly around at Hermione, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck._

_"Hermione, what —?"_

_"In here!" Hermione seized Harry's arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind them._

Sirius raised his eyebrows suspiciously in a way that made Harry and Hermione feel the need to move away from each other but settled for Hermione saying, "whatever it is your thinking, Sirius, say nothing."

Everyone laughed at Sirius' affronted face.

_"__What — how — Hermione, what happened?"_

_"We've gone back in time,"_

"You can do that?" Petunia said shocked.

_Hermione whispered, lifting the chain off Harry's neck in the darkness. "Three hours back…"_

_"But —"_

_"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming! I think — I think it might be us!" Hermione had her ear pressed against the cupboard door._

_"Footsteps across the hall… yes, I think it's us going down to Hagrid's!"_

_"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that we're here in this cupboard and we're out there too?"_

_"Yes," said Hermione, her ear still glued to the cupboard door._

"This is weird," Dudley muttered.

"Try actually doing it," Harry laughed.

_"I'm sure it's us. It doesn't sound like more than three people… and we're walking slowly because we're under the Invisibility Cloak — " She broke off, still listening intently. "We've gone down the front steps…"_

_Hermione sat down on an upturned bucket, looking desperately anxious, but Harry wanted a few questions answered._

_"Where did you get that hourglass thing?"_

_"It's called a Time-Turner," Hermione whispered, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day back. I've been using it all year to get to all my lessons. Professor McGonagall made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone. She had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I'd never, ever use it for anything except my studies… I've been turning it back so I could do hours over again, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, see? But…_

_"Harry, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back three hours? How's that going to help Sirius?"_

_Harry stared at her shadowy face._

_"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," he said slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago…"_

_"This is three hours ago, and we are walking down to Hagrid's," said Hermione. "We just heard ourselves leaving…"_

_Harry frowned._

"I'm kinda glad I didn't come," Ron chuckled. "This sounds confusing and annoying."

_"Dumbledore just said — just said we could save more than one innocent life… Hermione, we're going to save Buckbeak!"_

"Of course," Teddy said. "More than one innocent life."

Everyone looked between Teddy and Harry trying to figure out how they had gotten to that conclusion.

_"But — how will that help Sirius?"_

"Hermione, I thought you were clever," Teddy said innocently.

"Shh, you," Hermione said smirking.

_"Dumbledore said — he just told us where the window is — the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak — they can escape together!"_

"Brilliant," Ron said.

"But hard," Remus added frowning

_From what Harry could see of Hermione's face, she looked terrified._

_"If we manage that without being seen, it'll be a miracle!"_

"It really will be," Lily nodded wondering how they pulled it off.

"Why can't you be seen?" Dudley asked.

"I'm sure Hermione will explain it to Harry," Arthur smiled.

_"Well, we've got to try, haven't we?" said Harry. He stood up and pressed his ear against the door. "Doesn't sound like anyone's there… Come on, let's go."_

_Harry pushed open the closet door. The entrance hall was deserted. As quietly and quickly as they could, they darted out of the closet and down the stone steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest gilded once more with gold._

_"If anyone's looking out of the window —" Hermione squeaked, looking up at the castle behind them._

_"We'll run for it," said Harry determinedly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout —"_

_"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!' said Hermione breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or we'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"_

_Still working out what she meant, Harry set off at a sprint, Hermione behind him. They tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a moment behind them, then set off again, fast as they could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing toward the shelter of the forest…_

_Safe in the shadows of the trees, Harry turned around; seconds later, Hermione arrived beside him, panting._

_"Right," she gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's… Keep out of sight, Harry…"_

_They made their way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as they glimpsed the front of Hagrid's house, they heard a knock upon his door. They moved quickly behind a wide oak trunk and peered out from either side. Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and white, looking around to see who had knocked. And Harry heard his own voice._

_"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off."_

"This is just getting weirder," Gideon said. Very few wizards had ever gone back in time.

_"Yeh shouldn've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, then shut the door quickly._

_"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said fervently._

"I know right," Hermione said.

"Is it still?" Ginny asked laughing.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other before saying together, "Definitely not."

Most of the adults into the room groaned at this admittance.

_"Let's move along a bit," Hermione whispered. "We need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"_

_They crept through the trees until they saw the nervous Hippogriff, tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch._

_"Now?" Harry whispered._

_"No!" said Hermione. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"_

_"That's going to give us about sixty seconds," said Harry._

"This is starting to seem impossible," Fabian groaned

_At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin._

_"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Hermione whispered. "I'm going to find Scabbers in a moment —"_

_Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Hermione's shriek of surprise._

_"Hermione," said Harry suddenly, "what if we — we just run in there and grab Pettigrew —"_

_"No!" said Hermione in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody! You heard Dumbledore, if we're seen —"_

_"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"_

_"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" said Hermione._

_"I'd — I'd think I'd gone mad," said Harry, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on —"_

_"Exactly! You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time… Loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"_

"Oh," Dudley said, having his previous question answer.

_"Okay!" said Harry. "It was just an idea, I just thought —"_

_But Hermione nudged him and pointed toward the castle. Harry moved his head a few inches to get a clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member, and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps._

_"We're about to come out!" Hermione breathed._

_And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid's back door opened, and Harry saw himself, Ron, and Hermione walking out of it with Hagrid. _

_"It's Okay, Beaky, it's okay…" Hagrid said to Buckbeak. Then he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Go on. Get goin'."_

_"Hagrid, we can't —"_

_"We'll tell them what really happened —"_

_"They can't kill him —"_

_"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"_

_The Hermione in the pumpkin patch throw the Invisibility Cloak over him and Ron._

_"Go quick. Don' listen…"_

_There was a knock on Hagrid's front door. The execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned, around and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door ajar. Harry watched the grass flatten in patches all around the cabin and heard three pairs of feet retreating. He, Ron, and Hermione had gone… but the Harry and Hermione hidden in the trees could now hear what was happening inside the cabin through the back door._

_"Where is the beast?" came the cold voice of Macnair._

_"Out — outside," Hagrid croaked._

"Poor Hagrid," Ginny said.

"Yeah, he really loves his animals," Teddy agreed.

_Harry pulled his head out of sight as Macnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window, staring out at Buckbeak. Then they heard Fudge._

_"We — er — have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, You're supposed to listen too, that's procedure-"_

_Macnair's face vanished from the window. It was now or never._

_"Wait here," Harry whispered to Hermione. "I'll do it."_

_As Fudge's voice started again, Harry darted out from behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached Buckbeak._

_"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall he executed on the sixth of June at sundown—"_

_Careful not to blink, Harry stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. Harry began to fumble with the knot of rope tying Buckbeak to the fence._

_"…sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair…"_

_"Come on, Buckbeak," Harry murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly… quietly…"_

_"… as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here…"_

_Harry threw all his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet._

"Come on, Buckbeak," Molly said tense.

_"Well, let's get this over with," said the reedy voice of the Committee member from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside —"_

_"No, I — I wan' ter be with him… I don' wan' him ter be alone —"_

_Footsteps echoed from within the cabin._

_"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed._

_Harry tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door._

_"One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too."_

_The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster._

_Hermione's white face was sticking out from behind a tree._

_"Harry, hurry!" she mouthed._

_Harry could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees…_

_"Quick! Quick!" Hermione moaned, darting out from behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her weight to make Buckbeak move faster. Harry looked over his shoulder; they were now blocked from sight; they couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all._

_"Stop!" he whispered to Hermione. "They might hear us."_

_Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Harry, Hermione, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the Hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. Silence… then —_

_"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?"_

_"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"_

_"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice._

"Does he know something?" James asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me if he'd planned this before I appeared," Sirius laughed.

_"Beaky!" said Hagrid huskily._

_There was a swishing noise, and the thud of an axe. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs._

_"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy!"_

_Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Harry and Hermione tightened their grip and dug their heels into the forest floor to stop him._

_"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest."_

_"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. "Search the skies, if you will… Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy."_

"Good thing he wanted a large brandy," Fabian laughed

"Yeah, there aren't any small cups in Hagrid's house," Gideon agreed.

_"O' — o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness. "Come in, come in…"_

_Harry and Hermione listened closely. They heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more._

_"Now what?" whispered Harry, looking around._

_"We'll have to hide in here," said Hermione, who looked very shaken. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Sirius's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours… Oh, this is going to be difficult…"_

_She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now._

_"We're going to have to move," said Harry, thinking hard. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on."_

_"Okay," said Hermione, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, Harry, remember…"_

_They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around them, until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow._

_"There's Ron!" said Harry suddenly._

_A dark figure was sprinting across the lawn and its shout echoed through the still night air._

_"Get away from him — get away — Scabbers, come here —"_

_And then they saw two more figures materialize out of nowhere. Harry watched himself and Hermione chasing after Ron. Then he saw Ron dive._

_"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat —"_

_"There's Sirius!" said Harry. The great shape of the dog had bounded out from the roots of the Willow. They saw him bowl Harry over, then seize on…_

_"Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" said Harry, watching the dog pulling Ron into the roots._

"Really?" Petunia asked, she hadn't really thought about it.

_"Ouch — look, I just got walloped by the tree — and so did you — this is weird —"_

"Extremely," Hermione said, shaking her head.

_The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out with its lower branches; they could see themselves darting here and there, trying to reach the trunk. And then the tree froze._

_"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot," said Hermione._

_"And there we go…" Harry muttered. "We're in."_

_The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the old Committee member were making their way up to the castle._

_"Right after we'd gone down into the passage!" said Hermione. "If only Dumbledore had come with us…"_

_"Macnair and Fudge would've come too," said Harry bitterly. "I bet you anything Fudge would've told Macnair to murder Sirius on the spot…"_

"Yes, he would," James muttered angrily.

_They watched the four men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes the scene was deserted. Then —_

_"Here comes Lupin!" said Harry as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and halting toward the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely._

_They watched Lupin seize a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting, and Lupin, too, disappeared into the gap in its roots._

_"If he'd only grabbed the cloak," said Harry. "It's just lying there…"_

_He turned to Hermione._

_"If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and —"_

_"Harry, we mustn't be seen!"_

_"How can you stand this?" he asked Hermione fiercely. "Just standing here and watching it happen?" He hesitated. "I'm going to grab the cloak!"_

_"Harry, no!"_

_Hermione seized the back of Harry's robes not a moment too soon. Just then, they heard a burst of song. It was Hagrid, making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his hands._

"That was too close," Lily said, frowning at her son.

_"See?" Hermione whispered. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"_

_The Hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to Hagrid again; _

"That's so sweet," Petunia said smiling.

_Harry seized his rope too, straining to hold Buckbeak back. They watched Hagrid meander tipsily up to the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly._

_Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, running toward the Willow._

_Harry's fists clenched as they watched Snape skid to a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed the cloak and held it up._

_"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry snarled under his breath._

"Couldn't agree more," Sirius and James said.

James may have said he didn't hate Snape anymore but that didn't mean he wanted him touching his cloak.

_"Shh!"_

_Snape seized the branch Lupin had used to freeze the tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he put on the cloak._

_"So that's it," said Hermione quietly. "We're all down there… and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again…"_

_She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees._

_"Harry, there's something I don't understand… Why didn't the Dementors get Sirius? I remember them coming, and then I think I passed out… there were so many of them…"_

_Harry sat down, too. He explained what he'd seen; how, as the nearest Dementor had lowered its mouth to Harry's, a large silver something had come galloping across the lake and forced the Dementors to retreat._

_Hermione's mouth was slightly open by the time Harry had finished._

_"But what was it?"_

_"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the Dementors go," said Harry. "A real Patronus. A powerful one."_

_"But who conjured it?"_

_Harry didn't say anything._

_"Didn't you see what they looked like?" said Hermione eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"_

_"No," said Harry. "He wasn't a teacher."_

_"But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those Dementors away… If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? Couldn't you see —?"_

_"Yeah, I saw him," said Harry slowly. "But… maybe I imagined it… I wasn't thinking straight… I passed out right afterward…"_

_"Who did you think it was?"_

_"I think —" Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to sound. "I think it was my dad."_

_Harry glanced up at Hermione and saw that her mouth was fully open now. She was gazing at him with a mixture of alarm and pity._

_"Harry, your dad's — well — dead," she said quietly._

"And you say Ron's got no tact," Ginny snapped.

"They're perfect for each other," Sirius said trying to break the tension.

"Hey," Ron said.

_"I know that," said Harry quickly._

_"You think you saw his ghost?"_

_"I don't know… no… he looked solid…"_

_"But then —"_

_"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But… from what I could see… it looked like him… I've got photos of him…"_

_Hermione was still looking at him as though worried about his sanity._

_"I know it sounds crazy," said Harry flatly. He turned to look at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into the ground, apparently searching for worms_

_The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Hermione sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting._

"We're skipping," Harry said.

"We were out there for more than an hour," Hermione added, "and the talk was meaningless."

_"Here we come!" Hermione whispered._

_She and Harry got to their feet. Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione… then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came Harry and Black. They all began to walk toward the castle._

_Harry's heart was starting to beat very fast. He glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon…_

_"Harry," Hermione muttered as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do…"_

_"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again…" said Harry quietly._

_"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Hermione. "There's nothing we can do! We came back to help Sirius; we're not supposed to be doing anything else!"_

_"All right!"_

_The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement —_

_"There goes Lupin," Hermione whispered. "He's transforming."_

_"Hermione!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move!"_

"You can't," James sighed.

_"We mustn't, I keep telling you —"_

_"Not to interfere! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"_

"Oh, sorry," James said rubbing the back of his neck as the others laughed.

_Hermione gasped._

_"Quick!" she moaned, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The Dementors will be coming any moment —"_

_"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now — come on!"_

_They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering along behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them…_

_The cabin was in sight; Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open, and Hermione and Buckbeak flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked loudly._

_"Shh, Fang, it's us!" said Hermione, hurrying over and scratching his ears to quiet him. "That was really close!" she said to Harry._

_"Yeah…"_

_Harry was looking out of the window. It was much harder to see what was going on from here. Buckbeak seemed very happy to find himself back inside Hagrid's house. He lay down in front of the fire, folded his wings contentedly, and seemed ready for a good nap._

_"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," said Harry slowly. "I can't see what's going on — we won't know when it's time —"_

_Hermione looked up. Her expression was suspicious._

_"I'm not going to try and interfere," said Harry quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"_

_"Well… okay, then… I'll wait here with Buckbeak… but Harry, be careful — there's a werewolf out there — and the Dementors."_

"I can't believe you let him go so easily," Dora laughed as Hermione huffed at her sister figure.

_Harry stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. He could hear yelping in the distance. _

_Harry stared out toward the lake, for a fraction of a second he stood, irresolute, in front of Hagrid's door._

_And there were the Dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake… They were moving away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank… _

_Harry began to run. _

_The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, he could see tiny glimmers of silver — his own attempts at a Patronus —_

_There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Harry threw himself behind it, peering desperately through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished. _

_"Come on!" he muttered, staring about. "Where are you? Dad, come on —"_

_But no one came. Harry raised his head to look at the circle of Dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. _

_Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand._

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled._

"Of course," most said, feeling a bit stupid now, it was Harry along.

_And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. He screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake. He saw it lower its head and charge at the swarming Dementors… Now it was galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the Dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness… They were gone._

_The Patronus turned. It was cantering back toward Harry across the still surface of the water. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above… it was coming back to him…_

_It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head. And Harry realized…"Prongs," he whispered._

"It's James," Lily laughed happily as the man in question stared at his son in shock causing everyone else to laugh.

"You're protecting him, mate," Sirius laughed, making James beam.

_But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished._

_Harry stood there, hand still outstretched. Then, with a great leap of his heart, he heard hooves behind him. He whirled around and saw Hermione dashing toward him, dragging Buckbeak behind her._

_"What did you do?" she said fiercely. "You said you were only going to keep a lookout!"_

_"I just saved all our lives…" said Harry. "Get behind here behind this bush — I'll explain."_

_Hermione listened to what had just happened with her mouth open yet again._

_"Did anyone see you?"_

_"Yes, haven't you been listening? I saw me but I thought I was my dad! It's okay!"_

_"Harry, I can't believe it… You conjured up a Patronus that drove away all those Dementors! That's very, very advanced magic."_

"Indeed it is," Remus said, sounding like Professor Lupin. "Very Impressive."

_"I knew I could do it this time," said Harry, "because I'd already done it… Does that make sense?"_

_"I don't know — Harry, look at Snape!"_

_Together they peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry, Hermione, and Black onto them. A fourth stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle._

_"Right, it's nearly time," said Hermione tensely, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Sirius and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing…"_

"Skipping," said Harry

_"Do you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower._

_"Look!" Hermione whispered. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"_

_Harry stared through the darkness. The man was hurrying across the grounds, toward one of the entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt._

_"Macnair!" said Harry. "The executioner! He's gone to get the Dementors! This is it, Hermione —"_

_Hermione put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Harry gave her a leg up. Then he placed his foot on one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed up in front of her. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins._

_"Ready?" he whispered to Hermione. "You'd better hold on to me —"_

_He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels._

_Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. Harry gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath them. Hermione was holding Harry very tight around the waist; he could hear her muttering, "Oh, no — I don't like this oh, I really don't like this —"_

"You really hate flying," Teddy observed.

"What? How can you hate flying?" James yelled shocked.

"Sorry," Hermione said, laughing at James' reaction.

_Harry urged Buckbeak forward. They were gliding quietly toward the upper floors of the castle… Harry pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned. Harry was trying to count the windows flashing past —_

_"Whoa!" he said, pulling backward as hard as he could._

_Buckbeak slowed down and they found themselves at a stop, unless you counted the fact that they kept rising up and down several feet as the Hippogriff beat his wings to remain airborne._

_"He's there!" Harry said, spotting Sirius as they rose up beside the window. He reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass._

_Black looked up. Harry saw his jaw drop._

_He leapt from his chair, hurried to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked._

_"Stand back!" Hermione called to him, and she took out her wand, still gripping the back of Harry's robes with her left hand._

_"Alohomora!"_

_The window sprang open._

_"How — how —?" said Black weakly, staring at the Hippogriff._

"And you make Sirius speechless," Arthur laughed.

"That's hard to do," Lily smiled.

_"Get on — there's not much time," said Harry, gripping Buckbeak firmly on either side of his sleek neck to hold him steady. "You've got to get out of here — the Dementors are coming — Macnair's gone to get them."_

_Black placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved his head and shoulders out of it. It was very lucky he was so thin. In seconds, he had managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak's back and pull himself onto the Hippogriff behind Hermione._

_"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" said Harry, shaking the rope. "Up to the tower — come on."_

_The Hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and they were soaring upward again, high as the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements, and Harry and Hermione slid off him at once._

_"Sirius, you'd better go, quick," Harry panted. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're gone."_

_Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head._

_"What happened to the other boy? Ron?" croaked Sirius._

"Nice to know you care," Ron laughed.

_"He's going to be okay. He's still out of it, but Madam Pomfrey says she'll be able to make him better. Quick — go —"_

_But Black was still staring down at Harry._

_"How can I ever thank —"_

_"GO!" Harry and Hermione shouted together._

"You really wanted to get rid of me," Sirius said pouting.

_Black wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky._

_"We'll see each other again," he said. "You are — truly your father's son, Harry…"_

_He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Harry and Hermione jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more… The Hippogriff took off into the air… He and his rider became smaller and smaller as Harry gazed after them… then a cloud drifted across the moon… They were gone._

"That was amazing," Fabian muttered

"Brilliant," Gideon agreed.

"I can't believe you actually managed that without being seen," Remus laughed.

"Now all they've got to do is get back before it's too late," Petunia said.

"Buzz kill," Teddy laughed.

"Don't worry, we did," Hermione said just glad everyone was happy again and not mad or panic for once.

"Incredible," James and Sirius yelled suddenly, making everyone laugh.

"We're nearly done," Harry said laughing.

"As long as it's happy," Dora specified. "Then let's continue."

"It's kind of both," Harry said, trying not to laugh at their expressions.

"Let's get it over with," Remus said, guessing what this was.

Harry nodded and the entered the pensieve into Remus' office.

_Lupin's office door was open.. The Grindylow's empty tank stood next to his battered old suitcase, which was open and nearly full. Lupin was bending over something on his desk and looked up only when Harry knocked on the door._

"You're leaving," Petunia said, sadly then groaned thinking what teacher they would have next year.

_"I saw you coming," said Lupin, smiling. He pointed to the parchment he had been poring over. It was the Marauder's Map._

_"I just saw Hagrid," said Harry. "And he said you'd resigned. It's not true, is it?"_

_"I'm afraid it is," said Lupin._

"Remus," Lily sighed, she knew what this was about.

_He started opening his desk drawers and taking out the contents._

_"Why?" said Harry. "The Ministry of Magic don't think you were helping Sirius, do they?"_

_Lupin crossed to the door and closed it behind Harry._

_"No. Professor Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge that I was trying to save your lives." He sighed. "That was the final straw for Severus. I think the loss of the Order of Merlin hit him hard. So he — er — accidentally let slip that I am a werewolf this morning at breakfast."_

_You're not leaving just because of that!" said Harry._

_Lupin smiled wryly._

_"This time tomorrow, the owls will start arriving from parents… They will not want a werewolf teaching their children, Harry. And after last night, I see their point. I could have bitten any of you… That must never happen again."_

"Remus!" James, Sirius, Lily, Dora and the golden trio yelled exasperated.

_"You're the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!" said Harry._

"Still are," Ginny added, thinking of all their other official teachers.

_"Don't go!"_

_Lupin shook his head and didn't speak. He carried on emptying his drawers. Then Lupin said, "From what the headmaster told me this morning, you saved a lot of lives last night, Harry. If I'm proud of anything I've done this year, it's how much you've learned… Tell me about your Patronus."_

_"How d'you know about that?" said Harry, distracted._

_"What else could have driven the Dementors back?"_

_Harry told Lupin what had happened. When he'd finished, Lupin was smiling again._

_"Yes, your father was always a stag when he transformed," he said. "You guessed right… that's why we called him Prongs."_

James, who felt like messing around turned into a stag and nudged Harry. He chuckled at the proud, majestic creature nudging him in shoulder and scratched his head, attempting not to get killed by his antlers.

_Lupin threw his last few books into his case, closed the desk drawers, and turned to look at Harry._

_"Here — I brought this from the Shrieking Shack last night," he said, handing Harry back the Invisibility Cloak._

_"And…" He hesitated, then held out the Marauder's Map too. "I am no longer your teacher, so I don't feel guilty about giving you back this as well. It's no use to me, and I daresay you, Ron, and Hermione will find uses for it."_

"Best teacher ever!" the twins, Sirius and James said, laughing.

_Harry took the map and grinned._

_"You told me Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would've wanted to lure me out of school… you said they'd have thought it was funny."_

"As we would have," James said as he transformed back, placing a hand a Harry's shoulder.

_"And so we would have," said Lupin, now reaching down to close his case. "I have no hesitation in saying that James would have been highly disappointed if his son had never found any of the secret passages out of the castle."_

James nodded to show that he agreed with what Remus had told the 13 year old Harry.

_There was a knock on the door. Harry hastily stuffed the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak into his pocket._

_It was Professor Dumbledore. He didn't look surprised to see Harry there._

"Is he ever surprised?" Dora asked.

_"Your carriage is at the gates, Remus," he said._

_"Thank You, Headmaster."_

_Lupin picked up his old suitcase and the empty Grindylow tank._

_"Well — good-bye, Harry," he said, smiling. "It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Headmaster, there is no need to see me to the gates, I can manage…"_

_"Good-bye, then, Remus," said Dumbledore soberly._

"I don't think Dumbledore wants you to go," Dudley said

"Probably thinking about the next teacher," Remus said smiling slightly.

_Lupin shifted the Grindylow tank slightly so that he and Dumbledore could shake hands. Then, with a final nod to Harry and a swift smile, Lupin left the office._

_Harry sat down in his vacated chair, staring glumly at the floor. He heard the door close and looked up. Dumbledore was still there._

_"Why so miserable, Harry?" he said quietly. "You should be very proud of yourself after last night."_

"Yes, you should," Lily, Molly, Arthur, James and Sirius said softly.

"_It didn't make any difference," said Harry bitterly. "Pettigrew got away."_

Ginny sighed frustrated at her young husband and whacked the elder one around the head.

_"Didn't make any difference?" said Dumbledore quietly, "it made all the difference in the world, Harry. You helped uncover the truth. You saved an innocent man from a terrible fate."_

Everyone smiled but the Harry in the memory still looked as though something was bothering him.

_"Professor Dumbledore — yesterday, when I was having my Divination exam, Professor Trelawney went very — very strange."_

_"Indeed?" said Dumbledore. "Er — stranger than usual, you mean?"_

"He thinks she's strange as well!" Teddy laughed.

_"Yes… her voice went all deep and her eyes rolled and she said… she said Voldemort's servant was going to set out to return to him before midnight… She said the servant would help him come back to power." Harry stared up at Dumbledore. "And then she sort of became normal again, and she couldn't remember anything she'd said. Was it — was she making a real prediction?"_

_Dumbledore looked mildly impressed._

_"Do you know, Harry, I think she might have been." he said thoughtfully. "Who'd have thought it? That brings her total of real predictions up to two. I should offer her a pay raise…"_

"She's made two," Fabian and Gideon asked shocked.

_"But —" Harry looked at him, aghast. How could Dumbledore take this so calmly?"But — I stopped Sirius and Professor Lupin from killing Pettigrew! That makes it my fault if Voldemort comes back!"_

_"It does not," said Dumbledore quietly. "Hasn't your experience with the Time-Turner taught you anything, Harry? The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed… Professor Trelawney, bless her, is living proof of that… You did a very noble thing, in saving Pettigrew's life."_

"Well, he is a noble git," Dora said laughing.

_"But if he helps Voldemort back to power…"_

_"Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt… When one wizard saves another wizard's life, it creates a certain bond between them… and I'm much mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."_

"No, I don't think he'd want that," Arthur said, mildly.

_"I don't want a connection with Pettigrew!" said Harry. "He betrayed my parents!"_

_"This is magic at its deepest, it's most impenetrable, Harry. But trust me… the time may come when you will be very glad you saved Pettigrew's life."_

Harry nodded slightly but no one but Ron, who already knew when, saw him.

_"I knew your father very well, both at Hogwarts and later, Harry," he said gently. "He would have saved Pettigrew too, I am sure of it."_

"Thank you," Lily said quietly, glad someone had told her son that his father would have done the same thing.

_Harry looked up at him. "I thought it was my dad who'd conjured my Patronus. I mean, when I saw myself across the lake… I thought I was seeing him."_

_"An easy mistake to make," said Dumbledore softly. "I expect you'll tire of hearing it, but you do look extraordinarily like James. Except for the eyes… you have your mother's eyes."_

Lily and James beamed, although they already knew this, while everyone else smiled slightly.

_Harry shook his head._

_"It was stupid, thinking it was him," he muttered. "I mean, I knew he was dead."_

_"You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble? Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him. How else could you produce that particular Patronus? Prongs rode again last night."_

Lily and James were beaming through the whole thing but a moment after he'd finished James started.

"What did he say?" he asked looking a Remus, Harry and Sirius.

"Prongs rode again last night," Dora repeated, trying not to laugh at James' expression.

_"Last night Sirius told me all about how they became Animagi," said Dumbledore, smiling. "An extraordinary achievement — not least, keeping it quiet from me. And then I remembered the most unusual form your Patronus took, when it charged Mr. Malfoy down at your Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. You know, Harry, in a way, you did see your father last night… You found him inside yourself."_

"Must he talk in riddle-like sentences," Dudley moaned as everyone landed back in the family room, the sun had just set behind the mountains to the west.

"Let's have dinner," Ginny said laughing at her husband's cousin.

"I'll do it," Molly said.

"Get the rest of the family over," Lily suggested, she enjoyed spending time with the Weasleys, "and I'll help with dinner."

"Thanks," Molly said, beaming at her.

Harry grabbed his wand and sent a Patronus to all the Weasleys and pretty soon, everyone started to arrive.


	19. Chapter 18 - The Weasleys

Everyone arrived within 10 minutes, the Potter kids happy to spend time with their new family again. Harry and Ron had set up the ball room to eat in, since the dining room was far two small.

Harry and Ginny spent, basically, the whole evening with Fred. Telling him things, laughing and just generally catching up with him. Molly and Arthur went over often and glanced over even more probably worried that if they took their eyes often for two long he would disappear. Lily Luna however had spent most of her time introducing here grandparents to her cousins.

"This is Rose Molly Weasley," Lily Luna had said. "She's probably my favourite cousin. She and Hugo are my best friends."

"Hugo?" James had asked, he was sure he'd been introduced to a Hugo at some point but the Wealsey family had so many kids that it was hard to keep track of them.

"My brother," Rose said.

"Hugo Arthur, they're Uncle Ron's and Aunt 'Mione's kids," Lily Luna remind them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Rose," Lily said, smiling at the little girl of 9.

"You too," Rose replied happily. "There's my brother."

Lily and James looked over to where she was pointing. They were met with a sight of a small red-headed boy Lily Luna's age with blue eyes. James remembered him now. He came over at his sisters waving.

"Hugo, this is Lily and James Potter," Rose said. "Uncle Harry's parents."

"Hi," Hugo said, smiling slightly.

"Do you three like Quidditch?" James asked as Lily rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it's brilliant," Hugo said. "These two don't, don't understand why though. They said they would prefer to read than get on a broom and play."

"Really?" James said sceptically.

"I don't mind watching it when the families involved," Lily said, frowning as Rose nodded.

'"Yeah, and we don't think its be all and end all, like Hugo, Al, James and some of the other's do," Rose added on.

"Come on," Lily Luna said, grabbing her grandma's hand who beamed down at her. It was amazing how loving and trusting her granddaughter was her already. "I'll introduce you to someone else. These two are going to end up in a fight."

She dragged them across the room to where Fleur and Bill were standing with their three children and the Lupins.

"Hello," Remus said, laughing at Lily being pulled over by her granddaughter and James following behind, trying to keep up with the little girls' fast walk.

"Bonjour, Lily," Fleur said, to her niece.

"Hi, Auntie Fleur," she replied brightly.

"Hello, Lily, James," Bill said, nodding to the two adults as Teddy ruffled Lily Luna's hair to Victoire's, Dora's and Remus' amusement.

"Bill," James said. "How are you?"

"Good, umm. These are our children," Bill said waving a hand at the three. "Our oldest Victoire Fleur, she's two years younger that Teddy, 14, nearly 15,"

Lily and James glanced at her, she was tall with long silvery blond her like her mother but she had brown eyes from her fathers' family instead of either of her parent's blue ones. She grined at them and it made her veela side glow.

"Hi," Victoire spoke in a soft, silvery voice. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you," Lily said, smiling at the girl.

"Who's your favourite Uncle then?" Sirius asked having come over, Lily shook her head at his rudeness.

"And you are?" Victoire said, teasingly.

"Sirius," he said pouting.

"Pleasure," she replied smiling. "Anyway, um … Uncle Harry."

"Clever girl," Sirius laughed.

"This is Dominique Gabrielle, she was 12 in December," Fleur interrupted before Sirius could start annoying her daughter.

This girl was very similar to her sister but she had her father's eyes, which seemed to sparkle with some unknown secret.

"Hello," she said merrily, shaking James and Sirius' hands and hugging Lily before disappearing off to see someone that had called her.

"Sorry about her," Victoire said, trying not laugh as she grinned after her younger sister. "This is my little brother, Louis."

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Potter, Mr Black," Louis said, politely. His brown eyes glinting mischievously against his pale face and blond hair.

"Lily," Lily corrected, at the same time James and Sirius said the same things about themselves.

"How old are you?" Lily asked.

'Eleven,' he replied happily. 'You like Quidditch, right?'

Lily rolled her eyes, what was with these boys and Quidditch. She started up a conversation with Fleur before James dragged her into his argument as he always did.

"So did you go to Hogwarts?" Lily asked, curious because of Fleur's accent.

"Non, I vent to Beauxbatons," Fleur said as she smiled reminiscently.

"Is it as beautiful there as they say?" Lily asked, she was always interested about the other Wizarding schools.

"It is," Fleur said fervently. "Ze palace is like a glittering castle and at Christmas time ze dining 'all 'as great, non-melting ice sculptures."

"Wow," Lily exclaimed.

"Grandma, grandma, grandma," Lily Luna said, taking her hand. "I wanna show you other people."

"Bye, Fleur," Lily said laughing as she got pulled away by Lily Luna with James.

"Goodbye Lily."

Lily Luna pulled them to a stop in front of two dark skinned children both with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"This is Fred George Weasley and his younger sister Roxanne Angelina Weasley," Lily Luna said stepping next to her cousins and away from her grandparents. "Guys as you probably guessed this is Lily and James Potter, Dad's parents."

"It's a pleasure to meet," Roxanne said, nudging her brother in the side.

"No, the pleasure's all ours," Lily replied quickly.

She and Roxanne looked at each other for a few minutes before laughing at the formalness of the greeting – they were family.

"Hi," Fred said. "It's a pleasure to meet a Marauder like yourself."

James looked surprised at the greeting before smiling.

"Hello, Fred, Roxanne," he said, trying to keep his laughter contained. "How old are you?"

"I'm 10," Fred said. "So's Roxanne's 10, although it's her birthday in July, mine was in February."

"I saw you," Roxanne said suddenly. "You were with Uncle Harry, the other day, at the party."

"Yeah," James said. "You feeling better?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Roxanne assured him beaming.

"Fred! Roxanne!" A woman's voice called.

"Gotta go, mum's calling," Fred said, pulling Roxanne away as she waved over her shoulder.

"Bye," Lily called after them before turning to her granddaughter. "Are their many more?"

"No," Lily Luna said grinning. "Just Uncle Percy's kids."

"What about Charlie?" James said, not certain on the name.

"Uncle Charlie says he'd rather have his dragons, than be tied down by a family," Lily Luna said, her smile dropping slightly.

"Well let's go see Percy," Lily said, shooting her husband a look.

'"So what are his kids called?" James asked as he and Lily followed their granddaughter toward Percy Weasley who was standing with his children.

"They have two girls, Molly Juliet Weasley - Juliet was her grandmother's name," Lily Luna said as they approached. "This is her."

"Hi," Molly grinned. "How are you?"

"Good," Lily said, smiling at the girl, who ironically really did look like the woman she was named after.

Molly had the same red hair as her grandmother and paternal family, although it was longer and calming brown eyes. Her sister, however, who was standing beside her, had the black hair of her mother – Audrey was standing next to Percy – and blue eyes.

"Hey," the sister said. "I'm Lucy Ginevra Weasley, I'm named after Aunt Ginny."

"How sweet," Lily said, hugging the two girls.

"How old are you?" James asked, they seemed to be asking that a lot tonight.

"Lucy older," Molly said, not really answering his question.

"Molly's 10," she said, smiling fondly and sweetly. "I'm 11."

"So you're at Hogwarts?" Lily asked. "What house?"

"Gryffindor," Lucy beamed.

Lily looked at the two girls, who had their arms around each other's shoulder seeming really close, she could help but noticed how much they reminded her off herself and Petunia before her Hogwarts letter came. So different in looks you wouldn't imagine them as sister but looking as though they did everything together. Lily just hoped they had better teenager years than she and Petunia did.

"Have you met everyone?" Molly asked, jolting Lily out of her thoughts.

"Yep," said James. "Big family you've got."

"It's brilliant,' Lucy said, smiling happily. "There's always someone there if you need to talk, or if you just want to mess around."

'"And you've always surrounded by laughter," Molly added, as she heard her father laugh. "And no matter what happens you're never alone."

"Although sometimes that's annoying," Lucy joked, hugging her sister.

Lily and James smiled sadly: they'd always wanted a big family but their bad luck left Harry an only child so he didn't always have someone there.

"Don't worry," Lily Luna said, seeing Lily's slight frown. "Daddy hasn't been alone since he met Uncle Ron when he was eleven, he always had the Weasleys."

Lily and James smiled gratefully at their grand-daughter before telling the three children they need to see their grandparents. They set of hand in hand to find Molly and Arthur.

"I know what you're thinking," Arthur said, as soon as they found them. "But, I swear to Merlin, I will curse you if you thank us again. Let me tell you something, if was going to wait until you saw Harry's seventh year but …

"Harry is as good as one of mine, he's my seventh son, eighth child; he saved my little girl, my Ron and me. He was a grace to our family, he was there for Ron when Ron really didn't deserve it, he saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets when he barely knew her, he believed in the twins when nobody else did, he didn't scorn Percy for his betrayal against us and ultimately him, he got along well with Charlie, warming up to my burned and scarred son from the moment he met him, he was one of the few that could manage to cheer Bill up when he was scarred by that werewolf, he saved me from a terrible fate, and he was always so good with my Molly, he let her fuss over him, let her love him.

"Harry never was and never is a challenge to love; he just makes it so damn easy just by being himself. He's been as good as a Weasley since we all met him," Arthur finished.

Meanwhile, Remus, Dora and Teddy had moved to where Rose, Hugo, James and Al were standing. They had been talking about all types of things, Remus telling stories about the marauder days, when Dora asked what she thought was an innocent question.

"I loved camping when I was little, Teddy, what about you?"

"We've never gone camping," Teddy said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, we've asked but Dad goes mad," James said.

Remus and Dora shared a look of confusion, why would Harry go mad at his kids asking to go camping?

"Mum and Dad are the same," Rose said. "Watch. Uncle Harry! Mum! Dad!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione finished their conversation with Fred before coming over to the group. Albus winked at Remus before turning to his dad.

"'Dad, Aunt 'Mione, Uncle Ron," he began. "We were just talking about how much fun it would be going on a group holiday."

"Thanks a brilliant idea, Albus," Hermione said, grinning at her nephew.

"What did you have in mind?" Ron asked as Harry looked at his son suspiciously.

"We'll since none of us have ever been camping –" Hugo began but was quickly cut off as the three blew up.

"No, camping!" they yelled as one.

"You are never getting us," Ron said gesturing to the golden trio. "In a tent!"

"Never ever," Hermione said, gripping Harry's arm.

"Not again," Harry added firmly and the kids who looked like they were going to say something stopped at his tone. The golden trio turned with a stern look at their children before going back to Fred and George.

"See," said Teddy smugly. "Any idea's why they react like that?"

"No," Dora said, staring after the three adults in shock. "No idea."

"How strange," Remus said, frowning at the man he left his son with. "Oh well, we'll find out soon."

"Of course!" Teddy exclaimed. "Uncle Harry's going to regret showing me."

"I think he might already," Dora muttered quietly but no one except Remus heard her.

"Will you tell us?" Albus asked.

"Please Teddy," Rose said, smiling at him.

Teddy just rolled his eyes and nodded.


	20. Chapter 19 - Voldemort

The family dinner had lasted until ten o'clock before the Weasley's started to trickle out to their own homes, leaving only the people watching the memories at Potter Manor.

The next morning after everyone had had breakfast Dora decided she wanted to continue the memories, which everyone agreed to. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all interested in what happened in the grave yard after the third task, Harry had never gone into much detail.

Harry and Sirius shared a glance, they both knew what happened this year and Sirius didn't want Harry to relive it. Harry shook the memories out of his head and asked a question he didn't really want to ask.

"Are we going to watch the Quidditch World Cup memory?" he asked, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the yelling.

"Yes!" yelled Dudley, the Prewett Twins, James, Sirius, Teddy and Ron.

"No!" shouted Lily, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Hermione, Petunia and Dora.

"Umm, Ginny?" Harry asked since it was a tie.

"Maybe just the events after it?" she said looking warily at everyone who yelled 'yes', as much as she loved Quidditch it wasn't really important.

"Good idea," said Arthur nodding happily as the 'yes' people groaned.

"I can't believe you're not going to show us the cup," Sirius groaned. "When's the next one?"

"The Quidditch World Cup was last year," Hermione said, trying not to laugh at everyone's faces, some angry, some annoyed, and some relived.

Lily, however, had picked up something different, "what do you mean? 'The events after it' – what happened?"

Everyone who knew flinched slightly as they remembered the events afterwards.

"Had to start of on a bad memory, didn't we?" Ron said, groaning slightly.

Harry smiled slightly as he got the pensieve out and put the memory in. Once everyone was in the first thing they heard was Arthur's voice saying _'Get up! Ron - Harry - come on now, get up, this is urgent!'_

"Oh dear," Dora moaned.

_Harry sat up quickly and the top of his head hit canvas._

_"S' matter?" he said._

_Dimly, he could tell that something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. He could hear screams, _

"What the hell?" James asked, frowning – this reminded him, and everyone else who knew, of the war.

_and the sound of people running. He slipped down from the bunk and reached for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, "No time, Harry - just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"_

_Harry did as he was told and hurried out of the tent, Ron at his heels. By the light of the few fires that were still burning, he could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire._

_Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light._

"Was that the –" Dora began but didn't finish as Harry nodded sadly.

_which illuminated the scene. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Harry squinted at them… They didn't seem to have faces… Then he realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked._

"Death Eaters!" Lily gasped.

_High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air._

"How dare they?" everyone yelled, as Petunia and Dudley shared a look.

"That's sick," Teddy said.

_Two of the figures were very small. More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder._

Molly and Lily began to breathe heavily, as tears gathered in Lily's eyes.

_The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Harry recognized one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee._

Remus and Lily bit their lips to stop them saying anything inappropriate, so did Teddy as he knew he would most likely get yelled at by both sets of 'parents', but James, Dora, Ginny and Sirius didn't seem to care.

"Those foul gits," was yelled, along with many other things.

"Oh my," Petunia said, suddenly even more glad she and Dudley had gone into hiding Harry's seventh year.

_"That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…"_

"Yes it is," Arthur said, remembering both wars that he had lived through.

_Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out._

_"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"_

Lily and some others relaxed now that the children were leaving but it was marginally

_Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them._

Molly bit her lip and frowned, worried, even though she knew her three eldest and husband were safe. Bill was with Fleur in their cottage, Charlie at Georges, and Percy at work.

_Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer._

_"C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall._

"That was always a problem," Sirius growled.

"Yeah, you didn't want to hurt anyone but the Death Eaters," James added, "but sometimes they get hit by accident."

_The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air._

_Harry felt himself being pushed hither and thither by people whose faces he could not see. Then he heard Ron yell with pain._

_"What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Harry walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid - lumos!"_

"Isn't there a law against that?" Petunia asked confused.

"Witches and Wizards are allowed to do magic in life threatening situations," Hermione explained. "There's a provision in the Degree for the Reasonable Restricted of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic of grave circumstances"

Ron and Harry shared a look of great amusement as Hermione reeled of the answer without a breath.

_She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground._

_"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again._

_"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them._

"Malfoy," James groaned.

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed._

"His dad's probably out there," Teddy growled.

_His arms folded, he seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees. Ron told Malfoy to do something that Harry knew he would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley._

"Ronald Billius Weasley," Molly shrieked.

"Sorry, sorry," Ron muttered, glaring at Harry.

_"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?"_

_He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them._

Lily and Molly drew in a breath.

_"What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly._

_"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."_

Everyone growled at Malfoy, Sirius sounding like his animal within.

_"Hermione's a witch," Harry snarled._

_"Have it your own way, Potter," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."_

"Shut up!" James yelled as Lily flinched slightly at the word while everyone growled again.

_"You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron. _

_"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy. There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled softly._

_"Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"_

"As any respectably adult would be," Sirius said, angrily.

"Thank you, Sirius," Arthur said smiling.

_"Where're your parents?" said Harry, his temper rising. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"_

"Probably," Dora said, angrily.

"Mum, there's nothing wrong with great-aunt Cissy," Teddy said looking at his mother.

Everyone from previous times turned to stare at Teddy in shock.

"She's a Death Eater, Teddy," Remus said, quietly.

"No, she's not," Teddy said defiantly. "And she never was."

Sirius and Dora shared a glance at that; they'd always assumed she was one, just like her horrible husband.

"Narcissa has changed her ways," Harry explained smiling. "Teddy's right, officially, she was never a Death Eater."

Sirius smiled slightly, he'd actually liked Narcissa when she was younger. Maybe things could be change if she really was that different.

_Malfoy turned his face to Harry, still smiling._

_"Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"_

_"Oh come on," said Hermione, with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."_

_"Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Malfoy._

_"Come on," Hermione repeated, and she pulled Harry and Ron up the path again._

_"I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" said Ron hotly._

_"Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"_

"You got separated," Lily and Petunia groaned.

_Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly,_

"Oü est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue -"

"What?" Dudley said, he never was any good at French.

"Where is Madam Maxime? We are lost," Hermione translated.

"Er - what?" said Ron.

"Oh…" The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, "Ogwarts."

"Beauxbatons," James nodded.

_"Beauxbatons," muttered Hermione._

_"Sorry?" said Harry._

_"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know… Beauxbatons Academy of Magic… I read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."_

"Have you read everything?" Sirius asked, looking at her as if she was mad

_"Oh… yeah… right," said Harry._

_"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Ron, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione's, and squinting up the path. _

_"Ah, no, I don't believe it… I've lost my wand!"_

"What?" Petunia said, horrified.

_"You're kidding!"_

_Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light farther on the ground; Harry looked all around him, but his wand was nowhere to be seen._

"Maybe it's in the tent," Teddy suggested.

"I don't think it's in the tent," Remus said warily, remembering what happened.

_Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously._

_"Yeah," said Harry, "maybe…_

_A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back._

"Why is she walking like that?" Ginny asked, having never been told.

"Probably because she hadn't been given permission to leave the tent," Arthur said frowning.

Harry frowned; he didn't think that was why.

_There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to keep running. "People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"_

_And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her._

Lily frowned at the unfairness of it all as did Hermione. She still felt very strongly about this.

_"What's up with her?" said Ron, looking curiously after Winky. "Why can't she run properly?"_

_"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Harry. _

_"You know, house-elves get a very raw deal!" said Hermione indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"_

Lily had been nodding along with Hermione's speech as Harry and Ron rolled their eyes.

"Why hasn't anyone done anything?" Dora asked, she too agreed with Hermione

"I have/she has," Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Teddy, Molly and Arthur all said.

"Brilliant," Lily cheered. "What do you do for work, anyway, I've never asked?"

"Um, well, after school I went into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, working for the rights under-privileged non-humans, _such as_, house-elves," Hermione began as Lily beamed. 'Then, when I got a high position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement I, with Kingsely's help, got rid of all the laws biased in favour of pure-bloods, now I'm the Head of it."

"Wow!" Dora said, as Remus beamed at his ex-student.

_"Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said. "You heard old Winky back at the match… 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'… that's what she likes, being bossed around…"_

_"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione began hotly, "who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to -"_

_Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood._

_"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron and Harry saw him glance edgily at Hermione._

"Please do," Molly said.

_They set off again, Harry still searching his pockets, even though he knew his wand wasn't there. They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. They passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Farther still along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, they saw three tall and beautiful veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly._

"Oh, here we go," James muttered impatiently.

Lily smiled at her husband when they had met one James hadn't been affected at all. He completely ignored the beautiful veela and continued talking with her.

_"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."_

_"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"_

All the females and a few of the men rolled their eyes.

_A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."_

_Harry snorted with laughter. He recognized the pimply wizard: His name was Stan Shunpike, and he was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus. He turned to tell Ron this, but Ron's face had gone oddly slack, and next second Ron was yelling, "Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?"_

"Ron!" Molly and Arthur said as everyone else laughed.

_"Honestly!" said Hermione, and she and Harry grabbed Ron firmly by the arms, wheeled him around, and marched him away. By the time the sounds of the veela and their admirers had faded completely, they were in the very heart of the wood. They seemed to be alone now; everything was much quieter._

"I think you're safe there," Sirius and Remus said, Remus then groaned at having said the same thing as that idiot.

_Harry looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."_

_The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them._

"Yeah, Harry," said Gideon.

"You can hear people coming a mile off," Fabian added, snorting.

"Shut up," Harry muttered.

_Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Harry could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained._

"Well the campsite is under attack," Dora reasoned.

_"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"_

"He doesn't know? James asked shocked.

_They looked at one another, surprised._

_"Well - there's a sort of riot going on," said Ron._

_Bagman stared at him._

_"What?"_

_"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…_

_Bagman swore loudly._

_"Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small pop!_

"Much better," Molly said approvingly.

_"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" said Hermione, frowning._

_"He was a great Beater, though," said Ron, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them."_

_He took his small figure of Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. Like the real Krum, the model was slightly duck-footed and round-shouldered, much less impressive on his splayed feet than on his broomstick. Harry was listening for noise from the campsite. Everything seemed much quieter_

"Do you think it's over?" Lily asked, warily but some shook their heads.

_"I hope the others are okay," said Hermione after a while._

_"They'll be fine," said Ron._

_"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," said Harry, sitting down next to Ron and watching the small figure of Krum slouching over the fallen leaves. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him._

"That's very true," Arthur said.

"I'll help," Sirius added.

_"That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right," said Ron._

_"Those poor Muggles, though," said Hermione nervously. "What if they can't get them down?"_

_"They will," said Ron reassuringly. "They'll find a way."_

_"Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight!" said Hermione. "I mean, how do they expect to get away with it?_

"Hermione, the Ministry were idiots right then," Ginny said, smiling at her sister-in-law.

_Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just -"_

"No, they're Death Eaters," James growled.

_But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Harry and Ron looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt._

_"Hello?" called Harry._

"Shh," Dora hissed, her Auror training coming out.

_There was silence. Harry got to his feet and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but he could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of his vision._

_"Who's there?" he said._

"Shut up, Harry," Remus said as Teddy smirked.

_And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell._

_"MORSMORDRE!"_

_And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Harry's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky._

Everyone who had died before this happened started chanting in their heads, 'please don't let someone be dead' but they knew it was useless – that mark never appeared unless someone had been killed.

Everyone else who knew what it was looked terrified or sick as memories of seeing that mark flashed through their heads.

"What is that?" Teddy yelped.

Harry had never told him, he thought this wasn't something Teddy needed to know and he'd been too young to remember it.

_"What the -?" gasped Ron as he sprang to his feet again, staring up at the thing that had appeared._

_It was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation._

_Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with screams._

"I'm not surprised," Lily said, looking frightened.

_"Who's there?" he called again._

_"Harry, come on, move!" Hermione had seized the collar of his jacket and was tugging him backward._

"You need to get out of there," the twins said together.

_"What's the matter?" Harry said, startled to see her face so white and terrified._

_"It's the Dark Mark, Harry!" Hermione moaned, pulling him as hard as she could. "You-Know-Who's sign!"_

"Voldemort!" Teddy groaned.

_"Voldemort's -"_

_"Harry, come on!"_

_Harry turned - Ron was hurriedly scooping up his miniature Krum - the three of them started across the clearing - but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them._

_Harry whirled around, and in an instant, he registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at himself, Ron, and Hermione._

_Without pausing to think, he yelled, "DUCK!"_

"Good instincts," James said, beaming at his son.

"Don't know where we'd be with out his instincts," Hermione said fondly.

_He seized the other two and pulled them down onto the ground._

_"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices - there was a blinding series of flashes and Harry felt the hair on his head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising his head a fraction of an inch he saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness—_

_"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!"_

"Arthur," everyone breathed, they had this illogical view that know he was there everything was fine and they knew that.

_Harry's hair stopped blowing about. He raised his head a little higher. The wizard in front of him had lowered his wand. He rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified._

_"Ron - Harry" - his voice sounded shaky - "Hermione - are you all right?"_

_"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice._

"Crouch," Arthur said in disgust.

_It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage._

_"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"_

"They're kids, you idiot!" Dora yelled.

_"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull._

_"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"_

_"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping - he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!"_

"You're right, Dora, he's an idiot," Lily agreed, shaking her head, wide-eyed.

_"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to."_

"Logic," Sirius said.

"And you use that often don't you, Sirius," James teased.

"Yes, I do, Jamesie."

"Don't call me that!"

_"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" said Mr. Weasley quickly._

_"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words – an incantation -"_

_"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy -"_

"For gods sake, shut up!" Petunia snapped

_But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Harry, Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees._

_"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."_

_"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… There's a good chance we got them…"_

"Somehow I doubt that," Molly said, coldly.

_"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watched him vanish with her hands over her mouth. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout._

_"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey.."_

_"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"_

_They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Harry recognized the tea towel at once. It was Winky._

"What?"

_Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again._

_"This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -"_

"So how does it feel?" asked Dudley, annoyed that this man had accused his cousin of something he didn't do – like he did when they were little.

_He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky._

_"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."_

_But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching._

_"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"_

_"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."_

_"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory, "and she had a wand."_

"What?" Molly asked. "How? Who's?"

_"What?" said Mr. Weasley._

_"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."_

_Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull._

_"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"_

"Merlin, he's annoying!" Sirius said

_Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush mustache were both twitching._

_"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too - gulping gargoyles!"_

"Gulping Gargoyles?" asked Dudley chuckling.

_Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to her?"_

_"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."_

_"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why -?"_

_Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch._

_"No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"_

_"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself."_

_Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "Ennervate!"_

_Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position._

_She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. Harry could see the floating skull reflected twice in her enormous, glassy eyes. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs._

"Poor thing," Lily muttered while her sister looked at her incredulously.

_"Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sternly._

_"Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"_

_Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts._

_"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," said Mr. Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"_

_"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"_

_"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Harry recognized it._

_"Hey - that's mine!" he said._

"Crap!" Fabian said.

"Bloody hell," Gideon exclaimed.

"How did she get your wand?" Teddy asked.

_Everyone in the clearing looked at him._

_"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously._

_"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"_

_"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"_

"These are the people in the Ministry?" James asked, shocked and angry.

_"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily. "Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"_

"No!" everyone chorused.

_"Er - of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry… carried away…"_

_"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."_

_"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"_

_"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"_

"Reasonable enough," Hermione said.

_"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same._

_"Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Harry and Ron, appealing for their support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"_

"She's right," said Remus.

"As usual," Harry, Ginny and Ron said as Hermione blushed slightly.

_"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."_

_"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron._

_"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"_

_Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's._

_"Prior Incantato!" roared Mr. Diggory._

_Harry heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell._

"Doesn't seem right coming out of your wand," Dora commented.

"You stand for the light side," Remus added onto his wife's comment.

"He was the symbol of hope during the war," Ginny explained for everyone who did before 1997. "As long as he was alive, people could see the end."

Everyone wasn't sure weather to smile or to frown at that revelation - it wasn't good for a young boy to have so much on his shoulders.

"Not a symbol," Harry grumbled.

_Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke._

_"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively._

_"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"_

_"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!"_

"That doesn't mean it was her!" Lily cried.

_"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, "think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"_

_"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"_

_There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch… not… not at all."_

_"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter – and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"_

"Wasn't he the one accusing at one point?" Petunia pointed out.

_"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted._

_"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again._

_"Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard._

_"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"_

_"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"_

_"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere… Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her. "Where exactly did you find Harry's wand?"_

_Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers._

_"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir."_

"How did your wand get there?" Dudley asked curious.

_"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Harry's wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."_

_"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"_

_Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…"_

_Amos," said Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."_

_Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Harry that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him._

_"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly._

_"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"_

_Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze._

_"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes."_

"How unfair," James remarked and at Hermione's look he said. "Winky's not the type of elf to want to be free."

Hermione nodded, remembering.

_"No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"_

_Harry knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet._

_"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"_

"Precisely," Lily said as Dora nodded.

_Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes._

_"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."_

_Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Harry could have it back, please -"_

_Mr. Diggory handed Harry his wand and Harry pocketed it._

"Now don't lose it," Remus said frowning.

Harry rolled his eyes before saying, "yes, Remus."

_"Come on, you three," Mr. Weasley said quietly. But Hermione didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. She turned and followed Harry and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees._

"I see what you mean by start of on a bad memory," Fabian moaned, sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands..

"Yeah, completely depressing and extremely worrying," Gideon added.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"This is just a depressing year," Ron said without thinking.

"Most say it's exciting," Teddy disagreed.

"Let's say dangerous," Hermione said glaring at Ron.

"Oh Merlin," Lily groaned: why couldn't her son have a normal year?

James took a deep breath before speaking, "Right, then if we're going to be depressed, excited and, I guess, scared, let's get it over with."

Remus and Sirius snorted in amusement at James before agreeing to what he said. Harry quickly did as he was requested and they all landed in the great hall as Dumbledore stood up to make his start of year speech.

_The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard._

_"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices._

_"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."_

"Does anyone ever look at that?" Dora asked.

"These three did," Lily answered her, jerking her head toward the group of Marauders

"Not me!" Remus' said as his wife looked at him in shock. "I got dragged to it by these two."

"And we only did it to know what items to bring to school,' Sirius added grinning.

"Is that not the point of it?" James asked innocently as Lily and Hermione rolled their eyes but Fabian and Gideon high-fived the group.

_The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year._

_"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."_

"No!" James, Fabian and Gideon yelled, looking as though the world had just fallen from underneath them.

_"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. _

"Boys," Molly sighed.

_Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"_

_But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open._

_A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table._

"The Defence teacher?" Dudley asked.

_A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped._

_The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening._

"Mad-eye Moody?" James questioned.

"His really names not Mad-eye is it?" Petunia asked looking disgruntled.

"No, of course not," Lily laughed. "It's Alastor Moody. He taught James when he was training to be an Auror and he was part of the Order."

"He's creepy looking," Teddy said causing everyone except Petunia and Dudley who were thinking the same thing to laugh.

_One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness._

"Eww!" Petunia shrieked, she remembered him now.

_The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side._

_The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students._

_"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."_

"I can't believe he's your teacher!" Fabian and Gideon yelled jealous- they would be amazing lessons.

_It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. _

"Many, many battles as an Auror," James explained.

Molly, Hermione, Ron, Teddy and Ginny glanced at Harry looking slightly sick.

"Oi!" he yelled making everyone expect those six and Lily to laugh.

"Please don't end up looking like that, Uncle Harry," Teddy said, still looking slightly green at the thought of his godfather looking like Mad-Eye. "I wouldn't be able to look at you and that would be awkward."

Harry just glared at him half-heartedly, as everyone, included the slightly sick looking people, laughed.

_"Moody?" Harry muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"_

_"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice._

_"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his face?"_

"Hermione!" laughed Sirius.

_"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination._

_Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it._

_As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot._

_Dumbledore cleared his throat._

_"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."_

"Cool," Gideon said as Fabian said "Wicked"

"Wasn't that banned?" Lily asked, "for the amount of deaths?"

"I'm sure there are more precautions this time, love," James said calmingly.

_"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly._

_The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively._

_"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."_

_Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly._

"Professor!" Teddy yelled annoyed.

_"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely._

_"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."_

_"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another._

"Of course," Petunia muttered sarcastically.

_"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger._

Harry flinched slightly as he remembered Cedric and Ginny placed a hand on his arm. The exchange went unnoticed by everyone but Lily and she watched him anxiously for a while

_"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."_

_"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches._

"Some things are more important than that," Dora said. "Like kindness and nobility."

_He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more._

_"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, has agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration._

"Thank goodness," Lily breathed. "You're all too young."

She, however, missed the slight shuffling of everyone who knew and the looks shot between the golden trio and Ginny.

_This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen._

_"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"_

_Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall._

"Your two are going to try enter, aren't they?" Lily asked Molly quietly.

"Of course!" she said tiredly.

"We would do –" Gideon began

"The same thing." Fabian finished

"So would we," James and Sirius said.

Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry shook their heads, this is not a fun tournament and they knew it.

"Harry," Arthur said. "I was just thinking."

"Yeah?"

"Should we invite Bill and Fleur?" Arthur asked. "I'm sure Fleur would be interested in what really happened."

"Good idea, I'll go contact them," Harry said leaving the room.

Five minutes later Fleur and Bill entered the family room and greeted everyone. Arthur was right about Fleur she really wanted to know how Harry saved her sister and what happened after the third task. She'd never been told as she hadn't been in the order when Dumbledore told all the Order members but, from what Bill had told her, that wasn't very detailed either and of course Harry never spoke of it. Bill had very similar reasons to Fleur and they both thought of Harry as a younger brother so they wanted to know what happened in his life.

"Why is everyone so sad, 'Arry?" Fleur asked

"Just a depressing memory, Fleur," Harry said. "Quidditch World Cup, Bill?"

Bill just groaned in recognition

"Any way let's cheer you up?" Harry said grinning as he thought of something. "In, in, in."

Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes at him before entering the pensieve,

_"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something._

"I zought you were cheering zem up?'" Fleur asked, annoyed that Malfoy was looking pleased.

"It will," Harry assured her.

_"What?" said Ron shortly._

_"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!"_

Hermione raised her eyebrows as Ron let out a laugh – he'd caught on.

_FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

_It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley,_

"Arthur Weasley," everyone said angrily.

_of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." _

_Malfoy looked up._

_"Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed._

_Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:_

_Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene._

_"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"_

Everyone hissed at that, and they all, except Ron, wondered what had gotten into Harry.

_Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him._

_"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Harry. "C'mon, Ron…"_

_"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"_

"Shut up," Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Bill and Fleur snapped.

_"You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Harry - both he and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - "that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"_

"It's the second one," Teddy said.

_Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink._

_"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."_

_"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away._

_BANG!_

"Oh," Hermione laughed catching on.

Everyone looked her, wondering why she was laughing at her best friend being cursed with his back turned.

_Several people screamed - Harry felt something white-hot graze the side of his face - he plunged his hand into his robes for his wand, but before he'd even touched it, he heard a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall._

_"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"_

All the students who had been at Hogwarts at the time grinned as they all realized what was going on while everyone else looked angry and confused.

_Harry spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing._

There was silence for a few seconds before everyone burst out laughing

"That - is –" Fabian began but stopped as his laughter consumed him, tears streaming down his face as well as his brothers..

"Bloody – brilliant?" Gideon asked, trying to speak.

"Ferret, James and Sirius yelled doubled over in laughter.

Lily was leaning on James' back, Dora was holding onto Remus to keep from falling over, although he looked like he was going too soon. Teddy had sunk to the floor in laughter, as had Bill and Dudley. Petunia and Fleur had grabbed hold of each other as the doubled over. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had already seen this as well as Molly and Arthur, but they too were either on the floor, holding onto another or doubled over.

_There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Harry — at least, his normal eye was looking at Harry; the other one was pointing into the back of his head._

_"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly._

_"No," said Harry, "missed."_

_"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted._

"Leave what?" Arthur managed to choke out.

_"Leave - what?" Harry said, bewildered._

_"Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head._

_Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons._

_"I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more._

The laughter which had started to die down started up again like a wave

_"I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain._

"Cowardly," James muttered trying to control his laughter and falling.

_"Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…"_

_The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly. "Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again._

"Brilliant," Sirius said, starting to cry tears of laughter.

_"Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice._

"Aww," the twins groaned.

"Professor McGonagall," Teddy moaned knowing the fun was about to stop.

_Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books._

_"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher._

Harry thought it was a miracle anyone could hear the memory as the laughter was so loud because Moody calmly bounced Malf- the ferret while talking to Minerva.

_"What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air._

_"Teaching," said Moody._

"What?" Petunia gasped.

"Not to be a coward," Lily replied her laughter lessoning slightly after years of practice not laugh at James' pranks it was a talent she picked up.

_"Teach - Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms._

_"Yep," said Moody._

"I love this guy," Teddy panted.

_"No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing._

"He deserved it," Molly whispered, shocking everyone as they landed back in the family room.

"Okay, 'Arry," Fleur said giggling. "I saw why zat was a memory to cheer zem up."

"Malfoy," said Ron. "The Amazing Bouncing Ferret."

Everyone snorted at the new name.

"Do you still call him it?" Sirius asked.

"No," Hermione said at the same time Harry said, "Yes."

"What?" Hermione asked in horror. "When?"

"As in teasing, jokes, Hermione," Harry said, chuckling at her expression.

"You and Malfoy joke and tease?" Dora asked shocked. "Times have really changed."

"You could say that again," Molly laughed.

"Oh well, what's next?" Dudley said grinning widely.

"Moody's lesson," Ron said, glancing at Harry who raised his eyebrow. "What? I think it's important!"

"Fine," Harry said, grimacing slightly.

They landed as Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried into three chairs right in front of the teacher's desk and took out their books.

_Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes._

_"You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."_

"Practical, yes!" Bill said.

_They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited. Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swiveled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered._

_"Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"_

"Thanks to Remus," Lily smiled.

_There was a general murmur of assent._

_"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -"_

_"What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out._

"Ron!" Molly said.

_Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled - the first time Harry had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile._

"He smiles?" James asked shocked.

_Ron looked deeply relieved._

_"You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore… One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."_

_He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together._

_"So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you counter curses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year._

"Please not the unforgivables," Dora said, glancing at Lily and James.

_You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."_

_Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head._

_"So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"_

"Yes," said Ginny sadly.

"And Harry's the only wizard to have all of them used on him and still be alive," Ron said tactlessly.

"You've been tortured!'" Lily yelled looking close to tears.

"War," was all Harry said, looking her straight in her eyes, identical to his.

_Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's._

_Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender._

_"Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"_

_"Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one._

"That caused a lot of trouble," Arthur remembered.

_Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."_

_Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it._

_Harry felt Ron recoil slightly next to him - Ron hated spiders. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"_

_The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance._

Petunia and Dudley laughed as Teddy's mouth twitched slightly in amusement but everyone else knew too well what that spell could do and didn't find it remotely funny.

_Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody._

_"Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"_

_The laughter died away almost instantly._

_"Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"_

Dudley and Petunia looked scared as they remembered what Ron said – Harry had had this happen to him.

Ron, however, shuddered at the thought of the spider in his hands let alone down his throat.

_Ron gave an involuntary shudder._

_"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Harry knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will. _

_"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped._

"Why do I get a feeling he does that often?" Petunia asked warily.

"Because he does," Dora said trying to grin normally but it was too tense.

_Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar._

_"Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"_

_Hermione's hand flew into the air again and so did Neville's._

All the wizards closed their eyes as they knew why Neville knew that particular curse.

_The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring._

_"Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville._

_"There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice._

"Oh Neville," Ginny sighed, leaning against Harry.

_Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes._

_"Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again._

_Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move._

_"The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!"_

Bill couldn't help but snort slightly as he remembered that Ron was in that room.

_The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretense, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible. Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"_

_At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it._

Harry and Hermione's breathing sped up a bit and they both looked a bit sick as they remembered when that happened them as Petunia and Dudley grew scared. It was obvious that if the spider could it would be screaming, heart-wrenching screams. Tears filled up Lily, Ginny, Fleur and Molly's eyes as James and Sirius clenched their fist thinking of that on Harry.

What the family didn't know was that Harry had been tortured a few times since the war on Auror missions, so it was much more recent and therefore much more painful, not to mention it had been for longer than in the graveyard and even a little bit longer than Hermione had been in Malfoy Manor.

_Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently - "Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly._

_Harry looked around at her. She was looking, not at the spider, but at Neville, and Harry, following her gaze, saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified._

Petunia and Dudley looked very similar to that right now.

"Are you four alright?" Bill asked to Harry, Hermione, Dudley and Petunia.

"Just shock for us," Petunia replied shakily gesturing to herself and Dudley but she shot a worried glance at Harry, who was slightly pale.

"F-fine," Hermione said and Harry nodded firmly.

Lily, James, Sirius, Teddy and Remus looked at Harry fearfully, while Molly and Arthur looked at both of their children-in-laws.

_Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch._

_"Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar._

_"Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… That one was very popular once too._

"Tell me about it," Harry and Hermione muttered but only their spouses heard them.

_"Right… anyone know any others?"_

_Harry looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, he guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air._

_"Yes?" said Moody, looking at her._

_"Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered._

Lily and Harry flinched slighty. Lily remembering her husband being hit with it and crumpling to the ground and Harry all the lives he had seen taken with that curse.

_Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron._

_"Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse."_

_He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface._

_Moody raised his wand._

_"Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared._

Everyone in the room shuddered at the curse, even Petunia and Dudley who knew it was bad.

_There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air - instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him._

_Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor._

_"Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no counter curse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."_

"Or standing in this case," Gideon said trying to lighten the mood but it didn't work.

_Harry felt his face redden as Moody's eyes (both of them) looked into his own. He could feel everyone else looking around at him too. Harry stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all…_

_So that was how his parents had died… exactly like that spider._

"Hermione, why is it speaking thoughts?" Harry asked and everyone flinched at how lifeless his voice sounded.

"I-I don't know, maybe it's important," Hermione said, her voice having slightly more life in it.

_Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies? _

Harry, Remus and Sirius closed their eyes; they did not want to think about this.

_Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Harry. With a massive effort, he pulled himself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying._

_"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed._

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ginny said with a glance at Harry.

_But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it._

_"Now, if there's no counter curse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again._

_"Now… those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. _

Everyone landed in the family room looking thoroughly sick. Harry was the worse quickly followed by Hermione. Teddy, however, was in shock, his godfather had always seemed so strong and undefeatable but at the mention of the unforgivable curses he shook and paled – it just didn't seem right to Teddy.

Harry and Hermione quickly left the room, after they were back in the family room, leaving Ginny free to talk to Ron.

"Do you think he's not telling me something?" she asked.

"What you think he's had it on him again?" Ron asked in a whisper. "I was thinking the same thing. I mean he shouldn't be so badly affected by something that happened fourth year, but if he's been hit with it more recently –"

"Then it would affect him like this?" Ginny clarified.

"No, only if he's had it on him for a very long time," Ron muttered. "Longer than Hermione had at Malfoy Manor – I told you how long that was right?"

"Yeah," Ginny nodded, tearing up slightly. "Nearly too long."

"What?" Remus asked appearing suddenly at her side – his hearing had obviously allowed him to hear their conversation. "Wouldn't he have told you?"

"Knowing Harry, no he wouldn't?" Ginny muttered, a lone tear sliding down her face

"They're coming back," Dudley said, walking in from the corridor.

"Don't mention anything," Ginny instructed, wiping the tear away. "Not around Teddy or the kids, they're not used to it. They're used to him being this strong, unbreakable rock in their life."

Remus and Ron nodded, before Remus went back to Dora, Lily and James, probably relaying the conversation while Ginny and Ron sat on the sofa waiting for Ron and Hermione to come back.

When they walked through the door they both looked perfectly normal and when everyone looked at them they both said, at the same time. "We're fine" before grinning at each other and going their spouses.

"Lets see the arrival of the other school," Harry said before anyone could ask him or Hermione any questions as Ginny could see they were going to.

The landed in front of the castle where everyone was lined up and looking for the visitors

_Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"_

"Yay!" said Fleur

_"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions._

_"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest._

_Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time._

_"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely._

"No," said Fleur and Hermione laughing.

_"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey._

"It's a bit closer," laughed Bill

_As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant._

"Those are some big horses," Dudley exclaimed.

_The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes_

"Those eyes are creepy," Fabian and Gideon tried to laugh.

_A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then Harry saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped._

"And that's a big woman," Petunia said smiling.

_As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers._

_Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman._

_Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it._

Lily, Ginny and Dora couldn't help it, they giggled at they scene.

_"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."_

_"Dumbly-dort," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"_

_"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore._

_"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her._

_About a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. _

"Didn't you know what the weather was like?" Sirius asked.

"Non," Fleur said. "We were just told we were going to 'Ogwarts and to wear our uniform."

_A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. They were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces._

'"Ogwart's is bigger zan Beauxbatons," Fleur explained.

_"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked._

_"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"_

_"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"_

_"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, _

"Delighted being the appropriate word," Teddy laughed.

_"the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."_

_"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Harry, grinning._

_"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job._

_"Hagrid can handle anything."_

_"Zey are very strong…"_

_"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling._

"I would hope so," said Dora.

_"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"_

_"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing._

_"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps._

_"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Harry and Ron._

"They won't come the same way," said James.

_"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Harry. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"_

_"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully._

"That would be bad, son," said Arthur. "Imagine them running riot over the grounds."

Everyone grimaced at that.

_"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…"_

Arthur and Hermione grinned at each other as everyone laughed at the similarities.

_They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky._

_For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - "Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly. Harry listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed._

_"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"_

_From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool… _

_"It's a mast!" he said to Ron and Hermione._

_Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes._

"A ship?" questioned Lily, she didn't know why but she hadn't thought they would come in a ship.

"Cool," the Prewett twins yelled.

"I wonder what Hogwarts would go in," Dudley commented.

"No idea," Hermione said frowning, she was really curious now. She thought perhaps in a parade of the 'horseless' carriages that brought them up to the castle but felt that was too similar to Beauxbatons

_Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank._

_People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Harry noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, he saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair._

"Karkaroff?" Petunia asked, remembering Madam Maxime saying it.

_"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"_

_"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own._

"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Harry noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good… '

"That was rather pointless," Hermione muttered.

"It was not!" James, Lily, Fleur and the twins said.

"Okay, okay," Hermione apologized. "Sorry."

'Let's do Halloween, Harry,' Ginny said frowning slightly at her husband wondering if she and Ron were right in their thoughts.

Harry, seeing her expression, knew he better not wait or he would get question by an annoyed red-head quickly did as he was told.

_"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision,"_ Dumbledore said as they landed in the memory. "_I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, _

"So you find out of Halloween," Dudley stated the obvious.

"Yeah," Harry said, and then added under his breath. "Typical."

_I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."_

_He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness._

_The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… A few people kept checking their watches…_

_"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Harry._

_The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped._

_Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white._

_"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."_

"Viktor Krum is?" Lily prompted.

"Famous Quidditch player," Ron said, frowning.

"Cool!" James, Sirius, and the Prewett twins yelled.

_"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Harry saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber._

_"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"_

_The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames._

_"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"_

"So that's why you're here," Petunia said.

"That and she's family," Harry corrected, smiling at Fleur.

_"It's her, Ron!" Harry shouted as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables._

_"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. _

"A bit of an understatement, 'Ermione," Fleur laughed.

_When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. _

_And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment._

_"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"_

Harry and Dudley flinched slightly but no one caught it. Dudley knew that whatever happened to Cedric Diggory happened this year, and he'd find out why it affected Harry so much, as well as why it was so bad he teased him about it.

_"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Harry; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again._

_"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"_

_But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him._

_The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment._

"What the hell!" James yelled.

"That's not supposed to happen," Lily groaned, knowing already what _was _about to happen.

_Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Harry Potter."_

Everyone in the room groaned as soon as the name left Dumbledore's lips and James sank into a chair in the family room with his head in his hands.

"What?" Lily yelled. "How did your name get in the Goblet?"

This question brought growls from everyone who knew and it calmed Lily down slightly, knowing her son hadn't done it himself.

"You're not going to tell us a thing, are you?" James moaned looking up but already knowing the answer.

"Only that Harry didn't do it himself," Ginny said, smiling mysteriously.

"Well, we already figured that out," Fabian and Gideon said.

"Annoying people," Lily muttered, not caring at the moment that two of those people were her son and his wife.

"Let's get on with it then," Sirius said through clenched teeth. "If you want to know."

"Right, of course," Lily said glaring at him for his tone.

_"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice,_

"She's worried," Remus said, smiling.

"As she should be," Lily said, although she didn't know what the tasks were yet they were usually bad and extremely hard on testing magical abilities.

"How do you always manage," Fabian began.

"To get emotions out of her?" Gideon asked.

Harry just shrugged.

_"and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you the - the procedure… Good luck."_

_"Thanks," said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside._

_Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy._

"You looked scared," Bill said, looking at his composed wife.

"What did you expect?" she retorted.

_Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned._

_"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"_

"He's way too cheerful," Dudley muttered.

_Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. "Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task is to collect the golden egg!"_

"Sounds too easy," Petunia said, frowning.

_Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. _

"I was going to be sick if I opened my mouth," Fleur explained.

"Me too, Fleur," a grinning Harry said.

_And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking… Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Harry - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack._

_"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour._

"Merci," Fleur said sarcastically.

_She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green._

A dragon!" Lily shrieked as James let out an exclamation of anger and shock. "You have to face a dragon!"

Fleur and Harry shared a glance before nodding at the angry red-head.

"You could be killed!" James roared.

"But ve veren't," Fleur suggested weakly.

"That's beside the point," Remus rebuted calmly.

Although he had been as mad as James and Lily when he found out, and so had Sirius. They had mainly been worried for Harry, a fourteen year old facing a dragon with hardly any planning – it was suicide.

_It had the number two around its neck. Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation,_

"Did you know?" James asked suspicious.

"Madam Maxime told me," Fleur said. ''Agrid should 'er."

"And me," Harry said.

_The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground._

"He knew as well?" Petunia asked.

"Karkaroff saw then," Harry explained.

_Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short - Snout,_

"Cedric knew?" Dudley asked, seeing no shock on Cedric's face either

"Harry told him," Hermione said smiling. "He knew Fleur, him and Krum knew – he was being fair."

_the number one tied around its neck. Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, _

"Are you bloody joking me?" James roared, his son, the youngest competitor, was facing the most dangerous dragon.

"Crap," Teddy muttered to low for anyone to hear him.

_and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs._

_"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now… Harry… could I have a quick word? Outside?"_

"What does he want?" Arthur asked frowning.

_"Er… yes," said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face._

_"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?"_

"Is he trying to help you?" Dora asked, knowing the rules.

_"What?" said Harry. "I - no, nothing."_

_"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Harry… Anything I can do to help…"_

_"No," said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, "no - I - I know what I'm going to do, thanks."_

_"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him._

_"No, I'm fine," said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine. "I've got a plan worked out, I -"_

_A whistle had blown somewhere._

_"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off._

_Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt._

_Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Second's later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to face with the living counterpart of his model._

_The crowd screamed… yelled… gasped like a single many-headed entity,_

Everyone watching did so with anxious expressions on their faces; it was horrible not knowing what was going on.

_as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. _

_"Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"… "He's taking risks, this one!"… "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"_

_And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg._

_"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"_

_But he didn't shout out the marks; _

"Fair enough, really," Molly said.

_"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"_

_Fleur was trembling from head to foot; as she heft the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze._

_The same process started again…"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh… nearly! Careful now… good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"_

_Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more… Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown… more clapping… then, for the third time, the whistle._

_"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone._

"I felt sorry for you," Fleur said. "Sitting in zier alone, you know after I 'ad finished but they wouldn't let me go back."

Harry nodded at her understanding.

_"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"_

_Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Harry's turn any moment._

"Oh Merlin," Lily said taking to biting her nails as Petunia's lips went really thin.

_He stood up. He waited. And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence._

_There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise_

_He raised his wand._

_"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted._

"Clever kid," James smiled weakly, knowing how good his soon was at flying.

_And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise… Bagman was shouting something…_

_He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. _

"You're back where you belong," Ron said.

"Flying," Hermione added fondly. "In the air, on a broom."

_"Okay," Harry told himself, "diversionary tactics… let's go…"_

_He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away… _

"Be more careful," Lily groaned.

_"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"_

"He thinks you're better than an international Quidditch player!" Sirius yelled.

"Well he is!" practically everyone else said in response.

_Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy – Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth,_

Lily, Petunia and Molly screamed.

_but this time he was less lucky - he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes —_

"Ouch," Molly said, gripping Arthur's hand both sets of knuckles white.

James wrapped an arm around Lily and set his jaw as she curled her fists in his shirt.

_He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared…_

_He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer… Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now… She shot fire into the air, which he dodged… Her jaws opened wide…_

_"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "come on, come and get me…_

"No!" Lily reprimanded

_up you get now…"_

_And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs - he had taken his hands off his Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg –_

"Wow!" the Prewett twins' yelled.

"Brilliant!" James said.

"Amazing," Teddy and Dora shouted.

"Idiot!" Lily was muttering among other uncomplimentary things with Molly, although they were both glad he was safer now.

"Cool," Dudley said in awe.

_"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"_

_Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, and came in smoothly to land._

_"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt_

"Excellent," James, Sirius and the twins repeated. "From McGonagall!"

_He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score… Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already…"_

_"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' - "_

_"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand._

_Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket._

"Mad-eye? Pleased?" Lily said, looking at James, she'd never heard of that before.

"I'm surprised he's not complaining about the injury," he added.

_"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled._

_"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please…" said Professor McGonagall._

_Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried._

"Obviously," Fleur muttered

_"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? _

"Hags?" James' asked.

_You're very lucky… this is quite shallow… it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though…"_

_She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."_

_She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"_

_He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, _

"Sit," Molly repeated sternly, although it was no use with Harry.

_but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron._

_"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear._

_"You were amazing! You really were!"_

_But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost._

"'E's not dead, you know, Ron," Fleur teased her brother in law.

_"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"_

_"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly. "Took you long enough."_

"What does that mean?" James asked glaring at Harry's' best friend and brother in law.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly, "we just got in a small fight."

Hermione and Ginny tried their best not to let out a snort that would give Harry away - it was more than 'a small fight'.

_Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it._

_"It's okay," he said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."_

_"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"_

_"Forget it," Harry said._

_Ron grinned nervously at him and Harry grinned back._

The trio and Ginny breathed a quite sigh that nothing had given the lie away.

_Hermione burst into tears._

_"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered._

Ginny giggled at that.

_"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, _

"True," some said.

_stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling._

"What in the world was that about?" Lily and Petunia said.

"Nothing," Harry replied with a smile.

_"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head._

"Ron!" Hermione said, whacking his head.

_"Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores…"_

_Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast._

_"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground… turned it into a dog… he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him._

"_Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; _

"Poor lab," Lily muttered getting a few strange looks.

_he only just got away. _

"_And that Fleur girl_

"Zat Fleur girl," Fleur repeated looking a Ron

"Sorry," Ron said, glaring at Harry. These memories were getting him in more trouble than Harry somehow.

_tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance – _

"I vas," Fleur muttered.

_well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire –_

Many of the men couldn't help it – they snorted.

_she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. _

"_And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying!_

"What?" James yelled.

_He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."_

_Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold._

_"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight._

"Fair," Remus said. "You got hurt."

_"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder…"_

_Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air._

"Reasonable," Petunia said.

_"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back._

_Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. _

Everyone nodded.

_The crowd was cheering harder than ever._

_Ludo Bagman - ten._

"But you got hurt…" Dudley said confused.

"He's playing favourites," Teddy said.

_"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But… I got hurt… What's he playing at?"_

_"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly._

_And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four._

"How unfair!" Lily said.

"Biased git!" Teddy and the twins' yelled – Teddy getting a stern look from Harry.

"They really shouldn't let the teachers go last," Remus mused. "If they want to be baised, they can do what Karkaroff's just done and do the math!"

_"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"_

"Ron!" Molly yelped as they appeared back in the family room. "Language."

Ron just rolled his eyes, not bothering to apologize.

"Okay, anything important that happened before the second task?" Harry asked, looking at Fleur, Ron and Hermione.

Ron glanced at Hermione, silently asking if she waned to show the Yule Ball but she shook her head, and he sighed in relief. He then stiffened again and glanced at Fleur, she caught his eye and smirked but shook her head.

"Good," said Harry breathing a sigh of relief. "But I have."

Ron shot him a panicked look but Harry just chuckled and shook his head. He went to the pensive and the open golden egg floated out, liked Trelawney did when Dumbledore showed Harry the prophecy

_"Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you are searching, ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour- the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back"_

"What was that?" Petunia asked.

"Isn't that a bit dark?" Hermione said shivering.

"Are their mer-people in the black lake?" Lily asked and Remus nodded in answer to her question. Harry almost laughed at how quickly she figured it out.

"So you go into the lake, and find something you're sorely miss," Lily began.

"Which are guarded by merpeole," Remus finished smiling at her.

"But what type of things," Dora asked.

"People," Remus and Lily said together.

Everyone looked fairly disgusted by that prospect but James was the one who spoke.

"So for you, since you don't have Ginny or the kids," he said, knowing Harry was like him when it came to family. "It'll be either Ron or Hermione"

Harry nodded and changed the memory getting everyone in the pensieve. Once he got in himself he realized it was pitch black and everyone was talking.

_"Harry Potter must wake up, sir!"_

Everyone stopped talking as they heard the voice float to them.

_"Stop poking me -"_

_"Dobby must poke Harry Potter, sir, he must wake up!"_

Everyone breathed as the room became light and they could see Dobby's head.

_He was still in the library; the Invisibility Cloak had slipped off his head as he'd slept, and the side of his face was stuck to the pages of Where There's a Wand, There's a Way. He sat up, straightening his glasses, blinking in the bright daylight._

_"Harry Potter needs to hurry!" squeaked Dobby. "The second task starts in ten minutes, and Harry Potter -"_

"Ten minutes!" Lily panicked.

_"Ten minutes?" Harry croaked. "Ten - ten minutes?"_

_He looked down at his watch._

_"Hurry, Harry Potter!" squeaked Dobby, plucking at Harry's sleeve. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, sir!"_

_"It's too late, Dobby," Harry said hopelessly. "I'm not doing the task, I don't know how-"_

"What?" everyone said.

_"Harry Potter will do the task!" squeaked the elf. "Dobby knew Harry had not found the right book, so Dobby did it for him!"_

"Thank Merlin," Arthur breathed.

_"What?" said Harry. "But you don't know what the second task is -"_

_"Dobby knows, sir! Harry Potter has to go into the lake and find his Wheezy -"_

"Wheezy?" Dudley repeated.

"Ron," Lily said.

_"Find my what?"_

_"- and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople! Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy-Wheezy who is giving Dobby his sweater!"_

_Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts._

_"What?" Harry gasped. "They've got… they've got Ron?"_

_"The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!" squeaked Dobby_

"You'll miss me sorely, Harry," Ron laughed. "Thanks."

_. "'But past an hour- '"_

_"- 'the prospect's black,'" Harry recited, staring, horror-struck, at the elf. "'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'_

"They wouldn't…." Teddy began but decided not to ask.

_Dobby - what've I got to do?"_

_"You has to eat this, sir!" squeaked the elf, and he put his hand in the pocket of his shorts and drew out a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails._

"Gilly-weed," Lily and Remus groaned.

_"Right before you go into the lake, sir - gillyweed!"_

_"What's it do?" said Harry, staring at the gillyweed._

_"It will make Harry Potter breathe underwater, sir!"_

_"Dobby," said Harry frantically, "listen - are you sure about this?"_

_"Dobby is quite sure, sir!" said the elf earnestly. "Dobby hears things, sir, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task… Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Wheezy!"_

_Harry's doubts vanished. Jumping to his feet he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, stuffed it into his bag, grabbed the gillyweed, and put it into his pocket, then tore out of the library with Dobby at his heels._

_"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, sir!" Dobby squealed as they burst into the corridor. "Dobby will be missed - good luck, Harry Potter, sir, good luck!"_

_"See you later, Dobby!" Harry shouted, and he sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, three at a time._

"Careful," Lily said, Harry and Teddy shared a look knowing what the other was thinking.

_The entrance hall contained a few last-minute stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and heading through the double oak doors to watch the second task._

_They stared as Harry flashed past, sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as he leapt down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly grounds._

_As he pounded down the lawn he saw that the seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below. The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water as Harry ran flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Harry sprint toward them._

_"I'm… here…" Harry panted, skidding to a halt in the mud and accidentally splattering Fleur's robes._

"Sorry Fleur," Harry said.

"Eet was fine," she said. "I was going to get wet, anyways."

_"Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about to start!"_

_Harry looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table _

_"Now, now, Percy!" said Ludo Bagman, who was looking intensely relieved to see Harry. "Let him catch his breath!"_

_Dumbledore smiled at Harry, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see him… _

"Zey were sure you veren't going to show up," Fleur said.

_Harry bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Harry was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready._

_"All right. Harry?" Bagman whispered as he moved Harry a few feet farther away from Krum. "Know what you're going to do?"_

_"Yeah," Harry panted, massaging his ribs._

_Bagman gave Harry's shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table; he pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, "Sonorus!" and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands._

_"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!"_

_The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Harry pulled off his shoes and socks, pulled the handful of gillyweed out of his pocket, stuffed it into his mouth, and waded out into the lake._

_Then, quite suddenly, Harry felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty, - Harry clapped his hands around his throat._

"What happened?" Molly asked.

"I had gills," Harry said laughing at the expressions on some people's faces.

_he flung himself forward into the water._

_He stretched out his hands in front of him and stared at them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed._

"Ew!" Ginny shrieked.

_He twisted around and looked at his bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though he had sprouted flippers._

"Weird," Hermione muttered.

_He had soon swum so far into the lake that he could no longer see the bottom. He flipped over and dived into its depths._

_Silence pressed upon his ears as he soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. He could only see ten feet around him, so that as he sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque._

_Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Ron - nor, thankfully, the giant squid._

_Light green weed stretched ahead of him as far as he could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass._

_Harry was staring unblinkingly ahead of him, trying to discern shapes through the gloom… and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of his ankle._

"Here we go!" Sirius yelled making everyone jump.

_Harry twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry's leg, its pointed fangs bared - Harry stuck his webbed hand quickly inside his robes and fumbled for his wand. By the time he had grasped it, two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Harry's robes, and were attempting to drag him down._

Lily let out a muffled shriek, as many other's looked horrified.

_"Relashio!" Harry shouted,except that no sound came out… A large bubble issued from his mouth, and his wand, instead of sending sparks at the grindylows, pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling water, for where it struck them, angry red patches appeared on their green skin. Harry pulled his ankle out of the grindylows grip and swam, as fast as he could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over his shoulder at random_; _every now and then he felt one of the grindylows snatch at his foot again, and he kicked out, hard; finally, he felt his foot connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while its fellows shook their fists at Harry and sank back into the weed._

_Harry slowed down a little, slipped his wand back inside his robes, and looked around, listening again. He turned full circle in the water. He knew he must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed._

_"How are you getting on?"_

_He whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle floating hazily in front of him, gazing at him through her thick, pearly glasses._

_"Myrtle!" Harry tried to shout - but once again, nothing came out of his mouth but a very large bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled._

"Never though I'd see that," Lily muttered.

_"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you… I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close…"_

_Harry gave her the thumbs-up to show his thanks and set off once more,_

"Thank god," Petunia said. "The sooner you get out of there the better."

_He swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as he disturbed the water. Then, at long last, he heard a snatch of haunting mersong._

_"An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took…"_

"Yes!" everyone cheered.

_Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam on past the rock, following the mersong._

_"… your time's half gone, so tarry not_

_Lest what you seek stays here to rot…"_

Everyone shuddered slightly as they thought of Ron, and, most likely, Hermione, since she hadn't woken Harry up.

_A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces… _

"I thought they were supposed to be pretty," Dudley said.

"Not the real ones," Dora laughed slightly.

_The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands._

_Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door._

"This is so disturbing," Arthur said, voicing what many were thinking.

_Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another._

_Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes._

_A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson._

_Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Harry feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister._

"So Ron's Harry's'," Lily said.

"The young girl I'm guessing is your sister," Dudley said, Fleur nodded. "So she's Fluers."

"I'm thinking Hermione is Krum's," Remus said, smirking at the women in question who turn red.

"So the last girls, Cedrics'," James finished and Harry nodded.

_All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths._

_Harry sped toward the hostages, the ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong._

_He looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. He swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head._

_"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice._

"Damn," the twins muttered,

_"Come ON!" Harry said fiercely (but only bubbles issued from his mouth), and he tried to pull the spear away from the merman, but the merman yanked it back, still shaking his head and laughing._

_Harry swirled around, staring about. Something sharp… anything…_

_There were rocks littering the lake bottom. He dived and snatched up a particularly jagged one and returned to the statue. He began to hack at the ropes binding Ron, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Ron floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water._

"Now get out!" Sirius said.

"Like Harrry'll do that," Dora said, smiling fondly at her 'younger brother'.

Sirius groaned knowing that was true.

_Harry looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions. _

_He turned back to Hermione, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too –_

_At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing._

_"You take your own hostage," one of them said to him. "Leave the others…"_

_"No way!" said Harry furiously - but only two large bubbles came out._

"Harry," Hermione moaned but most other people beamed at him.

_"Your task is to retrieve your own friend… leave the others…"_

_"She's my friend too!" Harry yelled, gesturing toward Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging soundlessly from his lips. "And I don't want them to die either!"_

"Dumbledore wouldn't put them in danger," Arthur said.

Harry shuffled slightly and so did Fleur: she had taken the song seriously too.

_Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder; the small silver-haired girl was ghostly green and pale._

Fleur shuddered at how her baby sister looked.

_Harry struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than ever, holding him back. Harry looked wildly around._

_But then the merpeople around him pointed excitedly over his head. Harry looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched._

"Bubblehead charm," Remus said for Petunia and Dudley although it didn't help much.

_Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!"_

_Harry watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight._

_Harry looked around, waiting. _

_The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Harry loosened their grip, staring behind them. Harry turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark… It was Krum._

"He isn't very –" Gideon said.

"Good at transfiguration –" Fabian added.

"Is he?" they finished together.

_He appeared to have transfigured himself- but badly._

_The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes;_

"Careful," everyone growled.

_the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin,darting forward Harry hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free._

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said, scowling.

"Anytime, 'Mione," Harry chuckled.

_Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface. _

_Harry snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Ron and the little girl, shaking their heads at him. Harry pulled out his wand._

_"Get out of the way!"_

_Only bubbles flew out of his mouth, they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon Harry's wand, and they looked scared._

"They don't know magic," Bill said.

_"You've got until three!" Harry shouted; a great stream of bubbles burst from him, but he held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. "One…" (he put down a finger) "two…" (he put down a second one) - They scattered. Harry darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, and kicked off from the bottom._

"Zank you, 'Arry," Fleur said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Haven't we already done this?" Harry said, as everyone laughed.

She swatted at him before hugging him and going back to Bill's side.

_It was very slow work. He could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Ron and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down… He fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was so dark…_

_Merpeople were rising with him. He could see them swirling around him with ease, watching him struggle through the water…_

_The darkness was definitely thinning now… he could see daylight above him…_

_He kicked hard with his flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet_

"Come on!" Petunia shrieked.

_And then he felt his head break the surface of the lake;_

"Thank god/Merlin," everyone sighed.

_The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming. The girl looked scared and confused, but Ron merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Harry, and said, "Wet, this, isn't it?"_

The twins and a few others chuckled at the Ron response.

_Then he spotted Fleur's sister. "What did you bring her for?"_

"Ronald!" Ginny, Fleur, Bill, Molly and Arthur yelled.

_"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Harry panted._

_"Harry, you prat," said Ron, "you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of us drown!"_

_"The song said -"_

_"It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!" said Ron. "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting the hero!"_

"It's Harry!" most people cried except the Prewett twins, Lily, James, Petunia and Dudley.

"He wont leave until he's certain everyone is safe," Ginny laughed, wrapping an arm around her husband.

"James is the same," Lily said, laughing.

_"C'mon," Harry said shortly, "help me with her, I don't think she can swim very well."_

_They pulled Fleur's sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honor, singing their horrible screechy songs._

_Harry could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets._

_Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them._

All the Weasley and Harry smiled; knowing that even though Percy kept up a bit of a cold front, he really cared about his family.

_Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water._

Bill smiled at his wife, it was one of the things he loved about her_, _she loved fiercely and would do anything to help those people.

_"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"_

_"She's fine!" Harry tried to tell her,_

_Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister._

_"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…"_

_"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat._

_Steam gushed out of his ears._

_"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!"_

"Or not," Hermione muttered, although she already knew – Harry had told her soon after.

_"Well -" said Harry. He would have told her about Dobby, but he had just noticed Karkaroff watching him. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Harry, Ron, and Fleur's sister had got back safely. "Yeah, that's right," said Harry, raising his voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear him._

_"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Harry had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said,_

_"You're well outside the time limit, though, Harry… Did it take you ages to find us?"_

_"No… I found you okay…"_

"You're feeling silly now, aren't you?" Dora giggled.

_Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think."_

"Marks for being a noble git, right?" Teddy asked.

"Teddy don't call your godfather a git," Ginny scolded.

"But he is," Teddy said, as Harry chuckled.

Ginny just shook her head in annoyance, "you two are impossible."

_The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to Harry and the others, gave him a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them._

"I was too worried," Fleur sighed.

_"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Harry. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage."_

_"Yeah," said Harry,_

_Fleur bent down, kissed Harry twice on each cheek _

"See, dear," Bill laughed. "As Harry said, you already did that."

_(he felt his face burn), _

Several people sniggered at his expense and Fleur laughed, knowing his reaction had nothing to do with her being part veela.

_then said to Ron, "And you too-you 'elped"_

_"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit -"_

_Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him._

Bill looked faintly sick about the look on Ron's face.

_Hermione looked simply furious, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…_

_"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."_

_Applause from the stands._

_"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head._

"No," Lily said, at the same time Dora said, "you did well."

_"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour."_

"You were well out then," Dudley said.

_Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Harry saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look._

_"We therefore award him forty-seven points."_

_"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."_

_Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior._

_"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."_

_Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks._

James, Sirius and the twins sniggered slightly at the looks.

_"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber_

"See, Aunt Ginny," Teddy grinned. "Even the judges think he's a noble git!"

"No, they think he was showing moral fiber," Ginny said.

"It's the same thing," Teddy said, waving a dismissive hand. Dora and Remus bit their lips to keep from laughing at their son.

_and merits full marks. However… Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."_

"Brilliant!" the twins yelled.

_Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd._

_"There you go. Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all - you were showing moral fiber!"_

"He was still being thick," Bill chuckled.

_Fleur was clapping very hard too,_

"You deserved it!" Fleur exclaimed.

_but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen._

"Oops," Hermione laughed.

"He really should have thought about the fact that you were Harry's best friend before he asked you to the … you know," Ron chuckled.

_"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June,"continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."_

"And I thought you're luck was terrible," Dudley laughed.

"Can we eat?" Ron and Sirius said, shocking everyone into laughter.

"Is all you think about food," Ginny and Lily asked.

"For them yes," Harry and James said.

"You as well," Hermione and Remus said.

The Marauders and Lily with the Golden Trio and Ginny looked at each other for a second before they laughed. They hadn't thought how similar the two groups were before this moment but they were very alike."

"And yes, we can eat," Molly said, giggling slightly.

"Brilliant!" Bill, Ron, Sirius, Harry, James, and the Prewett twins yelled.

After the meal, they all return to the family room and Ron suggested something Harry hadn't really wanted to show.

"Harry, are you going to show your "dream" from divination?"

Harry groaned and nodded.

_Professor Trelawney waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the only source of light now. She bent down and lifted, from under her chair, a miniature model of the solar system, contained within a glass dome. It was a beautiful thing; each of the moons glimmered in place around the nine planets and the fiery sun, all of them hanging in thin air beneath the glass. Harry watched lazily as Professor Trelawney began to point out the fascinating angle Mars was making to Neptune._

_The heavily perfumed fumes washed over him, and the breeze from the window played across his face. He could hear an insect humming gently somewhere behind the curtain. His eyelids began to droop…_

"You're falling asleep," the twins sang.

"It's very easy in that class," Harry said.

_He was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower they flew, the wind blowing pleasantly in Harry's face, until they reached a dark and broken window in the upper story of the house and entered. Now they were flying along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end… through the door they went, into a dark room whose windows were boarded up…_

"You have strange dreams," James said, as Lily thought of something else that was wrong, "why are you showing you this?"

Sirius shared a look with Harry, who nodded making Sirius flinch.

_Harry had left the owl's back… he was watching, now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with its back to him… There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair… both of them were stirring…_

_One was a huge snake… the other was a man… a short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose… he was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug…_

"_You are in luck, Wormtail,"_

Everyone in the room growled at the mention of that traitor.

_said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl had landed. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."_

"Who?" Lily asked scared.

"Crouch," Hermione answered.

_"My Lord!" gasped the man on the floor. "My Lord, I am… I am so pleased… and so sorry…"_

_"Nagini," said the cold voice, "you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you,_

"Shame," Sirius and Remus snarled.

_after all… but never mind, never mind… there is still Harry Potter…"_

_The snake hissed. Harry could see its tongue fluttering._

_"Now, Wormtail," said the cold voice, "perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you…"_

_"My Lord… no… I beg you…"_

_The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of the chair. It was pointing at Wormtail._

Many closed their eyes, knowing it was going to be an unforgivable.

_"Crucio!" said the cold voice_

Harry flinched slightly and Ginny shot him a concerned and questioning look while laying a hand on his arm.

_Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Harry's ears; he was yelling too… _

"Why are you yelling?" Petunia panicked, scared for her nephew.

"Scar?" Remus questioned. Harry nodded.

_"Harry! Harry!"_

_Harry opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of Professor Trelawney's room with his hands over his face. _

_The whole class was standing around him, and Ron was kneeling next to him, looking terrified._

"It was the first one I'd seen," Ron said, rubbing a hand over his eyes as he and Hermione sunk into chairs, Harry and Ginny did the same thing as Teddy stared at his godfather in shock.

"There's more," Lily shrieked, Harry flinched at the pain, concern and shock in his mother voice.

"Yeah, there's more," Ginny said, squeezing his arm with the hand she had laid on his arm a few minutes earlier.

"My poor son," Lily breathed so low barely anyone could hear it and James wrapped his arm around her looking at his son in pity – no one deserved to see Voldemort like that, when he's most dangerous

"Let's continue," Bill said, trying to keep from looking at Harry sympathetically, knowing he hated it. "There's nothing good this year, so we should finish it as quickly as possible."

Harry nodded his agreement and soon everyone was back in the pensieve.

_Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward him._

_"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said._

_"But the task's not till tonight!" said Harry, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down his front, afraid he had mistaken the time._

A few people laughed.

_"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." She moved away. Harry gaped after her._

"She didn't expect us to come, did she?" Petunia asked sadly, knowing it was safe to say this since Lily and James knew.

"I doubt it," James said feeling flames lick his insides at the reminder of his son's treatment.

_"She doesn't expect the Dursleys to turn up, does she?" he asked Ron blankly._

_"Dunno," said Ron. "Harry, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later."_

_Harry finished his breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. He saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Harry stayed where he was. _

_But just as he was getting up, thinking that he might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out._

_"Harry, come on, they're waiting for you!"_

Everyone who didn't know frowned in confusion about who would come to watch Harry risk his life.

_Utterly perplexed Harry got up. He walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Harry_

"She was quite taken wiz you," Fleur giggled.

_, who waved back, grinning._

_Then he saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at him._

_"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as he smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you. Harry!" She bent down and kissed him on the cheek._

_"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."_

_Fleur Delacour was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. _

Fleur turned red as he husband looked at her with raised eyebrows.

_"This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment - the Dursleys -"_

_"Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips._

Molly and Lily had a hard time not sending Petunia and Dudley a dark look.

_"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"_

_"Oh yeah," said Harry, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year._

_"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill._

_"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -"_

The three Weasley children turn rather green once they noticed their parents had gone slightly red.

_"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement._

_Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling._

_"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle - he was the caretaker in those days - your father's still got the marks."_

Arthur rubbed his back, as he remembered that incident.

_"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill._

_"Yeah, okay," said Harry, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around._

_"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down._

_"Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?"_

_"What?" said Harry._

_"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Harry, frowning after his father._

"I don't understand how Cedric is Amos' son," James muttered.

"He's obviously more like his mother," Lily said.

"Like Harry," Remus chuckled; Harry really did have his mothers' personality more than his fathers.

_"He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeters article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."_

_"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did he?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Harry to hear as he started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still… you'll show him, Ced. Beaten him once before, haven't you?"_

_"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"_

_Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away._

"Skipping," Harry said, frowning.

Ginny lent against him knowing what was up but didn't want to draw attention to him. Harry wrapped an arm around her and smiled gratefully down at her

_Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."_

Various words were groaned, as Hermione took Harry's free hand.

_Harry got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding him; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished him good luck, and he headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor._

_"Feeling all right, Harry?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"_

_"I'm okay," said Harry._

_They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy._

"I 'ate mazes," Fleur said.

_Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest._

_"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"_

_The champions nodded._

_"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers._

_"Good luck. Harry," Hagrid whispered,_

"He'll need that," Sirius muttered

_and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Mr. Harry Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"_

"I wonder why my points weren't said," Fleur commented but everyone shrugged.

_Harry could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. He waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at him._

_"So… on my whistle, Harry and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"_

_He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Harry and Cedric hurried forward into the maze._

_The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Harry felt almost as though he were underwater again. He pulled out his wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind him._

_After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other._

_"See you," Harry said, and he took the left one, while Cedric took the right._

"See you," Harry repeated bitterly, it was one of the last things he'd said to Cedric.

Ginny placed her hand on the hand that was on her body

_Harry heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Harry sped up. His chosen path seemed completely deserted. He turned right, and hurried on, holding his wand high over his head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight._

"I 'ad already met somezing by now," Fleur muttered.

_Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside._

_Harry kept looking behind him. _

_The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. He reached a second fork._

_"Point Me," he whispered to his wand, holding it flat in his palm._

_The wand spun around once and pointed toward his right, into solid hedge. The best he could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible._

_The path ahead was empty too, and when Harry reached a right turn and took it, he again found his way unblocked._

"Something's wrong," Bill mumbled, he had a bad feeling.

_Then he heard movement right behind him. He held out his wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side._

_Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking._

_"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous - I only just got away!"_

"They must have been big," Ginny moaned.

_He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Harry hurried off again. Then, as he turned a corner, he saw… a Dementor_

"There wouldn't be," James said.

_gliding toward him. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward him. Harry could hear its rattling breath; he felt clammy coldness stealing over him, but knew what he had to do…_

_He raised his wand, and cried, "Expecto Patronum!_

_A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand_

"Woo!" Gideon said.

_and galloped toward the Dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes… Harry had never seen a Dementor stumble._

"It a Boggart!" Fabian yelled

_"Hang on!" he shouted, advancing in the wake of his silver Patronus, "You're a Boggart! Riddikulus!"_

_There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded from moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, his wand held high once more._

_Left… right… left again… Twice he found himself facing dead ends. He did the Four-Point Spell again and found that he was going too far east. He turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of him._

_Harry approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. He wondered whether he might be able to blast it out of the way._

_"Reducto!" he said._

_The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. _

_He was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence._

"Fleur!" Bill yelped, recognizing his wife's scream.

_"Fleur?" Harry yelled._

_There was silence. He stared all around scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. He took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist._

"'Arry," Fleur groaned. "Don't worry."

_The world turned upside down. Harry was hanging from the ground, with his hair on end, his glasses dangling off his nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. He clutched them to the end of his nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though his feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below him the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. He felt as though if he tried to move one of his feet, he would fall away from the earth completely._

"What the hell?" Remus said

_He shut his eyes and pulled his right foot as hard as he could away from the grassy ceiling._

_Immediately, the world righted itself. Harry fell forward onto his knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. He took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over his shoulder as he ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at him in the moonlight._

"What was that?" Lily asked but everyone shrugged.

_He paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. _

"If you're still looking for me, I'll curse you," Fleur said.

"C-course not, Fleur," Harry replied, eyeing her wand – she was a very powerful witch, like Hermione and Ginny.

_There was no sign of red sparks Harry took the right fork._

_He met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice he took the same wrong turning. Finally, he found a new route and started to jog along it, his wandlight waving, making his shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls._

_Then he rounded another corner and found himself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. It was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything._

Petunia and Dudley balked at the sight.

_Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Harry's wand, which he pointed at it._

_"Stupefy!"_

_The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Harry ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of his head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward him._

_"Impedimenta!" Harry yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Harry staggered back a few paces and fell over._

_"IMPEDIMENTA!"_

_The skrewt was inches from him when it froze - he had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Harry pushed himself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction - the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment._

_He took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing himself to stop, heart hammering, he performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take him northwest._

_He had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when he heard something in the path running parallel to his own that made him stop dead._

_"What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"_

_And then Harry heard Krum's voice._

_"Crucio!"_

"What?" Hermione yelled. "NO!"

_The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Harry began sprinting up his path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, he tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Harry forced his leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; he struggled through it, tearing his robes, and looking to his right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him._

Everyone flinch or shudder at the sight before them.

_Harry pulled himself up and pointed his wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run._

_"Stupefy!" Harry yelled._

"Thank you," many breathed.

_The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, facedown in the grass. Harry-dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face._

_"Are you all right?" Harry said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm._

_"Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah… I don't believe it… he crept up behind me… I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…"_

_Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Harry looked down at Krum._

_"I can't believe this… I thought he was all right," Harry said, staring at Krum._

"He is," Hermione insisted.

"He wasn't himself," Ginny said. "I'm sure."

_"So did I," said Cedric._

_"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Harry._

_"Yeah," said Cedric. "You don't think Krum got her too?"_

_"I don't know," said Harry slowly._

_"Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered._

"No," everyone muttered, thinking of something's that could be in that maze.

_"No," said Harry. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him… otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."_

_"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay._

_Harry and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them._

_Then Cedric said, "Well… I s'pose we'd better go on…"_

_"What?" said Harry. "Oh… yeah… right…"_

_It was an odd moment. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Harry turned left, and Cedric right._

_Cedric's footsteps soon died away._

Harry took a deep breath knowing it was soon.

_Harry moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, Every so often he hit more dead ends,Then, as he strode down a long, straight path, he saw movement once again, and his beam of wandlight hit an extraordinary. It was a sphinx._

"Cool!" said Bill and the twins.

_It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached. He raised his wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking his progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice._

_"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."_

_"So… so will you move, please?" said Harry_

Everyone either chuckled or grinned at how innocent Harry seemed.

_"No," she said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess - I let you pass. Answer wrongly - I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed."_

_Harry's stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not him. He weighed his chances. If the riddle was too hard, he could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center._

_"Okay," he said. "Can I hear the riddle?"_

_The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:_

_"First think of the person who lives in disguise,_

_Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies._

_Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,_

_The middle of middle and end of the end?_

_And finally give me the sound often heard_

_During the search for a hard-to-find word._

_Now string them together, and answer me this,_

_Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"_

_Harry gaped at her._

_"Could I have it again… more slowly?" he asked tentatively. She blinked at him, smiled, and repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Harry asked._

_She merely smiled her mysterious smile._

_"A person in disguise," Harry muttered, staring at her, "who lies… er… that'd be a - an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A - a spy? I'll come back to that… could you give me the next clue again, please?"_

_She repeated the next lines of the poem._

_"'The last thing to mend,'" Harry repeated. "Er… no idea… 'middle of middle'… could I have the last bit again?"_

_She gave him the last four lines._

_"'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'" said Harry. "Er… that'd be… er… hang on - 'er'! Er's a sound!"_

_The sphinx smiled at him._

_"Spy… er… spy… er…" said Harry, pacing up and down. "A creature I wouldn't want to kiss… a spider!"_

_The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass._

_"Thanks!" said Harry, and he dashed forward._

"Well done!" Lily said, grinning as some of the men cheered.

_Harry broke into a run. He had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point Me!" he whispered again to his wand, and it spun around and pointed him to the right-hand one. He dashed up this one and saw light ahead._

_The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of him._

_Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup,_

_Then Harry saw something immense over a hedge to his left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with his own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it –_

_"Cedric!" Harry bellowed. "On your left!"_

Ginny beamed at her husband, he was selfless sometimes.

_Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Harry saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric._

_"Stupefy!" Harry yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body,_

"It's an Acromantula," Ron groaned, he remembered meeting them, now more clearly than ever.

_But for all the good it did, he might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Harry instead._

"Crap!" Teddy yelled.

"Teddy, language," Harry's tone was harsher than it needed or should have been and, though Teddy's head span around in surprise, he brushed it off seeing the tight grip his godfather had on Ginny. Worse things were coming.

_"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"_

_But it was no use - the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Harry had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon him._

_He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers _

"That's dangerous!" yelped the twins causing everyone to groan.

_He could hear Cedric yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Harry's - Harry raised his wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted "Expelliarmus!"_

_It worked - the Disarming Spell made the spider drop him, but that meant that Harry fell twelve feet onto his already injured leg, which crumpled beneath him._

"Great!" James muttered sarcastically as Sirius said, "bloody fantastic."

_Without pausing to think, he aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as he had done with the skrewt, and shouted "Stupefy!'' just as Cedric yelled the same thing. The two spells combined did what one alone had not:_

"Thank Merlin," Dudley breathed

_The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs._

_"Harry!" he heard Cedric shouting. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"_

_"No," Harry called back, panting. He looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. He could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on his torn robes._

_He tried to get up, but his leg was shaking badly and did not want to support his weight. He leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around._

_Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him._

_"Take it, then," Harry panted to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there."_

_But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Harry. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Harry saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Harry again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support himself. Cedric took a deep breath._

_"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."_

_"That's not how it's supposed to work," Harry said._

"You boys are being far too humble," Arthur said, smiling

_"The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."_

_Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head._

_"No," he said._

_"Stop being noble," said Harry irritably._

Most people laughed at that and Teddy started to stumble over his words before telling Ginny to hit Harry for him, which she happily obliged to do. Harry, however, was wish he hadn't been noble as well and just taken Cedric's advice.

_"Just take it, then we can get out of here."_

_Cedric watched Harry steadying himself, holding tight to the hedge._

_"You told me about the dragons," Cedric said. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."_

_"I had help on that too," Harry snapped, trying to mop up his bloody leg with his robes. "You helped me with the egg - we're square."_

_"I had help on the egg in the first place," said Cedric._

_"We're still square," said Harry, testing his leg gingerly; it shook violently as he put weight on it; he had sprained his ankle when the spider had dropped him._

_"You should've got more points on the second task," said Cedric mulishly. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."_

_"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Harry bitterly. "Just take the cup!"_

_"No," said Cedric._

_He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries._

_"Go on," Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided._

_Harry looked from Cedric to the cup., and he found himself staring at Cedric's shadowy, stubborn face._

_"Both of us," Harry said._

Harry flinched, as Ginny and Hermione's eyes filled with tears and Ron shot him an exasperated look.

"If this is why, I swear to Merlin, Harry," Ginny began but didn't finish.

_"What?"_

_"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."_

_Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms._

_"You - you sure?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."_

"Remus, Dora!" Harry said, and the tense tone of his voice broke through the area like a knife, everyone looked at him in shook but Remus and Dora came towards him. "Do you want Teddy to stay?"

"Wh –?" Dora began but Remus told her to shh. "Oh!"

"He deserves to know, he's come this far," Remus said, with a glance at Dora who nodded. He then put a hand on Harry's arm. "_You_ gonna be alright."

"Fine," Harry said. "I've got Gin."

Remus nodded before clapping him on the shoulder, Dora then hugged him and they all headed back to curious looks.

"Ready Dud," Harry said and Dudley and anyone else who knew realized it was time.

_For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears;_

"Because that isn't how Gryffindor works," Fabian and Gideon chuckled but got shot a venom filled look from their sister.

_then his face split in a grin._

_"You're on," he said. "Come here."_

_He grabbed Harry's arm below the shoulder and helped Harry limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles._

_"On three, right?" said Harry. "One - two - three -"_

_He and Cedric both grasped a handle._

_His feet had left the ground. He could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling him onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at his side._

"It's a portkey," Lily asked, shocked and scared due to the tension.

"Yep," Harry said after swallowing.

"Let's do this," Hermione said, grasping Harry's hand, as Ginny wrapped her arms around him.

_Harry felt his feet slam into the ground; his injured leg gave way, and he fell forward; his hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. He raised his head._

_"Where are we?" he said._

_Cedric shook his head. He got up, pulled Harry to his feet, and they looked around. They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously traveled miles - perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Harry could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside._

_Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Harry._

_"Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked._

_"Nope," said Harry. He was looking around the graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"_

"No!" Sirius yelled, confirming everyone's gears. "Get out of there!"

_"I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry, glad that Cedric had made the suggestion rather than him._

_They pulled out their wands. Harry kept looking around him. He had, yet again, the strange feeling that they were being watched._

_"Someone's coming," he said suddenly._

_Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Harry couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, he could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And - several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time - Harry saw that the thing in the persons arms looked like a baby… or was it merely a bundle of robes?_

_Harry lowered his wand slightly and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot him a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure. It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second Harry and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another._

_Harry's wand slipped from his fingers as he put his hands over his face; his knees buckled; he was on the ground and he could see nothing at all._

Everyone gasped as they realized that Harry's scar was hurting and everything went black.

_From far away, above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." _

"NO!" everyone yelled.

_A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!"_

The place went into instant uproar.

Everyone shouted "No" again, other's "damn", it took several minutes for everyone to calm down again and even then some where shaking with anger.

_A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him; the pain in his scar reached such a pitch that he retched, and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, he opened his stinging eyes._

_Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead._

Many people started crying. Hermione turned into Ron, although she never let go of Harry's hand, squeezing it in reassurance. Tears streamed down Ginny face, and Teddy's, as he stood open mouthed staring at Cedric's body. Harry grasped his shoulder, glad he could reach him, and Teddy turned willingly towards him.

"J-just like t-that," Petunia stuttered as the few people that could nodded.

"Crap, Harry," Dudley suddenly yelled, finally coming out of his shock. "I was a jerk! Crap, sorry, Harry. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine, Dud,' Harry managed to chock out over Teddy's head although he didn't really help considering it was a lifeless, a dead sound, causing everyone who wasn't already to look at him.

Some where shocked, Harry had been so calm through most things. Even Molly and Arthur who understood were slightly shocked, over the years Harry had learnt to hide the emotions he didn't want anyone to see behind a cool, calm mask – he had to, to be an Auror – so it was usual to see him lose control and show people. To most people he was a rock, a constant thing, that didn't really change and someone who could always rely on to be strong.

Some other people were more understanding, Harry had lost so much in his young life that no matter how happy or unaffected by it he may seem, there would always be these horrors in his past and they would all distress him, even if he didn't show it.

_For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. And then, before Harry's mind had accepted what he was seeing, before he could feel anything but numb disbelief, he felt himself being pulled to his feet._

_The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Harry toward the marble headstone. Harry saw the name upon it flickering in the wand light before he was forced around and slammed against it._

_TOM RIDDLE_

"Shit," was heard muttered around the room and those who normally would scold them for it where too affected to do so.

_The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords around Harry, tying him from neck to ankles to the headstone._

Lily, James and Sirius growled at that fact, all having guessed who this might be.

_Harry could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood; he struggled, and the man hit him - hit him with a hand that had a finger missing. And Harry realized who was under the hood. It was Wormtail._

"I'll kill him," Sirius muttered.

"T-To late," Ron murmured.

_"You!" he gasped._

_But Wormtail, who had finished conjuring the ropes, did not reply; he was busy checking the tightness of the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, rumbling over the knots. Once sure that Harry was bound so tightly to the headstone that he couldn't move an inch, Wormtail drew a length of some black material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Harry's mouth; then, without a word, he turned from Harry and hurried away. _

James growled at how someone could do that to a fourteen year old kid, especially the child of somebody who had been a best friend.

_Harry couldn't make a sound, nor could he see where Wormtail had gone; he couldn't turn his head to see beyond the headstone; he could see only what was right in front of him._

_Cedric's body was lying some twenty feet away. Some way beyond him, glinting in the starlight, lay the Triwizard Cup. Harry's wand was on the ground at Cedric's feet. The bundle of robes that Harry had thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the grave. It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Harry watched it,_

_He could hear noises at his feet. He looked down and saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, circling the headstone where he was tied. _

"Nagini," the twins groaned.

_Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back within Harry's range of vision, and Harry saw him pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what seemed to be water -_

_Harry could hear it slopping around - and it was larger than any cauldron Harry had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in._

"That's big," Arthur said.

_The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself. Now Wormtail was busying himself at the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling names beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness. The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes became more agitated. And Harry heard the high, cold voice again. "Hurry!"_

Everyone who recognized the voice shuddered.

_The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds._

_"It is ready Master."_

_"Now…" said the cold voice._

_Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Harry let out a yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking his mouth._

_It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind - but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Harry had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face - no child alive ever had a face like that - flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes._

Everyone looked faintly sick at the _thing_ that lay before them.

_The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and Harry saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron._

"You should be revolted"' Fabian and Gideon growled.

_For one moment, Harry saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks dancing on the surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Harry heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud._

_Let it drown, Harry thought, please… let it drown…_

Everyone flinched as the thoughts were said in, what they guessed, was how Harry thought them.

_Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night._

_"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"_

_The surface of the grave at Harry's feet cracked. Horrified, Harry watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue._

_And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs._

_"Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master."_

_He stretched his right hand out in front of him - the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward._

Lily nearly screamed, she found it hard to remember that this man was the person that made it possible for Voldemort to come after her beloved family.

_Harry realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened – he closed his eyes as tightly as he could,_

The room fell so silent you could nearly taste it, as everything went dark, all you could hear was people breathing and the memory.

_but he could not block the scream that pierced the night. He heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron._

_Harry couldn't stand to look… but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Harry's closed eyelids…_

_Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Not until Harry felt Wormtail's anguished breath on his face did he realize that Wormtail was right in front of him._

_"B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."_

"Don't touch him!" everyone yelled angrily.

_Harry could do nothing to prevent it, he was tied too tightly… Squinting down, struggling hopelessly at the ropes binding him, he saw the shining silver dagger shaking in Wormtails remaining hand. Its point penetrated the crook of his right arm and blood seeping down the sleeve of his torn robes._

The marauders teeth audibly snapped together.

_Wormtail, still panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Harry's cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it._

_He staggered back to the cauldron with Harry's blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing._

No one looked remorseful at Pettigrew lying on the ground; they were all to mad to even feel anything towards the rat accept anger.

_The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened…_

_Let it have drowned. Harry thought, let it have gone wrong…_

_And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Harry, so that he couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor hanging in the air… It's gone wrong, he thought… it's drowned… please… please let it be dead…_

The tears that were already steaming down many faces became thicker as Harry begged for death of Voldemort.

_But then, through the mist in front of him, he saw the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron._

Many people who knew what this meant gasped.

_"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one handed over his master's head._

_The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Harry… and Harry stared back into the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snakes, with slits for nostrils…_

_Lord Voldemort had risen again._

"NO!" Fabian, Gideon, James and Lily yelled sounding like they were in pain

"How did you get out of this?" James groaned.

'Magic,' Harry suggested smiling slightly, his composure nearly perfect due to his years as an Auror. "And you."

James' gaze fixed on him sharply.

No one knew, except maybe Hermione and Ginny, how he really felt at the moment - weak. He felt like saying that they were not watching anymore of this but he knew he couldn't, he'd have to be strong and relive one of the worst memories of his life.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fleur and Bill all realized why Harry had never wanted to tell them about this, they had barely started and already felt sick, but with a glance at Harry and seeing how he was handling reliving this, they decide they should know what happens. He got out alive, after all.

_Voldemort looked away from Harry and began examining his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness._

"Hmm," Lily said with an air of amusement and satisfaction. "He looks worse."

Harry, James and Remus chuckled at her tone.

_He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying._

"Good," Petunia said, this man had killed her sister.

_Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh._

_Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them._

_"My Lord…" he choked, "my Lord… you promised… you did promise…"_

"You idiot," Fabian said.

"Voldemort doesn't keep promises," Gideon said.

"He doesn't care about anyone but himself," Fabian muttered.

Both twins sound serious and it was unnerving to many – like the marauders they were fun loving.

_"Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily._

_"Oh Master… thank you, Master…"_

_He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again._

"He thought Voldemort would heal him?" Sirius laughed darkly.

_"The other arm, Wormtail."_

_"Master, please… please…"_

_Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo - a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth –_

"The dark mark," all the wizards breathed.

_Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping._

_"It is back,"_

"What's back?" Lily asked worried.

_he said softly, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know…"_

_He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm._

_Wormtail let out a fresh howl;_

"Good," Remus said causing Teddy looked at him. "It hurt."

_Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Harry saw that it had turned jet black._

"So that's how they're called," Molly said looking sick.

_A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard._

_"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"_

"They'll be killed," James said, looking slightly remorseful – these people might have changed their ways, if only one of two.

_He began to pace up and down before Harry and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face._

"Keep away from him," Lily and Molly yelled.

_"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool… very like your dear mother._

"Lily isn't a fool," James growled.

"And she isn't a muggle," Fabian added

"She's a damn good witch," Gideon finished, laughing slightly.

_But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child… and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…"_

"Bustard," Dora snarled.

_Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass._

_"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father…_

"Wait a minute," Teddy said, being too caught up in anger earlier he hadn't noticed what Voldemort said about his father. "He's a half-blood?"

"Ironic, isn't it," Harry said. "Considering he's all for blood supremacy and he's not even a pure-blood himself."

''E just told you," Fleur muttered.

"Yes, but he doesn't expect Harry to leave that place alive," Bill muttered, looking angry at what he'd just said as many people flinched.

_"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… Tom Riddle…"_

_Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave._

_"Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look, Harry! My true family returns…"_

"You don't have family," Fabian and Gideon said.

_The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward… slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes._

_"Master… Master" he murmured._

"That's sick," Dudley said.

_The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people._

"They've stood in this circle a lot," Petunia guessed.

_Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered._

_"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years… thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"_

_He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening._

_"I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench or guilt upon the air."_

"You smell guilt?" Fabian repeated, smirking.

_A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him._

_"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact - such prompt appearances! And I ask myself… why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"_

"You are supposed to be dead," Arthur spat.

_No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm._

_"And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…_

_"And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death?_

"What steps?" Sirius asked.

No one except the Golden Trio and Ginny knew. Most had died before Harry had told the Great Hall and those that were in their, like Molly and Arthur, hadn't heard much of what Harry had said, they'd been so scared their ears didn't seem to be working.

_They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?_

_"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort… perhaps they now pay allegiance to another… perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"_

_At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them._

_"It is a disappointment to me… I confess myself disappointed…"_

_One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet._

"Pathetic," Dora said.

_"Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!"_

_Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand._

_"Crucio!"_

Everyone flinched at the curse.

"Forgiveness isn't in his vocabulary," Lily sighed

_The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Harry was sure the sound must carry to the houses around… Let the police come, he thought desperately… anyone… anything…_

"They'd just be killed," Remus said

_Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping._

_"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"_

_He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob._

_"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends._

Sirius and Remus shared a look.

_You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"_

_"Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please. Master… please…"_

_"Yet you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers…"_

_Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake._

"What's he doing?" Teddy asked.

_Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtails bleeding wrist._

_Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder._

_"My Lord," he whispered. "Master… it is beautiful… thank you… thank you…"_

_He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes._

Everyone turned slightly green and look utterly disgusted.

_"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort._

"Oh!" Ron suddenly yelped realizing why that hand turned on Pettigrew.

"That isn't a normal hand, is it?" James asked.

"It'll probably mark him pay dearly if his loyalty does waver," Lily said, still looking green.

_"No, my Lord… never, my Lord…"_

_Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right._

_"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius… Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay… but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"_

"He should be in Azkaban," many hissed.

_"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -"_

_"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius… You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future."_

_"Of course, my Lord, of course… You are merciful, thank you…"_

_Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space - large enough for two people - that separated Malfoy and the next man._

_"The Lestranges should stand here," said Voldemort quietly._

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione hissed and growled at the name causing some to look at them strangely and others in understanding.

_"But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me… When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us… they are our natural allies… we will recall the banished giants… I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me,_

"So he calls them his family and his servants," Teddy asked incredulously.

_and an army of creatures whom all fear…"_

'All fear?' Dudley repeated, annoyed

_He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them._

_"Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…"_

_"Thank you, Master… thank you," murmured Macnair._

_"And here" - Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures - "we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?"_

"Are they as idiotic as their sons?" Ginny questioned.

_"That will do," said Voldemort._

_He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there._

_"And here we have six missing Death Eaters… three dead in my service._

"Good," Sirius growled. "The less Death Eaters, the better."

_One, too cowardly to return… he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever… he will be killed, of course… and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."_

"So Karkaroff, if the first," Remus said.

"Snape the second," Arthur said, glancing Lily as fear crossed her face.

"And keep the last one's a secret," Sirius laughed.

_The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks._

_"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight…_

"There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts," the twins yelped.

_"Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry's direction. "Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honor."_

"Leave my son alone, Riddle," Lily snapped.

_There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask._

_"Master, we crave to know… we beg you to tell us… how you have achieved this… this miracle… how you managed to return to us…"_

_"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins - and ends – with my young friend here."_

"Friend," the trio scoffed.

_He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle._

_"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the boy."_

"Yes!" Lily suddenly yelled, causing everyone to chuckle as she grinned.

"And that's what saved him first year," Sirius laughed.

"Do I even want to know what 'appened first year," Fleur asked but everyone shook their heads.

"He admitted not knowing something," Arthur noted.

"I bet that hurt," the twins said.

_Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek._

"Don't touch him," Dora growled, daring that 'man' too touch her little brother.

_"His mother left upon him the traces other sacrifice… This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it… but no matter. I can touch him now."_

_Voldemort put his finger on Harry's cheek._

Dora hissed, causing her husband and son to move away from her a bit.

_Voldemort laughed softly in his ear then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters._

_"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice,_

"He lived," Lily began. "It was not foolish."

_and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah… pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it._

_Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand…_

"Good," Petunia said, causing everyone to jump, having forgotten she was there.

_"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist… I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited… Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me… one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body… but I waited in vain…"_

Many smiled at the thought that he had to wait so long.

_The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing._

_"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals - snakes, of course, being my preference - but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic… and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long…_

_"Then… four years ago… the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard - young, foolish, and gullible –_

"Quirrel," Dudley said.

_wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of… for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school… he was easy to bend to my will… he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted… thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter…"_

"Nice job, Harry," Bill chuckled.

_Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry._

_"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…"_

"Good," the twins said darkly.

_One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice._

_Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry._

_"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued._

"Does he ever stop talking?" Fabian groaned.

"Of course not, my dear brother, he's far to arrogant," Gideon said, looking annoyed

_"I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…"_

_One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice._

"I wish he had and then that would one or two less for us to deal with," muttered Bill

"Bill!" Molly and Fleur yelped.

_"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last… a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master._

"Traitor," the marauders growled.

_He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hiding… helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them…_

Petunia and Dudley shuddered

_"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food… and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic._

_"Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail - displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him – convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her… he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams… for - with a little persuasion –_

"You mean force," Remus growled.

_she became a veritable mine of information._

_"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me_

"How would she know that?" Dora asked.

_, if I could only contact him. She told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."  
>Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.<em>

Many flinched, even though they knew how ruthless he was.

_"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth… a spell or two of my own invention… a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemorts red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake,_

"Only thing he cares about," Sirius spat.

"For good reason," the trio said, causing everyone to look at them in shock and confusion.

_"a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided… I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel._

_"There was no hope of stealing the Philosopher's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower… I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength._

_"I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant…_

_"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe… Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me… as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potters blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago… for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too…_

"Fantastic," Molly groaned.

"He knew what he was doing," Arthur said

_"But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there…_

"Thanks Tuney," Lily said, hugging her sister.

_Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup… I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him?_

_"Why… by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire._

"How are you still alive if there's a Death Eater at Hogwarts?" Teddy asked.

"He didn't want to kill me, he just wanted me in that graveyard," Harry said, smiling slightly at his godson.

_Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament - that he touched the Triwizard Cup first - the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is… the boy you all believed had been my downfall…"_

_Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand._

"Don't you dare!" everyone yelled, although they knew it was useless.

_"Crucio!"_

"NO!" Lily yelled and Harry flinched as his screams penetrated the air – her tone reminded him of when McGonagall thought he was dead.

James gathered her in his arms as she started crying, his own face pained.

Remus and Sirius shared a look; they both knew the pain of that curse and didn't want Harry to have felt it. Sirius was also thinking about what else Harry had left out when telling Dumbledore because he sure as hell hadn't said anything about being tortured.

Dora, Molly, Fleur and Petunia's eyes filled with tears while Dudley, Bill and Arthur clenched their fist – none of them had been told this.

The twins were just staring at each other, and anyone else would think they were in shock but they were thinking about how much worse it was to use the curse on a fourteen year old, a kid, than on an adult.

Eventually everyone calmed down enough for the memory to continue,

_And then the screams stopped. He was hanging limply in the ropes binding him to the headstone of Voldemort's father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter._

"It isn't funny!" Lily cried, tears streaming down her face.

_"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance._

"That's not true," Ginny said, her voice weaker than usually as she watched the younger version of her husband being tortured.

_And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger._

"Idiot," Teddy said.

_Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching._

_"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand."_

"Idiot," the twins laughed darkly even they knew Harry could get out of this if he had his wand.

"I can't believe he did that," James said. "What a stupid thing to do- not that I, oh, you know"

Harry chuckled at his father and then answered,"'he wanted to prove his dominance over me, any adult could probably kill a fourteen year old without a wand."

"Most adults would probably be able to kill a fourteen year old _with_ a wand," Remus corrected.

"Yes but less," Teddy said, rolling his eyes.

_Wormtail approached Harry, who scrambled to find his feet, to support his own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, pulled out the wad of material gagging Harry, and then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Harry to the gravestone._

_His injured leg shook under him as he stood on the overgrown grave, as the Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter circle around him and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the missing Death Eaters should have stood were filled._

_Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Harry's wand, which he thrust roughly into Harry's hand without looking at him. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters._

"How dare he?" James growled.

_"You have been taught how to duel Harry Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness._

"Not well," Hermione said, causing everyone to groan.

"We bow to each other. Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed… Dumbledore would like you to show manners… Bow to death, Harry…"

"He's not gonna die," Dudley growled.

"Stop toying with him," Sirius moaned.

"No keep," Ginny corrected, smirking as some looked at her and she said nothing.

_The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemorts lipless mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow. He was not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing him… he was not going to give him that satisfaction…_

_"I said,bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever._

"This isn't funny!" Petunia said nearly repeating her sister from earlier.

_"Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Harry lifted too. "And now you face me, like a man… straight-backed and proud, the way your father died…_

"Leave James out of this!" Lily, Sirius and Remus said as James just growled at Voldemorts nerve.

_"And now - we duel."_

_Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse._

"No, no, NO!" Hermione yelled. "It's only supposed to happen once. You said only once!"

_he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life –_

_And then it stopped. Harry rolled over and scrambled to his feet; he was shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; he staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed him away, back toward Voldemort._

_"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause… That hurt, didn't it Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"_

"Shut up!" Ginny yelled, crying.

_Harry didn't answer. He was going to die like Cedric,_

"NO!" Teddy suddenly shouted. "I don't wanna hear his thoughts!"

"Teddy, come here," Harry said, holding his arm out and Teddy happily went to him.

_those pitiless red eyes were telling him so… he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it…_

"Don't say that!" Ron yelled.

"Think," Harry said, trying not to laugh as his best mate scowled at him.

_but he wasn't going to play along. He wasn't going to obey Voldemort… he wasn't going to beg…_

"Atta boy, Harry," James said.

_"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly._

"And Ginny said shut up!" Petunia shouted causing Lily to let out a breath of laughter.

_"Answer me! Imperio"_

"No!" Molly cried.

"All three," Arthur sighed.

_just answer no… say no… just answer no…_

_I will not, said a stronger voice, in the back of his head, I won't answer… Just answer no…_

"You can fight it," Remus asked, shocked.

"Harry's very powerful," Hermione said simply.

"It seems you left other things out as well, Harry," Sirius said calmly although it only made it worse.

Harry however just shrugged ignore the anger burning in his grey eyes.

_I won't do it, I won't say it…_

_Just answer no…_

_"I WON'T!"_

Everyone stared at Harry in shock.

"You broke…" Fabian said.

"Voldemorts Imperious," Gideon said in awe.

"Brilliant!" they yelled together as the marauders laughed in relief.

_And these words burst from Harry's mouth; they echoed through the graveyard._

_"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now._

"You scared him!" Dora laughed jubilant.

_"You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die… Perhaps another little dose of pain?"_

"Don't you dare," Dudley growled dangerously not wanting to hear his cousin scream like that again.

_Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Harry was ready;he flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort s father, and he heard it crack as the curse missed him._

"See Hermione," Harry said. "Quidditch's good for something."

_"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," said Voldemort's soft, cold voice_

"Yes, we are," Sirius chuckled, trying to diffuse the tension and anger

_, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry… come out and play, then… it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…"_

"You should though," James said, although he knew in this time Voldemort was gone.

_Harry crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come. There was no hope… no help to be had. And as he heard Voldemort draw nearer still, he knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: He was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; he was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort s feet… he was going to die upright like his father, and he was going to die trying to defend himself, even if no defense was possible… _

Lily giggled, "that sounds like your father would say."

_Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone. Harry stood up… he gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him, and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort._

_Voldemort was ready. As Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried, "Avada Kedavra!"_

Everyone drew in a breath at the last curse and held it.

_A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's - they met in midair - and suddenly Harry's wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it; his hand seized up around it; he couldn't have released it if he'd wanted to - and a narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold._

"What?" Lily and Molly asked.

_Harry, following the beam with his astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating._

_And then he felt his feet lift from the ground._

"What the hell!" the twins yelled.

_He and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves… The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Harry and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands –_

"Don't you dare," Arthur warned.

_The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Harry and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, _

"This is weird," Ron said, Harry never spoke about this

_a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now…_

_"Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Harry saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Harry's; Harry held onto his wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters._

"Arrogant idiot," Lily said, although she was grinning.

"You're going to make him look like a fool," James laughed.

"He is one," Fabian said.

"And arrogant fool," Gideon corrected his brother.

_And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air… It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a sound Harry recognized: phoenix song._

_It was the sound of hope to Harry… the most beautiful and welcome thing he had ever heard in his life… He felt as though the song were inside him instead of just around him… It was the sound he connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as though a friend were speaking in his ear…_

_Don't break the connection._

_I know. Harry told the music,_

"You're talking to music, dear," Ginny laughed.

"Shut up, Gin," Harry said jokily.

_I know I mustn't… but no sooner had he thought it, than the thing became much harder to do. His wand began to vibrate more powerfully than ever… and now the beam between him and Voldemort changed too… it was as though large beads of light were sliding up and down the thread connecting the wands - Harry felt his wand give a shudder under his hand as the light beads began to slide slowly and steadily his way…_

"No!" some muttered knowing that wasn't good.

_The direction of the beams movement was now toward him, from Voldemort slowly, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other way… and it was Voldemort's wand that was vibrating extra-hard now… Voldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful…_

"Yes!" many cheered while others were amazed that Harry could actually do this.

"You have more determination and will power than Voldemort," Remus said, looking shocked.

_One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemorts wand. slowly… very slowly… it moved along the golden thread… it trembled for a moment… and then it connected…_

_At once, Voldemorts wand began to emit echoing screams of pain… then - Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock - a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished… the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail… more shouts of pain… and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemorts wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke… It was a head… now a chest and arms… the torso of Cedric Diggory._

"Bloody Hell!" the twins said as everyone else looked shocked.

_the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort s wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel… and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke._

_"Hold on. Harry," it said._

_Its voice was distant and echoing. Harry looked at Voldemort… his wide red eyes were still shocked…_

"He's scared of death," Lily and Remus said before smiling at each other.

_very dimly Harry heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome… More screams of pain from the wand… and then something else emerged from its tip… the dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso… an old man Harry had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done… and his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Harry and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick…_

_"He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did… You fight him, boy…"_

"He sounds like fun," the twins said, as Molly rolled her eyes at them.

_But already, yet another head was emerging… and this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman's… Harry, both arms shaking now as he fought to keep his wand still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring…_

_The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes._

_"Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Harry - don't let go!"_

_She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it… and Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Harry, and hissed words Harry couldn't hear to Voldemort. And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemorts wand… The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at him… and Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his mother._

"Lily," many breathed.

_"Your father's coming…" she said quietly. "He wants to see you… it will be all right… hold on…"_

_And he came… first his head, then his body… tall and untidy haired like Harry, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand,_

"James!" the two marauders cheered.

_fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. He walked close to Harry, looking down at him, and he spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear…_

_"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments… but we will give you time… you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts… do you understand, Harry?"_

"We should have known the death couldn't keep you two from protecting your son," Sirius and Remus said as Lily and James beamed.

_"Yes," Harry gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on his wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath his fingers._

_"Harry…" whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents…"_

"Good," Petunia said, imagining how his parents would have felt having no body to bury.

_"I will," said Harry, his face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand._

_"Do it now," whispered his father's voice, "be ready to run… do it now…"_

_"NOW!" Harry yelled he pulled his wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died - but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear - they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze –_

Everyone was beaming at the two parents who went passed the impossible to protect their only son.

_And Harry ran as he had never run in his life, knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as he passed; he zigzagged behind headstones, feeling their curses following him, hearing them hit the headstones - he was dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedric's body, no longer aware of the pain in his leg, his whole being concentrated on what he had to do -_

_"Stun him!" he heard Voldemort scream._

"At least zey are only stunning," Fleur murmured.

_Ten feet from Cedric, Harry dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping his wand more tightly, he dashed out from behind the angel –_

_"Impedimenta!" he bellowed, pointing his wand wildly over his shoulder at the Death Eaters running at him._

"Please say it hit at least one," Lily fretted.

_From a muffled yell, he thought he had stopped at least one of them, but there was no time to stop and look; he jumped over the cup and dived as he heard more wand blasts behind him; more jets of light flew over his head as he fell, stretching out his hand to grab Cedric's arm…_

_"Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!" shrieked Voldemort. Harry's hand had closed on Cedric's wrist; one tombstone stood between him and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach –_

_Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. Harry saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand._

_"Accio!" Harry yelled,_

"Oh thank god/Merlin," everyone breathed

"Thanks Hermione," Harry said, he'd been too wrapped up to think to thank her at the time and then afterwards he didn't like to think about it.

"Anytime," Hermione laughed, now that he was out of there.

"Now, we just hope it works," Molly said, making everyone tense again.

_pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward him. Harry caught it by the handle – He heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that he felt the jerk behind his navel that meant the Portkey had worked - it was speeding him away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with him… They were going back._

_He slammed flat into the ground; his face was pressed into grass He did not move. He tightened his hold on the two things he was still clutching: the smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard Cup and Cedric's body. …_

_A torrent of sound deafened and confused him; there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams… He remained where he was._

"You were scaring us Harry," Ron said.

"Sorry, mate," Harry chuckled.

_Then a pair of hands seized him roughly and turned him over._

_"Harry! Harry!"_

"It was Dumbledore," Molly said remembering that they had all thought Harry was dead.

_He opened his eyes._

_He was looking up at the starry sky, and Albus Dumbledore was crouched over him. The dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around them, pushing nearer_

_He had come back to the edge of the maze. He could see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above._

_Harry let go of the cup, but he clutched Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus._

_"He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back. Voldemort."_

"Good, you told him right away," James said.

_"What's going on? What's happened?"_

_The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over Harry; it looked white, appalled._

_"My God - Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"_

_The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them… and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night –_

_"He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!"_

"Hermione, why are you crying, you already knew," Harry said looking shocked sharing a glance with Ron told him that he had no idea either.

"I was glad," she said in a whisper.

"What?" Harry said moving away from Teddy and Ginny so he could hear her better sure he'd misheard.

"When I saw you and Cedric on the ground I was sure you were dead and then when they said it was Cedric I was glad, I glad it wasn't you."

"You're not the only one, Hermione," Ginny said, joining in the conversation and slipping her arm through Harry's. "I was glad, too."

"Me as well," Ron said looking angry at himself.

Everyone looked at the group sadly, Molly and Arthur bowing their heads because; they too, had felt the same way.

_"That's right. Harry… just let go now…"_

_Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Harry from the ground and set him on his feet. Harry swayed. His head was pounding. His injured leg would no longer support his weight. The crowd around them jostled, fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on him - "What's happened?" "What's wrong with him?" "Diggory's dead!"_

_"He'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was saying loudly. "He's ill, he's injured – Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands…"_

"Oh god," Petunia said.

"The worst possible way," Lily sighed.

_"Dumbledore said stay," said Harry thickly, the pounding in his scar making him feel as though he was about to throw up; his vision was blurring worse than ever._

_"You need to lie down… Come on now…"_

_Someone larger and stronger than he was half pulling, half carrying him through the frightened crowd. Harry heard people gasping, screaming, and shouting as the man supporting him pushed a path through them, taking him back to the castle. Across the lawn, past the lake and the Durmstrang ship, Harry heard nothing but the heavy breathing of the man helping him walk._

_"What happened, Harry?" the man asked at last as he lifted Harry up the stone steps. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. _

"Mad-eye," James breathed although he was sure something seemed wrong.

_"I'll take Harry, Dumbledore, I'll take him -"_

_"No, I would prefer-"_

_"Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running… he's coming over… Don't you think you should tell him - before he sees -?"_

_"Harry, stay here -"_

_Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically… The scene flickered oddly before Harry's eyes…_

_"It's all right, son, I've got you… come on… hospital wing…"_

_"Cup was a Portkey," said Harry as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard… and Voldemort was there… Lord Voldemort…"_

_Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs…_

_"The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?"_

"What?" Fabian suddenly yelled.

"The Dark Lord!" Gideon shouted.

"Death Eater," James groaned.

"Only Death Eaters call Voldemort The Dark Lord," Molly explained to Petunia and Dudley, who nodded their thanks and looked worried.

"Make sense, Mad-eyes been off all year," Lily said, trying to keep calm – they were in Hogwarts "and he wouldn't take Harry if Dumbledore said not to."

_"Killed Cedric… they killed Cedric…"_

_"And then?"_

_Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor…_

_"Made a potion… got his body back…"_

_"The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?"_

_"And the Death Eaters came… and then we dueled…"_

_"You dueled with the Dark Lord?"_

_"Got away… my wand… did something funny… I saw my mum and dad… they came out of his wand…"_

_"In here Harry… in here, and sit down… You'll be all right now… drink this…"_

"Don't drink it!" Remus warned.

_Harry heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into his hands._

_"Drink it… you'll feel better… come on, now. Harry, I need to know exactly what happened…"_

_Moody helped tip the stuff down Harry's throat; he coughed, a peppery taste burning his throat. Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself… He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Harry's face._

"Creepy," Sirius muttered.

_"Voldemort's back, Harry? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?"_

_"He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me," said Harry._

_He could now see Moody's face distinctly, even though the office was dark. He could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field._

_"What did the Dark Lord take from you?" said Moody._

_"Blood," said Harry, raising his arm. His sleeve was ripped where Wormtail's dagger had torn it._

_Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss._

_"And the Death Eaters? They returned?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. "Loads of them…"_

_"How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?"_

_But Harry had suddenly remembered. He should have told Dumbledore, he should have said it straightaway –_

_"There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here - they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end -"_

_Harry tried to get up, but Moody pushed him back down._

_"I know who the Death Eater is," he said quietly._

"Yes, you," Teddy said darkly.

_"Karkaroff?" said Harry wildly. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?"_

"Oh, 'Arry," Fleur sighed.

_"Karkaroff?" said Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them… but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies."_

_"Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then - he didn't put my name in the goblet?"_

_"No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that."_

"That was blunt," Dudley said.

_Harry heard, but didn't believe._

_"No, you didn't," he said. "You didn't do that… you can't have done…"_

_"I assure you I did," said Moody, and his magical eye swung around and fixed upon the door, and Harry knew he was making sure that there was no one outside it. At the same time, Moody drew out his wand and pointed it at Harry._

"Get your wand away from him," Bill growled.

_"He forgave them, then?" he said. "The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?"_

_"What?" said Harry._

_He was looking at the wand Moody was pointing at him. This was a bad joke, it had to be._

_"I asked you," said Moody quietly, "whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky."_

"Of course he would be interested in that," Dora moaned.

_"You fired… What are you talking about…?"_

_"I told you Harry… I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free._

"Twisting!" Arthur groaned.

_They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Harry…" Moody's face was suddenly lit with an insane smile._

_"Tell me he told them that I, I alone remained faithful… prepared to risk everything to deliver to him the one thing he wanted above all… you"_

_"You didn't… it - it can't be you…"_

_"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon? I did."_

_Moody's magical eye had now left the door. It was fixed upon Harry. His lopsided mouth leered more widely than ever._

_"It hasn't been easy, Harry, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything too easily. As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start - then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity._

"Hey!" Teddy said offended on his godfather's behalf.

"I don't know Teddy," Dora chuckled trying to lighten the mood since everyone had gone into a tense silence. "He can be pretty stupid."

_The second task… that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint -"_

_"You didn't," Harry said hoarsely. "Cedric gave me the clue -"_

_"Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time… all those hours in the library. Didn't you realize that the book you needed was in your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. It would have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom would have told you in an instant. But you did not… you did not… You have a streak of pride and independence that might have ruined all._

"Mmm," Hermione, Ginny and Ron said, thinking of how Harry wanted to do things alone.

_"So what could I do? Feed you information from another innocent source. You told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you a Christmas present. I called the elf to the staffroom to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's office and then hurried to find you…"_

_Moody's wand was still pointing directly at Harry's heart. Over his shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall._

_"You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility,_

"It wasn't luck," Dudley said. "He just is noble."

_and marked you high for it. I breathed again._

_"You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed._

"Hey!" Bill yelled but Fleur just chuckled and placed a hand on his arm.

_I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear."_

_The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, had become more distinct. Harry could see the outlines of three people over Moody's shoulder, moving closer and closer. But Moody wasn't watching them. His magical eye was upon Harry._

"Good!" Lily said, noticing the Foe-Glass as well.

_"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him._

"I think he'll be angry," Arthur said.

_I gave you to him - the thing he needed above all to regenerate - and then I killed you for him. I will be honored beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter… closer than a son…"_

_Moody's normal eye was bulging, the magical eye fixed upon Harry. The door was barred_

_"The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over Harry, leering down at him, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers… very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure… the very great pleasure… of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"_

"He? What?" Petunia coughed,

_"You're mad," Harry said - he couldn't stop himself- "you're mad!"_

"We'll his name is Mad-Eye," Fabian chucked.

"Yeah, he isn't called that for no reason," Gideon added.

"I though it was because his eye was mad"' Molly said, frowning at her brothers.

"Oh our dear sister," they said. "You are right, as well."

"But this isn't Mad-Eye," Arthur reminded.

"Yes, but he's a Death Eater," Gideon said.

"And therefore mad before any further investigation," Fabian finished.

_"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him - and now - I conquer you!"_

_Moody raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Harry plunged his own hand into his robes -_

_"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart – Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor._

_Harry, still staring at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking back at him out of the Foe-Glass. He looked around and saw the three of them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched._

"Oh thank Merlin," Lily sighed.

_The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat._

"Think how we feel when you get like that," Teddy muttered but he said it slightly too loud.

"Pardon Teddy," Harry asked.

"You're scaring when you're angry," Teddy muttered; glad to see a smile tugging at Harry's lips.

Harry rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair as Ginny laughed slightly.

_He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring into the room. Professor McGonagall went straight to Harry._

_"Come along, Potter," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along… hospital wing…"_

"Yes," Petunia said, as everyone else looked worried.

McGonagall was the person most people looked to for strength, especially for Lily and Ginny, and it was odd seeing her looking like that.

_"No," said Dumbledore sharply._

"What?" Lily and Molly snapped.

_"Dumbledore, he ought to - look at him - he's been through enough tonight -"_

Lily and James nodded their heads.

_"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."_

"He had a good point," Arthur said as they all sighed.

_"Moody," Harry said. "How can it have been Moody?"_

_"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed."_

"Then what took you so long?" the twins asked confused.

_Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape._

_"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch._

"Sirius," James beamed.

_Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here."_

_Both turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spellbooks had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Harry watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time._

"Handy," Dudley said.

_Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Harry let out a cry of amazement._

_He was looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody._

"That's weird," Sirius said.

_His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing. Harry stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office._

_Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him._

_"Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse - very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Harry, throw down the imposter's cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger."_

_Harry did as he was told; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor._

_"Polyjuice Potion, Harry," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done… on the hour… every hour… We shall see."_

_Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Harry stared at him too. Minutes passed in silence…_

_Then, before Harry's very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction._

"That's disgusting," Dora said, looking a bit green.

_Harry saw a man lying before him, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. _

_There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them._

_"Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!"_

_"Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor._

_Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek._

_"Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?"_

_She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest._

_"You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!"_

"That poor elf," Hermione said

Harry and Ron shared a look.

_"He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?"_

_Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were still glaring down upon them all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the mans mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the mans chest and said, "Ennervate."_

_Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused._

_Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level._

_"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly._

_The man's eyelids flickered._

_"Yes," he muttered._

_"I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?"_

Everybody sat their waiting, knowing nobody would say much in the next few minutes.

_Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."_

_Winky was shaking her head, trembling._

_"Say no more. Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!"_

_But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice._

_"The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors._

_"My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."_

_The man's eyelids flickered._

_"And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly._

_"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master… of returning to his service."_

_"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore._

_"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said._

_"I was under my fathers' control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior."_

_"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…"_

_"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?"_

_"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins._

_She came to the house with papers for my father s signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently."_

_"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"_

_"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore._

_"Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end._

_"It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know._

_"But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a boys pocket._

_I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it._

"There goes your wand, Harry," Ron groaned.

_Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden."_

_"Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers._

_"So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?"_

_"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her. She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back._

"Oh," Lily breathed remembering.

_I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky._

_"Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned._

_"When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."_

_Winky let out a wail of despair._

_"Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then… and then…" Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me._

_"He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant - perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door."_

_The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life._

_Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak._

_"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years._

_"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore._

_"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first -"_

_"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore._

_His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm._

_"Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins_

"Damn," Arthur muttered.

_Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it."_

_"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore._

_"Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father."_

_"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore._

_"Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban._

_"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."_

"Urg," the marauders groaned – a Death Eater was using their map for bad.

_"Map?" said Dumbledore quickly. "What map is this?"_

_"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape._

_"For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father."_

"He just said it?" Dudley questioned.

"It's a Death Eater," Lily told her nephew knowing that was enough.

_"Noooo!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"_

_"You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?"_

_"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come._

_"Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone… I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin."_

_There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight…"_

_"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch._

_"Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards."_

_The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side._

"Oh my god," Petunia said, as they appeared back in the family room.

"Wow!" Dudley said as flopped onto a chair.

"You get the fear of Voldemort and his Death Eaters now?" Hermione asked bitterly and they both nodded.

"What happened next?" Lily said, looking faintly disgusted and she wanted to get of the topic on onto something else, anything else.

'Dumbledore made me explain it all to Sirius and himself,' Harry began, knowing there was no point in showing them him telling Sirius.

"Straight away?" James growled, knowing the answer.

"Yeah, James. Straight away," Sirius said bitterly. "Didn't listen to me, on no, 'We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore? Let him have a sleep. Let him rest.' But no, no, 'Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally have to feel it again'."

Lily and James smiled at each other knowing, once again, they had chosen the right person as godfather to Harry.

"What happened to Crouch?" Fabian growled.

"Dementors Kiss," Harry said, with a quick glance at Dudley and Sirius, everyone flinched.

"Before he could testify," Hermione growled.

"Damn it!" the twins cursed.

"Fabian! Gideon!" Molly reprimanded.

"He doesn't believe, does he?" James growled.

Harry looked shocked that his dad had figured that out but answered none-the-less, "No, he doesn't."

"Arg!" people groaned, hitting their heads at the minister's stupidity.

"So what did you do with the money?"' Dora asked.

Harry just raised his eyebrows at the random question as everyone looked at her.

_"Fred - George - wait a moment." _Everyone heard Harry said as they landed in the memory for the last time today.

_The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings._

_"Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands._

_"What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted._

_"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."_

_"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry._

"That's a matter of opinion," Ginny grinned.

"Hey!" Harry said, raising an eyebrow at her but her grin just widened and she kissed his cheek while others chuckled.

_"No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."_

_"He is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice._

_"Listen," said Harry firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."_

"So true," Arthur said.

_"Harry," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."_

_"Yeah," said Harry, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."_

_The twins stared at him._

_"Just don't tell your mum where you got it…_

"Hmm," Molly said, looking pointedly at Harry although she now agreed with the joke shop.

_although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"_

_"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand._

_"Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."_

"Hey," Ron said this time looking at Harry, as they landed back into the family room.

"That was a long day," Petunia sighed, flopping down into an armchair.

"In hours and in emotions," Lily agreed sitting down next to her sister.

"We'll then, we're going to head home," Ron said, yawing.

"Don't be silly, Ron," Harry said, rolling his eyes at his best mate's stupidity.

"Yes, Harry's right," Ginny insisted. "Stay the night."

"We don't want –"Hermione began.

"Hermione, it's the only logical option," Harry said, smirking slightly.

"Alright," she said, after a few minutes.

"Can we have some food?" Sirius said, his stomach growling appropriately.

'Of course," Ginny and Molly said at the same time.

Dinner was a very quick affair given that most of them just wantd to collapse in their rooms and sleep but they did talk through what the plan for the weekend was.

"So," Harry began. "Do you want to continue the memories over the weekend or not?"

"It would be your fifth year," Lily noted. "How bad is it on our nerves scale?"

Harry glanced at Sirius before answering, "Quite high."

"So, know that you know that," Ginny said. "Do you wanna wait to find out or get it over and done with?"

"What else can we do?" Dora asked, not really wanting to see her cousin's death as Harry did.

"Anything," Ron said, beating Harry to the mark. "Go on a walk, go to Diagon Alley – everyone knows you're alive – Quidditch, anything else you can think of."

"I think we need to go to Diagon Alley," Lily said looking down at her clothes – they were a little small and she had been wearing things over and over again.

"What about our wands?" Sirius asked he'd been feeling rather odd without it.

"They're all in my office, at Godrics Hollow," Harry said frowning. "I should have grabbed them before we came."

"Okay," Remus said. "If you can get our wands, we'll go to Diagon Alley."

"I wanna play Quidditch!" James and Teddy whined.

"I'll tell you what," said Hermione. "Why don't Lily, Dora, Petunia, Fleur, Ginny, Molly and I go to Diagon Alley and get to know each other and leave you men to do "manly" things."

There was a general consensus and a few minutes later of silence later, Bill spoke up.

"Harry, do you think Dumbledore will return?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Harry replied, thinking of the pattern.

"Is there a pattern?" Dora asked. "I know you said Death Eater's couldn't return but ...?"

"It's the light side only, yes," Harry nodded. "Only wizards, because, well it'd be a bit of a shock for Muggles if people they believed dead started living again wouldn't it? Those killed during the first or second Wizarding War, and we're killed by Death Eaters or Voldemort."

"So why shouldn't Dumbledore return?" Remus asked confused.

"Albus Dumbledore wasn't killed by a Death Eater," Harry said, calmly leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"What!' Dora said, looking at Harry as though he had gone mad. "Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape, a Death Eater!"

Harry sighed, "Severus Snape was a Death Eater during the first Wizarding War, yes but not the second."

Lily frowned completely confused.

"What about George's ear?" Remus asked shocked.

"Snape was a spy," Fleur said saving Harry from answering another question in a conversation it was obvious he'd rather not have right now.

"I suggest we go to bed," Molly said, noticing this as well, everyone nodded their agreement, especially Teddy as he yawned.


	21. Chapter 20 - Diagon Alley

The next morning everyone woke up much lightly than the previous days- there'd be no memories to drag them down and they had time to stomach the ones they'd already seen. Thus breakfast was a happy affair even if worry lingered in the air for what tomorrow would bring.

First on the agenda however was the wands.

Lily beams as she took her wand back from her son and felt the familiar warmth run throught her fingertips and Sirious had simply started changing everything in the office to Ginny's annoyance. She had threatened to take it away again if he didn't start acting his age. Not that her uncle we're providing a very good example as they duelled in the entrance hall.

"Right," Ginny said to the women. "When do you wanna go to Diagon Alley?"

"As soon as possible," Sirius said for them but Ginny and Hermione just shot him a look.

"No, no, he's right," Lily said. "We can make a day of it."

"Shall we take the kids?" Fleur asked.

"Yes," Dora said. "The girls."

"Hermione, go get Lily, Rose, Victoire and Dominique," Molly instructed. "They're all at Percy's."

"Got it," Hermione said as she left the room.

"And what are you lot planning to do?" Petunia asked the boys.

"Probably Quidditch, knowing us," Fabian and Gideon laughed.

"Great a giant Quidditch match," Remus said, frowning slightly.

"Don't worry, Remus," Arthur laughed, not particularly wanting to play Quidditch, it was a mystery how most of his children were addicted to it when neither he nor Molly really cared for it. "We'll figure out something to do."

Hermione soon came back with Rose, Lily, Victoire and Dominique, all chattering happily but she also brought their brothers, saying 'eleven aside Quidditch won't work,' and they left soon after. The men all head back to Potter Manor.

"Well," said Bill. "Shall we play?"

"Yeah!" Teddy yelled.

"Right, let's think about this," Ron said frowning. "'Harry played Seeker at school, I played Keeper, Bill played chaser –"

"We played Beaters!" the twins said.

"Prongs was a chaser, and I was a beater," Sirius added.

"Teddy's a beater," Harry said to Ron.

"Remus, Dad, are you playing?" Bill asked but the both shook their heads.

"So we've got a seeker, a keeper, four beaters and two chasers," James said. "If we have two more chasers and one more Seeker as well as another Keeper, we should have equal teams."

"I'll be a Chaser," Louis said, knowing it was his best position.

"Me too," said James Sirius.

"I'll be Keeper and Al'll be a Seeker," Hugo said, after discussing it with Albus.

"Great," Albus said and then, indicating to Arthur, Dudley and Remus. "What are they going to do?"

"We'll find something," Dudley said smiling at his cousin once removed – he would have loved to have been able to fly.

"Have fun," Arthur grinned as the players headed to the Quidditch pitch.

"James, Louis, Al, Hugo" Harry said to the children. "Do you want to go and get the balls? You know where they are…"

"Sure," the three boys said before running off.

Meanwhile the females had flooed into the Leaky Cauldron and arrived in Diagon Alley, which was bustling with people, the shops being repaired and updated long ago. They started with a drink at the Leaky Cauldron debating where to go first.

"Well what do we need?"Hermione asked, taking charge.

"New robes and clothing," Dora said, looking at the clothes they were wearing, which were tatty and slightly too small.

"We could go into the muggle world for normal clothing," Molly suggested, knowing it was the best bet, the shops in Diagon Alley only sold robes as problematic as it was.

"Teddy needs his potions kit updated," Ginny said.

"Us too," Dominique and Victoire said, together.

"I could use some new books," Rose said, grinning.

"I need some sweets for a party we're going to have in the common room when we go back," Victoire said.

"What house are you in?" Dora asked.

"Hufflepuff," Dominique answered for her sister.

"And you?" Lily asked.

"Ravenclaw," she answered, grinning.

"I'd like an owl," Petunia suddenly said.

"Why?" Molly asked kindly.

"Keep in touch," she replied. "It's rather annoying that if I wish to speak to Harry or Ginny I have to wait for them to send me an owl. I could call them but they very rarely answer the phone."

Ginny blushed slightly – she would never get the hang of that phone, Harry was the only one to ever answer it though most the time he just let it leave a message.

"That's brilliant," Lily said beaming at her sister, glad she was embracing what she could of the wizarding world even if she couldn't be a witch.

"Do you 'ave any Muggle money on you?" Fleur asked and when Petunia nodded she continued. "Good, I can change zat for you."

"Mum works in Gringotts," Dominique explained.

"The wizarding bank," Victoire added.

"Lily, love, do you need anything?" Ginny asked her daughter.

Lily Luna cocked her head to the side with a thoughtful expression on her kind face.

"No," she said after a while. "I don't think so, although James and Louis said they wanted some prank equipment."

"No!" the two mothers said, worried.

"Ginny, isn't Teddy's birthday soon?" Fleur asked. "I can't remember zee exact date."

"22nd of April," Ginny said without having to think about it making Dora beam but then her smile faltered.

"He'll be seventeen, won't he," she said more stating than asking, Ginny nodded, a slight smile on her face. "I've missed a lot."

"Don't worry," Lily said, sympathetically being the only one there who understood. "It could be worse, you could've have never come back. At least you'll get to see him leave Hogwarts, get a job, marry, have children, all the things I've missed out on."

"You must think I'm ridiculous" Dora chuckled. "Here I am making a fuss about missing out on less than a quarter of my sons' life when you're missed out on so much more."

"No, I didn't," Lily smiled. "Although now I do because you're thinking that I would think that. It doesn't matter how much you've missed it still hurts."

The two women smiled at each other before turning back to the group of women.

"Teddy missed you, you know," Lily Luna said, smiling. "He was always asking Daddy for stories about you and Remus, and he'd get this really sad but happy look on his face when Daddy answered him."

"Thank you, Lily," Dora said, speaking to both grandmother and granddaughter.

"Okay," Hermione began, trying to keep a smile from spreading across her face. "So we need to go into the muggle world, Madam Malkin's, the Apothecary, Flourish and Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Sugusplum's Sweets Shop and Gringotts."

"So if we start of a Gringotts," Ginny said. "Get all the money, seeing as we need to change some into muggle and others wizarding."

"And zen 'ead to Madam Malkin's," Fleur added.

"Sounds like a plan," Lily, Dora and Molly said.

Back at the Manor the Quidditch match was in full swing, Harry, Ron, Teddy, Sirius and James Sirius were one team, while Albus, Hugo, Fabian, Gideon and James were the other. James Sirius had just scored a goal evening the score to 40-40.

It was about 15 minutes into the game and the snitch hadn't been sighted once. Harry and Albus swopped around the pitch, Albus figuring it wasn't a good idea to follow his father – he wasn't the youngest seeker in a century for nothing. Harry circled high above the game like a hawk while Albus stayed lower down, hoping that if the snitch was nearer the ground he would reach it before his father. Albus was focusing so hard on the snitch that he didn't notice the Bludger coming his way until it was almost too late; he swerved quickly, managing to hold his broom steady and not go spinning in circles as Gideon came flying after it.

"Watch it, young Potter," he grinned as he sped past before beating the Bludger towards James Sirius.

James Sirius chucked the Quaffle to Louis as he noticed the Bludger coming his way. Louis flew a few meters toward the goal posts and threw the Quaffle towards, it was at the final second that Hugo swept into it's way sending it flying towards James, who after a few passes between him and Bill, threw it straight though the centre goal post, Ron missing it by a centimetre – 50-40 to Albus' team.

20 minutes later after some close calls with the Bludgers, many failed attempts at goals and two sightings on the snitch, the score had changed to 100-90 to Harry's team. The teams were rather evenly matched and both had great skills so they kept catching up with each other repeatedly and neither ever really had a lead on the other.

Just as Louis spun to avoid a Bludger from Fabian, James Sirius scored a goal that Hugo had no chance at blocking as it sailed at a high speed through the air towards to furthest goal from him, a few minutes later James, managed to get the Quaffle as James Sirius and Louis passed into each other, a scored a easy goal.

The game carried on, and after 3 more goals to each team (140-130, Harry's team), the snitch was spotted by Harry at the other end of the pitch hovering near the base of Hugo's goal post, he sped towards it, dodging all the other players and balls. He knew his son had seen it as well, and he was much closer to the ground than Harry, himself, was but with a large bang Albus had been hit with a Bludger, which luckily wasn't as heavy as the school Bludgers to make them safer, sending him sliding sideways slightly on his broom. Harry slowed down a bit, unable not to make sure his son was all right but in his moment of worry Albus had clasped his hands tighter on the broom, pulled himself up straight and sped of again, Harry, breathing a sigh of relief, flew after him but Albus had already caught the snitch and was grinning his head of .

His team came flying towards him cheering, Bill was laughing his head off at the fact that Albus had beaten his father. They hugged and somehow made their way to the ground, where Harry and Ron despite losing were grinning proudly, although before they had landed Ron had punched Harry in the shoulder saying, 'you worry to much'. Sirius was grumbling about how they would have won if Harry hadn't checked on Albus but got wacked round the head by Teddy, on request from Harry.

The team trudged into the house to find Remus reading a book from the large library, while Arthur and Dudley played wizard chess; they were all sitting in the family room and looked up when the rest of the males entered the room.

"I take it you won?" Remus said looking at James' face which was displaying a large grin.

"Yep!" James, Albus, Hugo, Fabian, Gideon and Bill said at different volumes.

"Only because Harry got worried about his son," Sirius said causing Harry and Remus to roll their eyes at his childishness.

"Are you implying that my son isn't good enough to catch the snitch if I hadn't slowed to check on him?" Harry asked mock angered.

"No, I … of course not," Sirius stuttered. "I meant that … he's … it would've…"

He continued to stumble out apologies and try to correct himself until he noticed the grin on Harry's face and the fact that everyone else was laughing. He shut his mouth and settled for glaring at his godson.

Once the laughter had died out they all headed into the dining room for lunch.

The women were walking out walking out of Grigotts chattering in small groups. Lily Luna and Rose held their mothers hands as the group walked down the bustling street to Madam Malkins.

They all squeezed into the slightly small shop as Madam Malkin herself came bustling to met them, a friendly smile present on her face.

"How can I help you today, ladies?" she asked.

"Me and my friend," Dora said gesturing to Lily, knowing they were the only two who need clothes. "Need some casual robes, as do our husbands."

"Yes, of course, if you two would like to step over here to get fitted," she gestured the two of them into the next room, "and are the rest of you just waiting?"

"Yes," Fleur said.

"Actually, me and Hermione are just nipping next door, we'll be back," Ginny said, smiling although it looked slightly fixed upon her face. "Quills, Harry needs some for work apparently the ones he have are broken or missing."

Hermione looked at her sister-in-law confused as to why she was coming as well but the slightly haunted look in Ginny's eye that no one else seemed to have noticed made her say, "yes, I remember Ron saying something about Quills as well."

Everyone eyed the oddly as they left Madam Malkins.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as soon as they had left the shop.

Ginny shot her a look full of annoyance.

"You're thinking about yesterday's memories aren't you?" still Ginny did not speak but Hermione sighed before continuing. "Come on, Ginny, what's bothering you?"

"What isn't he telling me?" Ginny asked sounding completely normal.

Hermione looked at her then asked, "Harry?

"No Remus," Ginny said, sarcastically. "Of course Harry."

Hermione shrugged and they were silent for a few minutes, they had entered the Quill shop long ago

"I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't think it was something big," Ginny said, breaking the silence that had fallen between the two friends. It was Hermione turn to say nothing as she chewed on her bottom lip. "What's wrong?"

"I'd suggest you ask Harry about the last time he went on a large death eater mission," Hermione said, picking up a box of quills and taking them to the counter.

"The one where the whole team went missing for 5 months?" Ginny asked, taking her own quills, not having a clue what they actually were, and following her.

She remembered that one well. It had been the day after Halloween, November 1st 2002, they had been married nearly a year and Teddy had moved in with them early that summer after Andromeda's death so they were still getting used to having a four, almost five, year old in the house. Harry had received a Patronus from Kingsley instructing him to say goodbye to his family and get to the ministry as soon as possible.

It was Christmas day, annoyingly, when she received a message saying that something had gone wrong and that the whole team had been captured but then nothing, nothing until Harry came stumbling in the door 5 months later, May. He'd been a complete mass, cuts along his arm, spelling out insults (Mudbloods friend, Blood-traitors husband, murderer) and he had been so weak. It had killed her to see Harry like that, she had forced him into St. Mungo's but when she tried to find out what happened he would shut down, and eventually she stopped asking.

"Yeah, that one," Hermione replied, as they stepped out of the shop and head back next door, she had been reliving those months when she worried for her brothers life and couldn't help feeling glad that Ron had been given time off because of an injury and therefore wasn't requested on that mission. "But then ask if there's anything more recent, I was only told about that one because it caused such a problem in the ministry."

Lily and Dora were just stepping back into the room where Rose, Lily Luna, Petunia, Fleur, Victoire, Dominique and Molly were waiting as Hermione and Ginny entered Madam Malkin's smiles on their faces.

"Did you get the husbands' stuff?" Ginny teased.

"Yep, we just showed her some old robes of theirs and told her what was wrong with them," Lily beamed.

"Where next?" Molly asked, smiling her natural motherly smile.

"The Apothecary," Victoire said pointing across the street.

Lily and Dora thanked Madam Malkin before the group exited the shop and move across the street to a small, dimly-lit store that sold potions ingredients. They exited 10 minutes later, sighing as they entered the fresh air from the horrible smell that the Apothecary always emitted, Victoire and Dominique holding their own bags of potions while Ginny had Teddy's.

"Okay, Rose and I will quickly go look at some books in Flourish and Blotts, while Victoire gets her sweets," Hermione said and then, after sharing a look with Ginny, she said "then we can have lunch in the charming muggle pub I know after that we can get some Muggle clothing. We've been quite lucky today."

Hermione and Rose hurried off to their favourite book shop while Dominique followed her sister and mother to the sweet shop, leaving both Lily's, Dora, Ginny, Petunia and Molly standing in the street.

"Lily dear," Ginny said, her daughter had been strangely quite today but Ginny knew she'd be back to normal soon. "Where shall we go?"

"Florean Fortescue's," she grinned. "Please, Mummy, let's get some ice cream!"

"Good idea, Lily," Molly laughed taking her granddaughters hand and leading the group up to Florean Fortescue's. "It's the perfect day, too."

"Mmm, my kind of day," Lily said tilting her head back slightly as she sat down outside the ice cream palor to catch the sun better.

The each ordered a small ice cream since they were going to be eating lunch once everyone got back.

"By the way, Petunia," Ginny said. "We'll get your owl on the way back from the muggle world, it –"

"Might be a bit odd if I walked into a pub holding an owl," Petunia grinned.

"Yeah," Ginny laughed. "We're _meant _to keep a low profile."

"What does Hermione mean we were lucky today?" Dora asked.

"Well, usually when we come out we get surrounded by people," Ginny said.

"We have it worse than the Weasley's though," Lily Luna added. "What with Dad being the boy-who-lived, youngest Head Auror, as well as a well known one and Mum as a famous Quidditch player, you can see why."

"That's why we're eating in a Muggle place," Molly told them smiling.

They chatted mindlessly for a while, on different subjects – mainly the boys. Fleur and her girls came back quickly, Victoire's small bag full with sweats.

"That shop is amazing," Dominique said, as she slid into a seat opposite her cousin.

"I know, right, Dom," Victoire said.

Fleur tried not to laugh as her two girls sat there looking as though they had a love potion on them but couldn't refrain from say to Ginny, "zat comes from Bill, zat's you're side of zee family – food."

Ginny snorted in amusement but didn't even try to disagree with her statement instead turning to Petunia as she asked what was holding Hermione and Rose up.

"Probably fell into a book," Dora laughed.

Lily huffed – she liked reading.

"For your information," said a voice. "We're right here."

Dora spun around so fast it was almost commercial, her eyes widened and she bit down on her lip, smiling sheepishly at her.

"Come on," Hermione grinned.

They all gathered their stuff and went to pay but Petunia assured them it was her treat especially to Ginny who had been letting her and so many others stay in her home without a fuss and with all the grace in the world.

Hermione led the group of females back down Diagon Alley and out of the Leaky Cauldron into the Muggle world. They didn't walk very far before Hermione stop in front of a building. The building was a tall, handsome Tudor house which had been converted into a small pub and restaurant.

"I used to come here with mum and dad when I was younger," Hermione gesturing them into a warm, cosy room.

"Hello," said a man, appearing at Molly's elbow, "how can I help you?"

"We need a table for 11," Petunia said smiling. "For lunch?"

"Come this way," he said, leading them through the restaurant to a large table that stretched across a window, looking out onto a slightly over grown garden that reminded Ginny a bit of her and Harry's Godrics Hollow home. "I hope this will be alright?"

"Yes, this is perfect," Hermione said smiling graciously at the man.

"Good, a waitress will be over soon to give you you're menu's," and with a final smile he shuffled away.

After lunch they all headed back to Diagon Alley to get Petunia her owl. They spent a while in Eeylops Owl Emporium looking at all the different breeds and emerged half an hour later with Petunia carrying a medium Tawny owl, his large eyes circling the street as they wondered around wondering what to do next.

It was seven o'clock when all the women got home to find the men sprawled around the games room in the basement of Potter Manor. They were all in little groups playing different games both Muggle and Magical.

"Um … hello?" Ginny called making them all look up.

"Good day, Gin?" Harry said as he tumbled of a sofa and coming over to her as other couples greeted each other.

"Yeah, we got everything done," Ginny laughed delving into her bag. "Here have some quills."

"Thanks," he kissed her before shrinking the quills and putting it in his pocket so later he could put it in his tower office above their bedroom.

"Did you get Teddy's presents?" he asked them walking toward the small theatre area so Teddy wouldn't over hear.

"Yes but the traditional watch is usually given by the parents," Ginny said. "I was talking to Dora and she and Remus think we should give Teddy the traditional watch …"

"But you're not sure that's a good idea?" Harry asked, sitting in one of the seats.

"We'll," she said sitting beside him, "his parents are back now, shouldn't they be the ones giving it to him."

"But you two have raised him,' said a voice. "Very well, I might add."

Harry and Ginny turned in their seats to see Remus and Dora standing not to far away watching them.

"Nice place you got here," Dora laughed. "Theatre, game room, swimming pool –"

"It's more of a lap pool," Harry corrected. "But thanks."

"Anyway," Remus said bringing the conversation back to the watch. "As I said a second ago, you raised him; you should give it to him."

"Don't you want too," Ginny frowned. "I mean, he's your son."

"But he's as good as yours," Dora smiled. "Like Molly and Arthur gave you Fabians' watch, Harry, we you came of age."

"Because my parents weren't around to give me it,' Harry countered "You are."

"You're giving it to him, end of subject," Remus said, taking Dora's hand and leading her away before either Harry or Ginny could argue.

"You got a watch?" Harry asked, running his hand threw his hair.

Ginny laughed before reaching into her bags which had been splayed around their feet and pulled out a box.

"What do you think?" she asked showing him it.

It was a silver wrist watch, which was more in fashion now than what had originally been pocket watches, and had twelve planets moving slowly around the edge similar to the one Harry had got on his seventeenth.

"Brilliant," Harry grinned.

"Me and Dora picked it out," Ginny smiled. "You think he'll like it?"

"He'll love it," Harry said, kissing her hair. "Come on; let's go back to everyone else."


	22. Chapter 21 - Professor Umbridge

When they gathered again for breakfast everyone was more relaxed than they ever had been in at breakfast. They were all enjoying breakfast on the veranda due to the nice weather, chatting endlessly and laughing, when Dora felt the need to ask a question.

"Can we continue today?" she asked causing everyone to go quiet.

Before Harry could asnswer, Lily spoke with a sigh, "It's going to be so much darker from now on, isn't it?"

Everyone who was alive nodded

"Yeah, lets get these memories done," Sirius said though he wasn't looking farward to the time when he had no clue what was happening. At least up until now he'd had a vague idea. Tomorrow he'd be in the same boat as Lily and James.

"Everyone alright with that?" Hary checked and everyone nodded in return – curiousity would always trump worry.

"Okay, Lily, James, Albus," Ginny said addressing her children. "Eat quickly, you need to go."

"It's not fair!" James moaned. "Why can't we stay?"

"Because you wouldn't understand what's happening," Harry said.

"That's your own fault for not letting us come in to being with," Albus smirked.

"It's too dark," Teddy muttered.

"Dark?" Lily Luna asked.

"Yes, Lily, dark, depressing, sad," Teddy said, slightly louder.

"You wanted to watch, Ted," Harry chuckled.

"Yes, because I want to know my godfather better," Teddy moaned. "Not watch him get hurt."

"Then you better sit this year out then, Teddy," Ron chuckled – he and Hermione had stayed again.

"What why?" Lily panicked. "What happened this year?"

"Nothing, Mum," Harry said, shooting Ron a look. "Come kids, eat up."

Five minutes later the kids were gone and everyone had gathered in the family room.

"Dudley," Harry said. "Dementors."

"Oh god," Dudley groaned before going into the memory that Harry had already entered.

Everyone landed on Magnolia Crescent where Harry was walking slowly behind

_"…squealed like a pig, didn't he?" Malcolm was saying, to guffaws from the others._

_"Nice right hook, Big D," said Piers._

"Right hook," Petunia said looking disapprovingly over at her son.

_"Same time tomorrow?" said Dudley._

"No," Petunia and Lily said.

_"Round at my place, my parents will be out," said Gordon._

_"See you then," said Dudley._

_"Bye, Dud!"_

_"See ya, Big D!"_

_Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly._

_"Hey, Big D!"_

"Oh, Harry don't," Ginny, Ron and Hermione said.

_Dudley turned._

_"Oh," he grunted. "It's you."_

_"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" said Harry._

_"Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away._

_"Cool name," said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside his cousin. "But you'll always be 'Ickle Diddykins' to me."_

"Damn it, Harry," Dudley groaned as everyone, except his mother, roared with laughter at the name.

"It was rather silly, sorry Dudley," Petunia apologised to her son.

"It's fine, mum."

_"I said, SHUT IT!" said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists._

_"Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?"_

_"Shut your face."_

_"You don't tell her to shut her face. What about 'Popkin' and 'Dinky Diddydums', can I use them then?"_

"Oh, please do," Bill laughed

_Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self-control._

_So who've you been beating up tonight?" Harry asked his grin fading. "Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago -"_

"Evans?" Petunia and Lily asked frowning before brushing it off – Evans was a common surname.

_"He was asking for it," snarled Dudley._

_"Oh yeah?"_

_"He cheeked me."_

_"Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true."_

"Nice, Uncle Harry," Teddy laughed, while Dudley just scowlded at them all.

"You to really didn't get along," the twins laughed.

_A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw._

_They turned right down the narrow alleywaybetween Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no streetlamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other._

_"Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?" Dudley said after a few seconds._

_"What thing?"_

_"That - that thing you are hiding."_

_Harry grinned again._

_"Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose, if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time."_

"Stop insulting my son, Harry!" Petunia exclaimed.

"Sorry, Aunt Petunia, Dud," Harry said although he was grinning.

"Don't apologize, mate, this is brilliant," Ron laughed.

_Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it._

_"You're not allowed," Dudley said at once. "I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to."_

_"How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?"_

_"They haven't," said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced._

_Harry laughed softly._

_"You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?" Dudley snarled._

_"Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten year old._

Lily couldn't help it she glanced at James and the Marauders, who looked slightly disgruntled and ashamed – it sound a bit like them.

_You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?"_

_"He was sixteen, for your information," snarled Dudley, "and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you._

"But that wasn't hard," Molly said, frowning at how thin the memory Harry was.

_You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing out –"_

_"Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?"_

_"Not this brave at night, are you?" sneered Dudley._

"Sorry?" Ron said.

"This is night!" Ginny said

_"This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this."_

_"I mean when you're in bed!" Dudley snarled._

"What's he going to be scared of?" Hermione asked. "Pillows?"

_He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin._

_From the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant look._

_"What d'you mean, I'm not brave when I'm in bed?" said Harry, completely nonplussed. "What am I supposed to be frightened of, pillows or something?"_

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other while others smiled at the depth of their friendship.

_"I heard you last night," said Dudley breathlessly. "Talking in your sleep. Moaning."_

"You're not…" Arthur trailed off but Dudley just nodded sadly.

"Not what?" Sirius asked.

_"What d'you mean?" Harry said again._

_Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice._

_"'Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric - your boyfriend?"_

"Dudley!" Petunia yelped shocked as everyone else hissed in ager.

"Sorry, sorry," Dudley said, keeping his eyes on the floor. "I didn't know."

_"I - you're lying," said Harry automatically._

"How else would I know his name?" Dudley said, miserably.

_"Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo hoo!"_

_"Shut up," said Harry quietly. "Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!"_

_"Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to - don't you point that thing at me!"_

_Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart._

"Harry," Lily warned although she felt Dudley deserved it.

_"Don't ever talk about that again," Harry snarled. "D'you understand me?"_

_"Point that thing somewhere else!"_

_"I said, do you understand me?"_

_"Point it somewhere else!"_

_"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"_

_"GET THAT THING AWAY FROM -"_

"Boys, calm down," Fleur said.

_Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water._

_Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and lightless - the stars, the moon, the misty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them._

"Dementors," Fabian and Gideon breathed, looking serious.

_For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could - then his reason caught up with his senses - he didn't have the power to turn off the stars. He turned his head this way and that, trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil._

_Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear._

_"W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!"_

_"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!"_

_"I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I -"_

"Do as he says," Hermione, Ron and Ginny all said knowing it was best

_"I said shut up!"_

_Harry stood stock still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense he was shivering all over;_

_"I'll t-tell Dad!" Dudley whimpered. "W-where are you? What are you d-do—?"_

_"Will you shut up?" Harry hissed, "I'm trying to lis —"_

_But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading._

_There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. _

_"C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!"_

_"Dudley, shut—"_

_WHAM._

"Dudley!" everyone either shouted or screamed.

"Sorry, Harry, sorry," Dudley kept repeating.

"It's fine, Dud," Harry said.

_A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting him off his feet; next moment, he had landed hard on the ground and his wand had flown out of his hand._

"Crap," many muttered and then got hit for their trouble.

_"You moron, Dudley!" Harry yelled,_

A few nodded in agreement.

_his eyes watering with pain as he scrambled to his hands and knees, feeling around frantically in the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling._

_"DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!"_

_There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps stopped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one._

_"DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!" Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders._

"Will that help," Petunia asked.

"A little," Remus said, looking very pale.

_"Where's - wand -come on -lumos!"_

_He said the spell automatically; desperate for light to help him in his search - and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand - the wand tip had ignited._

"Wandless magic," James, Remus, Sirius and Arthur breathed amazed.

"Harry, that's very, very powerful," Lily said looking at her son in shook.

_Harry snatched it up scrambled to his feet and turned around._

_A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came._

_Stumbling backwards, Harry raised his wand._

_"Expecto patronum!"_

_A silvery wisp of vapour shot from the tip of the wand and the Dementor slowed, but the spell hadn't worked properly; tripping over his own feet, Harry retreated further as the Dementor bore down upon him, panic fogging his brain -concentrate–_

They all heard the word "Concentrate," and realized that they were going to see his happy memory.

_A pair of grey, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes, reaching for him. A rushing noise filled Harry's ears._

_"Expecto patronum!"_

_His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp of silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand - he couldn't do it any more, he couldn't work the spell._

_There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter… he could smell the Dementor's putrid, death-cold breath filling his own lungs, drowning him - think… something happy…_

_But there was no happiness in him… the Dementor's icy fingers were closing on his throat – the high-pitched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: "Bow to death, Harry… it might even be painless… I would no t know… I have never died…"_

Lily and James sighed in relief that he didn't head their dying moment anymore although they were sad that Harry had seen something worse than his parent's death

_He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again –._

"There you go," Ginny smiled.

_And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath._

"Thanks," Harry said.

"Anytime," Hermione beamed at him.

"Yeah, we're fine with you using us a happy thought," Ron chuckled.

_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; its antlers caught the Dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the Dementor swooped away, bat-like and defeated._

_"THIS WAY!" Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. "DUDLEY? DUDLEY!"_

_He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prizing them slowly almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him._

"Oh my Merlin, Harry, do something!" Lily screamed.

Harry just shot his mother an exasperated look.

_"GET IT!" Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping past him. The Dementors eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness; the stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist._

"Brilliant, Harry!" Fabian yelled.

"Amazing! Well done!"Gideon shouted.

"Atta boy, Harry," Lily beamed.

Harry smiled slightly at least someone thought to tell him that instead of what really happened.

_Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again._

_Harry stood quite still Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking. Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then he heard loud, running footsteps behind him._

_Instinctively raising his wand again, he span on his heel to face the newcomer._

_Mrs. Figg, their batty old neighbor, came panting into sight. Her grizzled grey hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking string shopping bag was swinging from her wrist and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers. Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but-_

_"Don't put it away idiot boy!" she shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!"_

"Mum and Sirius nearly did that," Ron and Ginny laughed.

"And Dumbledore," Hermione added, smiling.

_"He left!" said Mrs. Figg, wringing her hands. "Left to see someone about a batch of cauldrons that fell off the back of a broom!_

"Argh! That man!" Lily and Molly yelled as the appeared in the family room once again.

"How dare he?" James and the twins growled

"Molly still hasn't forgiven him, then?" Sirius said to Harry.

"I don't think she ever will," Harry chuckled causing Teddy to look at him.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Teddy asked angry.

"He's Dung," Harry began.

"There's a lot wrong with him," Ron finished grinning at Harry.

"Oh well," Dora said. "That's in the past and you're perfectly safe. What's next?"

"Advanced Guard!" Harry grinned at her. "Oh and by the way I got expelled and then told I was not expelled by the ministry."

"What?" Lily and James yelled.

"The ministry was messed up," Sirius growled.

"Come on," Harry said entering the pensieve.

They entered to see Harry staring at the ceiling and Vernon entering the room in a suit and a smug look on his face, this image caused most people to groan.

_"We're going out," he said._

_"Sorry?"_

_"We - that is to say, your aunt, Dudley and I - are going out."_

_"Fine," said Harry dully, looking back at the ceiling._

_"You are not to leave your bedroom while we are away."_

_"Okay."_

_"You are not to touch the television, the stereo, or any of our possessions."_

_"Right."_

_"You are not to steal food from the fridge."_

_"Okay."_

_"I am going to lock your door."_

_"You do that."_

Everyone who knew Harry well looked at him as though surprised that he wasn't arguing with his uncle.

Lily, however, had a different point

"Lock the door," she repeated.

"Yeah, although there was no use in that," Harry laughed.

"Why?" Petunia asked.

"I could pick locks," Harry answered, still laughing.

Hermione sighed a shook her head with a fond smile on her face.

_Uncle Vernon glared at Harry, then stomped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Harry heard the key turn in the lock and Uncle Vernon's footsteps walking heavily down the stairs. A few minutes later he heard the slamming of car doors, the rumble of an engine, and the unmistakable sound of the car sweeping out of the drive._

_he room grew steadily darker around him as he lay listening to the night sounds through the window. The empty house creaked around him. The pipes gurgled._

_Then, quite distinctly, he heard a crash in the kitchen below. He sat bolt upright, listening intently. The Dursleys couldn't be back, it was much too soon, and in any case he hadn't heard their car._

"Mum," Teddy chuckled.

"I don't know what you're laughing about: from what I heard you're dead clumsy as well," Dora said looking at her son.

"Exactly which means I can laugh about it," Teddy grinned at her and she smiled back, shaking her head slightly.

_There was silence for a few seconds, then voices. Harry slid of the bed. He snatched up his wand from the bedside table and stood facing his bedroom door, listening with all his might. Next moment, he jumped as the lock gave a loud click and his door swung open. Harry stood motionless, staring through the open doorway at the dark upstairs landing, straining his ears for further sounds, but none came. He hesitated for a moment, then moved swiftly and silently out of his room to the head of the stairs._

"Who opened the door?" Arthur asked.

"Well it wasn't us," Remus said.

"I assumed it was Harry," Dora added.

"Harry, quit doing accidental magic," Ginny laughed while her husband rubbed the back of his neck.

_There were people standing in the shadowy hall below, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he could see, looking up at him._

_"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," said a low, growling voice._

"Moody," Fabian and Gideon cheered.

_"Professor Moody?" he said uncertainly._

_"I don't know so much about 'Professor'," growled the voice, "never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here; we want to see you properly."_

_Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move._

"Moody was so proud of you there, Harry," Dora laughed. "He said in the meeting: not lowering defence, boy'll make a good Auror, didn't immediately lower his defence."

"Well, he is a good Auror," Arthur chuckled.

"He's a brilliant Auror," Ginny, Ron and Hermione said proudly.

_a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs._

_"It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away."_

"Remus," Lily and the other two marauders said.

_"P-Professor Lupin?" he said disbelievingly. "Is that you?"_

_"Why are we all standing in the dark?" said a third voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. "Lumos."_

"Mum," Teddy grinned as Sirius yelled, "Dora!"

_A wand-tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded around the foot of the stairs, gazing up at him intently, some craning their heads for a better look._

"He is not an animal!" Lily said, annoyed.

"No, just the savour of the Wizarding World," Ginny joked.

_Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. Though still quite young, Lupin looked tired and rather ill; he had more grey hairs than when Harry had last said goodbye to him and his robes were more patched and shabbier than ever._

"Oh, Remus," Lily sighed, glad that she and the rest went shopping yesterday.

_Nevertheless, he was smiling broadly at Harry, who tried to smile back despite his state of shock._

_"Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would," said the witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet. "Wotcher, Harry!"_

'Wotcher?' Teddy asked, grinning.

"Yeah," Dora smiled.

£It's her trademark of sorts," Remus chuckled.

_"Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus," said a bald black wizard standing furthest back - he had a deep, slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear - "he looks exactly like James."_

"Kingsley," Arthur said.

_"Except the eyes," said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired wizard at the back. "Lily's eyes."_

"Elphias Doge," Bill said.

_Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled grey hair and a large chunk missing from his nose, was squinting suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. One eye was small, dark and beady, the other large, round and electric blue - the magical eye that could see through walls, doors and the back of Moody's own head. "Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?" he growled. "It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?"_

_"Harry, what form does your Patronus take?" Lupin asked_

_"A stag," said Harry nervously._

_"That's him, Mad-Eye," said Lupin._

"Wouldn't someone else know zat?" Fleur asked.

"Yes, but they were all on our side," Remus asked.

_Very conscious of everybody still staring at him, Harry descended the stairs, stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans as he came._

_"Don't put your wand there, boy!" roared Moody. "What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!"_

_"Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?" the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly._

Teddy chuckled while everyone else just grinned.

_"Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!" growled Mad-Eye._

_"Elementary wand-safety, nobody bothers about it any more." He stumped off towards the kitchen. "And I saw that," he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes towards the ceiling._

Dora did the same thing now causing some to laugh.

_Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry's._

_"How are you?" he asked, looking closely at Harry._

_"F-fine…"_

_He glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were still gazing avidly at him._

"Oh for goodness sake, the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in the zoo!" Molly said, firmly.

_"I'm - you're really lucky the Dursleys are out…" he mumbled._

_"Lucky, ha!" said the violet-haired woman. "It was me who lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by Muggle post telling them they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. They're heading off to the prize-giving right now… or they think they are."_

"I'm sorry Petunia, Dudley," Dora said, although it was obvious she didn't mean it as she was laughing.

_"We are leaving, aren't we?" he asked. "Soon?"_

"That must have been odd," Dudley laughed

_"And this is Nymphadora -"_

"Dad," Teddy groaned, knowing how his mum felt about her name.

_"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," said the young witch with a shudder, "it's Tonks."_

_"Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only," finished Lupin._

_"So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora," muttered Tonks._

"Grandma's not a fool," Teddy laughed at the same time as Sirius said vaguely the same thing.

_"And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt." He indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed._

"Why did he bow?" Lily giggled.

_"Elphias Doge." The wheezy-voiced wizard nodded. "Dedalus Diggle -"_

_"We've met before," squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his violet-colored top hat. "Emmeline Vance." A stately-looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head. "Sturgis Podmore." A square-jawed wizard with thick straw-colored hair winked. "And Hestia Jones." A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved form next to the toaster._

"Good group," James said having meet many of them

_Harry inclined his head awkwardly at each of them as they were introduced. _

_"A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you," said Lupin; the corners of his mouth twitched slightly._

"Care to tell us what you're laughing at, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Just his expression," Remus chuckled.

_"Yeah, well, the more the better," said Moody darkly. "We're your guard, Potter."_

_"We're just waiting for the signal to tell us it's safe to set off," said Lupin, glancing out of the kitchen window. "We've got about fifteen minutes."_

_"Very clean, aren't they, these Muggles?" said the witch called Tonks, who was looking around the kitchen with great interest. "My dad's Muggle-born and he's a right old slob. I suppose it varies, just as it does with wizards?"_

_"Er - yeah," said Harry. "Look -" he turned back to Lupin,_

"Polite, Harry," Dora said pretending to pout.

"Sorry, Dora," Harry chuckled as her face perked up again.

_"what's going on, I haven't heard anything from anyone, what's Vol—?"_

_Several of the witches and wizards made odd hissing noises; Dedalus Diggle dropped his hat again and Moody growled, "Shut up!"_

Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Harry and the Prewett twins all rolled their eyes – it was just a name, a made up one at that.

"_What?" said Harry._

_"We're not discussing anything here, it's too risky," said Moody, turning his normal eye on Harry. His magical eye remained focused on the ceiling. "Damn it," he added angrily, putting a hand up to the magical eye, "it keeps getting stuck - ever since that scum wore it."_

_And with a nasty squelching sound much like a plunger being pulled from a sink, he popped out his eye._

"Ew," Teddy yelped. "Does he know that's disgusting?"

Nobody answered him instead he got laughter from Harry and Remus while Dora smiled at her son.

_"Mad-Eye, you do know that's disgusting, don't you?" said Tonks conversationally._

Everyone laughed or smiled fondly at the two sentences.

_"Get me a glass of water, would you, Harry," requested Moody._

_Harry crossed to the dishwasher, took out a clean glass and filled it with water at the sink, still watched eagerly by the band of wizards. _

"For goodness/ Merlins sake," Lily, Molly, Petunia and Dudley said.

_"Cheers," said Moody, when Harry handed him the glass. He dropped the magical eyeball into the water and prodded it up and down; the eye whizzed around, staring at them all in turn. _

"My poor glass," Petunia whimpered. "And one of the good ones."

"I know," Harry chuckled causing Petunia to give him a stern look.

_"I want three hundred and sixty degrees visibility on the return journey."_

_"How're we getting - wherever we're going?" Harry asked._

_"Brooms," said Lupin. "Only way. You're too young to Apparate, they'll be watching the Floo Network and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorized Portkey."_

_"Remus says you're a good flier," said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice._

"Bragging?" James asked.

"Merely starting a fact," Remus said, although he shuffled slightly.

_"He's excellent," said Lupin, who was checking his watch._

Lily shook her head fondly at her friend.

_"Anyway, you'd better go and get packed, Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal comes."_

_"I'll come and help you," said Tonks brightly._

"You're extremely bubbly aren't you, Mum," Teddy laughed.

_She followed Harry back into the hall and up the stairs, looking around with much curiosity and interest._

_"Funny place," she said. "It's a bit too clean, d'you know what I mean? Bit unnatural. Oh, this is better," she added, as they entered Harry's bedroom and he turned on the light._

"It's worse than mine," Teddy muttered.

That wasn't fair; Harry was always telling him to clean his room

_His room was certainly much messier than the rest of the house. Most of the books he owned were strewn over the floor; Hedwig's cage needed cleaning out and was starting to smell; and his trunk lay open, revealing a jumbled mixture of Muggle clothes and wizards' robes that had spilled on to the floor around it._

"Oh my," Lily said.

_Harry started picking up books and throwing them hastily into his trunk. Tonks paused at his open wardrobe to look critically at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of the door._

_"You know, I don't think violet's really my color," she said pensively, tugging at a lock of spiky hair. "D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?"_

_"Er -" said Harry, looking up at her over the top of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland._

"Don't ask Uncle Harry, Mum," Teddy laughed.

_"Yeah, it does," said Tonks decisively. She screwed up her eyes in a strained expression as though she was struggling to remember something. A second later, her hair had turned bubblegum pink._

Teddy smiled knowing it was his mum's favourite.

_"How did you do that?" said Harry, gaping at her as she opened her eyes again._

_"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could see her hair from all directions. "It means I can change my appearance at will," she added, spotting Harry's puzzled expression in the mirror behind her. "I was born one. I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."_

"Speaking of that," Dora grinned. "Harry can I go back to being an Auror."

"Sure," Harry chucked at her excitement.

"Do I have to take the tests again?" she asked.

"You may have to…" Harry trailed off at her glare. "I'll see what I can do – I may make you do stealth and tracking though."

"Do you even think about it!" Dora shrieked it.

_"You're an Auror?" said Harry, impressed. _

_"Yeah," said Tonks, looking proud. "Kingsley is as well, he's a bit higher up than me, though. I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking._

"Oh," everyone laughed

_I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?"_

"That better not of been my good plates," Petunia moaned

_"Can you learn how to be a Metamorphmagus?" Harry asked her, straightening up._

_Tonks chuckled._

_"Bet you wouldn't mind hiding that scar sometimes, eh?"_

_Her eyes found the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead._

_"No, I wouldn't mind," Harry mumbled, turning away. _

_"Well, you'll have to learn the hard way, I'm afraid," said Tonks. "Metamorphmagi are really rare, they're born, not made. Most wizards need to use a wand, or potions, to change their appearance. But we've got to get going, Harry, we're supposed to be packing," she added guiltily, looking around at all the mess on the floor._

_"Oh — yeah," said Harry, grabbing a few more books._

"Household spells," Molly suggested.

_"Don't be stupid, it'll be much quicker if I - pack!" cried Tonks, waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor._

_Books, clothes, telescope and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk._

_"It's not very neat," said Tonks, walking over to the trunk and looking down at the jumble inside. "My mums got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly - she even gets the socks to fold themselves - but I've never mastered how she does it - it's a kind of flick -" She flicked her wand hopefully._

_One of Harry's socks gave a feeble sort of wiggle and flopped back on top of the mess in the trunk._

"Nice, mum," Teddy chuckled

"Poor Tonksie," Gideon laughed.

_"Ah, well," said Tonks, slamming the trunk's lid shut, "at least it's all in. That could do with a bit of cleaning, too." She pointed her wand at Hedwig's cage. "Scourgify." A few feathers and droppings vanished. "Well, that's a bit better - I've never quite got the hang of these householdy sort of spells. Right - got everything? Cauldron? Broom? Wow! - A Firebolt!"_

"Did you play?" James asked.

"Yeah, chaser," Dora grinned.

"Woo!" James yelled. "They're the best!"

"I take offense it that," Teddy said.

"What do you play?" Dora asked, grinning at getting to know something about her son.

"Beater," Teddy said, smiling widely.

_Her eyes widened as they fell on the broomstick in Harry's right hand_

_"And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty" said Tonks enviously. "Ah well… wand still in your jeans? Both buttocks still on? Okay, let's go. Locomotor trunk."_

"We like you!" the twins yelled.

"Yeah, Dora, you'd fit in well with the marauders," Lily smiled.

"I'm not sure that's a compliment."

_Harry's trunk rose a few inches into the air. Holding her wand like a conductor's baton, Tonks made the trunk hover across the room and out of the door ahead of them, Hedwig's cage in her left hand. Harry followed her down the stairs carrying his broomstick._

_Back in the kitchen Moody had replaced his eye, which was spinning so fast after its cleaning it made Harry feel sick to look at it. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Sturgis Podmore were examining the microwave and Hestia Jones was laughing at a potato peeler she had come across while rummaging in the drawers._

"Seems you're not the only one fascinated by Muggle stuff, Dadm" Ginny laughed, as Arthur looked at the thing in Hestia's hand. The golden trio just rolled their eyes.

_Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys._

_"Excellent," said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered. "We've got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry –"_

_"They won't," said Harry._

_"- that you're safe -"_

_"That'll just depress them."_

_"- and you'll see them next summer."_

_"Do I have to?"_

_Lupin smiled but made no answer._

"That was good conversation," Sirius laughed.

"Why did that make you smile?" Molly asked, she, herself, was frowning.

"He was reminding me of James," Remus chucked while James grinned.

_"Come here, boy," said Moody gruffly, beckoning Harry towards him with his wand. "I need to Disillusion you."_

_"You need to what?" said Harry nervously._

_"Disillusionment Charm," said Moody, raising his wand. "Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while we're flying; this'll disguise you better. Here you go -" He rapped him hard on the top of the head and Harry felt a curious sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand had struck._

_"Nice one, Mad-Eye," said Tonks appreciatively, staring at Harry's midriff._

_Harry looked down at his body, or rather, what had been his body, for it didn't look anything like his any more. It was not invisible; it had simply taken on the exact color and texture of the kitchen unit behind him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon._

_"Come on," said Moody, unlocking the back door with his wand. They all stepped outside on to Uncle Vernon's beautifully kept lawn._

_"Clear night," grunted Moody, his magical eye scanning the heavens. "Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you," he barked at Harry_

"Lovely," Lily and Petunia said.

_," we're going to be flying in close formation. Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin'll be covering you from below I'm going to be behind you. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed -"_

"Is that likely?" Dudley asked worried.

"No, that just Mad-Eye," Bill chuckled.

_"Is that likely?" Harry asked apprehensively, but Moody ignored him._

_"- the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."_

"Merlin, how do you put up with him," Lily groaned: he was so depressing.

_"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously" said Tonks, _

"Nice one, Mum," Teddy laughed.

_as she strapped Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage into a harness hanging from her broom._

_"I'm just telling the boy the plan," growled Moody. "Our jobs to deliver him safely to Headquarters and if we die in the attempt –"_

_"No one's going to die," said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep, calming voice._

"Exactly," Dora and Remus said.

_"Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!" said Lupin sharply pointing into the sky._

_Far, far above them, a shower of bright red sparks had flared among the stars; Harry recognized them at once as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his Firebolt._

_"Second signal, let's go!" said Lupin loudly as more sparks, green this time, exploded high above them._

_Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night air rushed through his hair as the neat square gardens of Privet Drive fell away, shrinking rapidly into a patchwork of dark greens and blacks._

_"Hard left, hard left, there's a Muggle looking up!" shouted Moody from behind him. Tonks swerved and Harry followed her, watching his trunk swinging wildly beneath her broom. "We need more height… give it another quarter of a mile!"_

_They soared upwards; he could see nothing below now but tiny pinpricks of light that were car headlights and streetlamps. _

_"Bearing south!" shouted Mad-Eye. "'Town ahead!"_

_They soared right to avoid passing directly over the glittering spider's web of lights below._

_"Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!" called Moody._

_"We're not going through clouds!" shouted Tonks angrily, "we'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!"_

"Thank god, you must be frozen," Petunia said.

"We were," Dora, Harry and Remus said shivering.

"You're so boring," the Prewett twins yelled.

_They altered their course every now and then according to Mad-Eyes instructions. The guard around him was circling continuously like giant birds of prey. _

_"Turning southwest!" yelled Moody "We want to avoid the motorway!"_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt swooped around him, bald pate and earring gleaming slightly in the moonlight… now Emmeline Vance was on his right, her wand out, her head turning left and right… then she, too, swooped over him, to be replaced by Sturgis Podmore…_

_"We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed!" Moody shouted._

_"ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE"' Tonks screamed from the front. "We're all frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off-course we're not going to get there until next week! Besides, we're nearly there now!"_

"Thank you, Dora," Lily and Molly said worried they would get sick.

_"Time to start the descent!" came Lupin's voice. "Follow Tonks, Harry!_

"Always the peace maker, Dad,"' Teddy chuckled.

"I have a lot of practice," Remus said so only his son could hear him, nodding to the two marauders.

_Harry followed Tonks into a dive. They were heading for the largest collection of lights he had yet seen, a huge, sprawling crisscrossing mass, glittering in lines and grids, interspersed with patches of deepest black. Lower and lower they flew, until Harry could see individual headlights and streetlamps, chimneys and television aerials. _

_"Here we go!" called Tonks, and a few seconds later she had landed._

_Harry touched down right behind her and dismounted on a patch of unkempt grass in the middle of a small square. Tonks was already unbuckling Harry's trunk. Shivering, Harry looked around._

_The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps._

"You're not where I think you are, are you?" James asked looking at Sirius who nodded. James groaned loudly.

_Where are we?" Harry asked, but Lupin said quietly, "In a minute."_

_Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled hands clumsy with cold._

_"Got it," he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it._

_The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; the next lamp went out; he kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only remaining light came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead._

"Deluminator," Ron said, happily.

"Dumbledore must have let it too him," Hermione said.

_"Borrowed it from Dumbledore," growled Moody, pocketing the Put-Outer. "That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now come on, quick."_

_He took Harry by the arm and led him from the patch of grass, across the road and on to the pavement; Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry's trunk between them, the rest of the guard, all with their wands out, flanking them._

"Because that's not suspicious at all," Lily said.

_The muffled pounding of a stereo was coming from an upper window in the nearest house. A pungent smell of rotting rubbish came from the pile of bulging bin-bags just inside the broken gate._

_"Here," Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment towards Harry's Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing. "Read quickly and memories."_

_Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said: _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"Hmm," James hummed disapprovingly as they landed in the family room. "Why is the Order of Phoenix based _there_?"

"Because of all the enchantments my dear old Dad put on them before he died and then add the Fidelius and you have an impossible to find house," Sirius explained, "'bout the only useful thing I could do."

"That's not true Sirius," the Trio, Sirius, Remus, Dora, Molly and Arthur said before Hermione pulled Harry, Ron and Ginny away from the group.

"Are we going to show our greeting?" Hermione said.

Harry grimaced, "Do I need too?"

"I don't know, is it important?" she asked.

"Ron, Ginny?" Harry implored.

"What greeting?" Ginny asked smirking. "The yelling?"

"Yeah, that, Ginny," Ron grumbled.

"No," Ginny said.

"Please no," Ron agreed.

"It's not important," Hermione said, "but embarrassing for you."

"So no?" Harry asked, not liking the look on Hermione's face.

"No, we won't show it," Hermione smiled. "I was going to suggest just dinner and maybe our talk about Percy."

"Why?" Harry, Ron and Ginny asked.

"Well, Percy's behavior comes in a few times doesn't it and they're going to wonder where he is," Hermione reasoned and Ginny sighed, disappearing off towards her parents.

"Charlie's in the Order, too," said George, "but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked.

Everyone who knew sighed.

At Harry's words, all the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks.

"What?" Gideon asked.

_"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron told Harry in a tense voice._

_"Why not?"_

_"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," Fred said._

"Why?" Fabian asked his eyes narrowing.

_"It's been awful," said Ginny sadly._

"Hey, Ginny, I just realized you're in the same room as Harry without blushing," Sirius teased.

"Shut up!" Ginny moaned.

_"I think we're well shut of him," said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face._

_"What's happened?" Harry said._

_"Percy and Dad had a row," said Fred. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts."_

Bill, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione all shuddered.

_"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."_

"And that's bad how?" Lily questioned.

_"You're kidding?" said Harry._

_"Yeah, we were all surprised," said George, "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain."_

_"So how come they promoted him?"_

_"That's exactly what we wondered," said Ron._

_"He came home really pleased with himself - even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that - and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."_

"Fair enough…"James said still not sure what was wrong.

_"Only Dad wasn't," said Fred grimly._

_"Why not?" said Harry._

_"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," said George._

"What's wrong with Dumbledore?" Gideon said, frowning.

_"Dumbledore's name is mud with the Ministry these days, see," said Fred. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."_

_"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," said George._

"That's ridiculous," Teddy said.

_"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession."_

_"But what's that got to do with Percy?" asked Harry, confused._

_"I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family - and Dumbledore."_

"Oh," Fabian, Gideon, Lily and James said.

"Prat," the twins then added.

"Fabian, Gideon!" Molly said. "That's your nephew."

"But it's true, Molls," the whined but stopped at the stern look on her face.

_Harry let out a low whistle._

_"Bet Percy loved that."_

_Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way._

_"He went completely berserk. He said - well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been - you know - not had a lot of money, I mean -"_

"How dare he?" Lily yelped as the twins growled.

_"What?" said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a noise like an angry cat._

_"I know," said Ron in a low voice. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he - Percy - knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. _

"It should be with your family," James spat.

_And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."_

"Prat," Fabian and Gideon said again venomously

_Harry swore under his breath. _

"Language, Harry," Lily and Molly said and Ron smirked – it was about time Harry got his brunt of scoldings.

_"Mum's been in a right state," said Ron dully. "You know - crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work - ignores him, I s'pose."_

_"But Percy must know Voldemort's back," said Harry slowly. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof."_

_"Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row," said Ron, shooting Harry a furtive look. "Percy said the only evidence was your word and… I dunno… he didn't think it was good enough."_

"Why would Uncle Harry lie about that of all things?" Teddy said confused. "Why would he want the man that took nearly everything from him back?"

_"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously," said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded._

"What does that have to do with anything?" James asked warily.

"Have a guess, James," Bill said frowning.

_"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking around at them all. They were all regarding him warily._

_"Haven't - haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet!" Hermione asked nervously._

"I was hoping you'd already know this," Hermione said.

"So we didn't have to give you more bad news," Ginny added.

_"Yeah, I have!" said Harry._

_"Have you - er - been reading it thoroughly?" Hermione asked, still more anxiously._

_"Not cover to cover," said Harry defensively. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it?"_

_The others flinched at the sound of the name. Hermione hurried on, "Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they - um - they mention you a couple of times a week."_

_"But I'd have seen -"_

_"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't," said Hermione, shaking her head. "I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."_

Lily, James, Petunia and Dudley growled.

_"What d'you -?"_

_"It's quite nasty, actually," said Hermione in a voice of forced calm. "They're just building on Rita's stuff."_

_"But she's not writing for them any more, is she?"_

_"Oh, no, she's kept her promise - not that she's got any choice," Hermione added with satisfaction. "But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."_

_"Which is what?" said Harry impatiently._

_"Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry._

"He's not likely to forget that quickly," Remus said.

_"Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something," said Hermione, very fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry to hear these facts quickly._

Everyone narrowed their eyes at this piece of information.

_"They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears, they say something like, 'tale worthy of Harry Potter', and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's, 'lets hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next -"_

"He didn't ask to be worshipped," Teddy growled.

"I think he'd prefer to be left alone actually," Dora agreed.

_"I don't want anyone to worship -" Harry began hotly._

_"I know you don't," said Hermione quickly, looking frightened. "I know, Harry. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."_

_"I didn't ask - I didn't want - Voldemort killed my parents!" Harry spluttered. "I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never -"_

_"We know, Harry," said Ginny earnestly._

"You're speaking to him!"' the twins yelped – Sirius had filled them all in.

"Shut up!" Ginny snapped.

_"And of course, they didn't report a word about the Dementors attacking you," said Hermione._

"Of course not," Lily and James said disgusted.

_"Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control Dementors._

"They weren't out of control," everyone who knew muttered.

_They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy. We thought they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off. We think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town - I mean, if you're expelled, obviously," she went on hastily. "You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."_

_There was the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs._

_Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug;_

"What are those?" Lily asked suspicious.

"Extendable ears," the Trio and Ginny said.

"Exactly what they sound like," Molly grumbled to Lily's raised eyebrows.

_there was another loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway._

_"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"_

_"Crookshanks," said Ginny unblushingly. "He loves playing with them."_

"Blaming it on my cat, Ginny!"

"Sorry," Ginny said smiling.

"It was you, wasn't it?" James asked grinning and she nodded. James chuckled: he really was becoming to love his daughter-in-law as a person rather than simply because his son loved her.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, how –"

"_Potter_, Mum," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Merlin, how long have we been married, Harry?"

The men's eyes expanded: if Harry got this wrong…

"14 years," Harry said, missing a single beat.

"Exactly," Ginny said smiling as the men let out a breath. "And Mum, when you're mad, you _still_ call me Weasley.

"Sorry, dear," Molly said, although she was smiling at the fact that Harry, unlike most men, knew how long he'd been married to her daughter.

_"Oh," said Mrs. Weasley, "I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that._

"She believes!" James yelled. "I knew I liked you."

Molly frowned while Ginny beamed – it meant a ridiculous amount to her that he did.

_Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please."_

"And you didn't suspect anything," Remus chuckled. "Really Molly..."

_Ginny grimaced at the others and followed her mother out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Ron and Hermione._

_"Who's Kreacher?" he asked._

_"The house-elf who lives here," said Ron. "Nutter. Never met one like him."_

"He's not a nutter, Ron," Teddy said frowning. "He's perfectly nice and helpful."

Sirius just stared at Teddy like he'd lost his marbles.

_Hermione frowned at Ron._

_"He's not a nutter, Ron."_

"See Hermione agrees," Teddy said.

"Yes, but Hermione founded SPEW," Harry chuckled.

"It's not SPEW, Potter, its S.P.E.W," Hermione said, getting angry.

"It's SPEW, 'Mione," Ron said.

Hermione frowned at them before whacking them both around the head to the amusement of everyone else.

_"His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on a plaque just like his mother," said Ron irritably. "Is that normal, Hermione?"_

_"Well - well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault."_

"Really?" Sirius asked.

_Ron rolled his eyes at Harry._

_"Hermione still hasn't given up on SPEW -"_

_"It's not SPEW!" said Hermione heatedly. "It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. _

Everyone chuckled slightly.

"I forgot about that," Ron muttered awkwardly.

_And it's not just me; Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too."_

_"Yeah, yeah," said Ron. "C'mon, I'm starving."_

"Your favourite way to end an argument, Ronald," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

_He led the way out of the door and on to the landing, but before they could descend the stairs -_

_"Hold it!" Ron breathed, flinging out an arm to stop Harry and Hermione walking any further._

_"They're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something."_

"Must you be so curieux," Fleur muttered annoyed. "Nosey."

"It's those three, Fleur, it's a habit," Ginny laughed.

_The three of them looked cautiously over the banisters. The gloomy hallway below was packed with witches and wizards, including all of Harry's guard. They were whispering excitedly together. In the very center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape. Harry leaned further over the banisters. He was very interested in what Snape was doing for the Order of the Phoenix…_

_A thin piece of flesh-colored string descended in front of Harry's eyes. Looking up, he saw Fred and George on the landing above, cautiously lowering the Extendable Ear towards the dark knot of people below. A moment later, however, they all began to move towards the front door and out of sight._

"Bad lucky," Dudley said.

_"Damnit," Harry heard Fred whisper, as he hoisted the Extendable Ear back up again._

_They heard the front door open, then close._

_"Snape never eats here," Ron told Harry quietly. "Thank God. C'mon."_

"Well how would you eat if he did," Petunia said. "He makes me loses my appetite."

"Tuney!" Lily complained.

"Sorry, Lils," Petunia grimaced

_"And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry," Hermione whispered. _

"Why?" the twins asked.

_As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall, they saw Lupin, Mrs. Weasley and Tonks at the front door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts behind those who had just left._

_"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here -"_

_CRASH._

_"Tonks!" cried Mrs. Weasley in exasperation, turning to look behind her._

"She didn't even look," Teddy said shocked.

"It was that obvious, Teddy," Remus laughed, getting hit by the women in question.

_"I'm sorry!" wailed Tonks, who was lying flat on the floor. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over -"_

"And I don't doubt the last," James chuckled.

_But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech._

"Merlin, what is that?" Teddy asked, covering his ears. Everyone just chuckled at him.

_The moth-eaten velvet curtains Harry had passed earlier had flown apart, but there was no door behind them it was a life-size portrait, which an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though she were being tortured._

"My mum," Sirius groaned.

_The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed; and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears. Lupin and Mrs. Weasley darted forward and tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they would not close and she screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at their faces._

"That's your Mum"' Teddy yelled over the noise, looking similar to Harry did in the memory.

"Sadly," Sirius shouted back.

_"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers -"_

_Tonks apologized over and over again, dragging the huge, heavy troll's leg back off the floor; Mrs. Weasley abandoned the attempt to close the curtains and hurried up and down the hall, stunning all the other portraits with her wand; and a man with long black hair came charging out of a door facing Harry._

"Sirius," James and Lily beamed.

_"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he roared, seizing the curtain Mrs. Weasley had abandoned._

_The old woman's face blanched._

_"Yoooou!" she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"_

"She sounds lovely, Sirius," Gideon laughed

"A right pleasure," Fabian added.

_I said - shut - UP!" roared the man, and with a stupendous effort he and Lupin managed to force the curtains closed again._

_The old woman's screeches died and an echoing silence fell. Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out of his eyes, Harry's godfather Sirius turned to face him._

_"Hello, Harry," he said grimly, "I see you've met my mother."_

"What a lovely introduction," Lily said, looking disgruntled.

"Really, Padfoot, you haven't seen him properly in over a year and that's your greeting," James said, shaking his head.

Sirius grimaced, "Sorry, Harry."

"Don't worry, Sirius."

_"Your -?"_

_"My dear old mum, yeah," said Sirius. "We've been trying to get her down for a month but we think she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs, quick, before they all wake up again."_

_"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked, bewildered, _

"It's my house," Sirius answered, causing some to groan. "Actually yours now."

"You want it back?" Harry and Ginny asked eagerly.

"No!" he yelled. "Why?"

"Sirius, no one had set foot in that house for years," Harry said knowing that he wouldn't care. "We moved out once Teddy moved in with us."

"We didn't think it was a good environment to raise Teddy in," Ginny said. "So we moved into the cottage, which Harry, Ron and Hermione had been repairing."

_as they went through the door from the hall and led the way down a flight of narrow stone steps, the others just behind them._

_Hasn't anyone told you? This was my parents' house," said Sirius. "But I'm the last Black left, so it's mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for Headquarters - about the only useful thing I've been able to do."_

"You must be going mad," Lily said, sadly.

"He already was," Remus, Dora and James said.

_He followed his godfather to the bottom of the steps and through a door leading into the basement kitchen._

_It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a cavernous room with rough stone walls. Most of the light was coming from a large fire at the far end of the room. A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling. Many chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting and a long wooden table stood in the middle of them, littered with rolls of parchment, goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags. Mr. Weasley and his eldest son Bill were talking quietly with their heads together at the end of the table._

"You're not discussing the meeting are you?" Lily asked.

Bill and Arthur both looked sheepish.

"I didn't realize how nosy Harry was," Bill said, although that was an excuse.

_Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband, a thin, balding, red-haired man who wore horn-rimmed glasses, looked around and jumped to his feet._

_"Harry!" Mr. Weasley said, hurrying forward to greet him, and shaking his hand vigorously._

"See now that's a greeting, Sirius," the twins joked.

_"Good to see you!"_

_Over his shoulder Harry saw Bill, who still wore his long hair in a ponytail, hastily rolling up the lengths of parchment left on the table._

_"Journey all right, Harry?" Bill called, trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once. "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland, then?"_

_"He tried," said Tonks, striding over to help Bill and immediately toppling a candle on to the last piece of parchment. "Oh no - sorry –_

"Oh, Mum," Teddy sighed, shaking his head.

"And that Teddy is why you stay out of my office," Harry chuckled.

_"Here, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, sounding exasperated, and she repaired the parchment with a wave of her wand. In the flash of light caused by Mrs. Weasley's charm Harry caught a glimpse of what looked like the plan of a building._

"I wonder what that is," Petunia said.

_Mrs. Weasley had seen him looking. She snatched the plan off the table and stuffed it into Bill's already overladen arms._

"Yeah, thanks for that, Mum," Bill muttered.

_"This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end of meetings," she snapped, _

Lily and Petunia nodded in agreement.

_before sweeping off towards an ancient dresser from which she started unloading dinner plates._

_Bill took out his wand, muttered, "Evanesco!" and the scrolls vanished._

_"Sit down, Harry," said Sirius. "You've met Mundungus, haven't you?"_

_The thing Harry had taken to be a pile of rags gave a prolonged, grunting snore, then jerked awake._

"Oh Dung," Dora sighed.

"Dung," Teddy said, trying to hide his laugh behind a cough but the look he received from his mother made it obvious he didn't succeed.

_'Some'n say m'name?' Mundungus mumbled sleepily. "I 'gree with Sirius…" He raised a very grubby hand in the air as though voting, his droopy, bloodshot eyes unfocused._

Lily and Petunia scrunched their noses up, while the others sniggered a little.

_Ginny giggled._

_"The meeting's over, Dung," said Sirius, as they all sat down around him at the table. "Harry's arrived."_

_"Eh?" said Mundungus, peering balefully at Harry through his matted ginger hair. "Blimey, so 'e 'as. Yeah… you all right, 'Arry?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry._

_Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring at Harry, and pulled out a grimy black pipe. He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his wand and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing clouds of greenish smoke obscured him within seconds._

"Really?" Dudley asked, looking a little disgusted.

_"Owe you a 'pology," grunted a voice from the middle of the smelly cloud._

"Yes you do," Lily said. "As well as his cousin and his parents."

Petunia smiled: typical Lily.

_"For the last time, Mundungus," called Mrs. Weasley, "will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!"_

_"Ah," said Mundungus. "Right. Sorry, Molly."_

_The cloud of smoke vanished as Mundungus stowed his pipe back in his pocket, but an acrid smell of burning socks lingered._

_"And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand," Mrs. Weasley said to the room at large. "No, you can stay where you are, Harry dear, you've had a long journey."_

"So you stay still as well, Tonks," Sirius laughed.

_"What can I do, Molly?" said Tonks enthusiastically, bounding forwards._

_Mrs. Weasley hesitated, looking apprehensive._

_"Er - no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've done enough today."_

_"No, no, I want to help!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a chair as she hurried towards the dresser, from which Ginny was collecting cutlery._

"Sorry Ginny," Dora said.

"It was fine," she replied, giggling slightly.

"Skipping a bit," Harry said, looking amused himself

_Mr. Weasley was leaning back in his chair, looking replete and relaxed; Tonks was yawning widely, her nose now back to normal; and Ginny who had lured Crookshanks out from under the dresser, was sitting cross-legged on the floor, rolling Butterbeer corks for him to chase._

_"Nearly time for bed, I think," said Mrs. Weasley with a yawn._

_"Not just yet, Molly" said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry._

_"You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."_

_The atmosphere in the room changed with the rapidity Harry associated with the arrival of Dementors. Where seconds before it had been sleepily relaxed, it was now alert, even tense. A frisson had gone around the table at the mention of Voldemort's name. Lupin, who had been about to take a sip of wine, lowered his goblet slowly, looking wary._

"You would be," James agreed with Remus' wary look.

_"I did!" said Harry indignantly. "I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so -"_

_"And they're quite right," said Mrs. Weasley. "You're too young."_

_She was sitting bolt upright in her chair, her fists clenched on its arms, every trace of drowsiness gone._

_"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen—"_

"Exactly," Lily and James said, causing Molly to look round at them in shook. She had always thought her view on this would have been what Lily and James would have wanted.

"Not all the facts," Lily said. "But enough."

_"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly._

_"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily._

_"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George._

_"'You're too young, you're not in the Order'," said Fred in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "Harry's not even of age!"_

"Yes but when do rules apply to Harry," Hermione, Ron and Ginny laughed.

_It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly, "that's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand -"_

_"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply. The expression on her normally kind face looked dangerous._

"Actually, Sirius is Harry's godfather so…" Lily said but trailed of at Molly's look.

"So it's Sirius' decision as he was the person we said was to look after Harry if something happened to us," James continued not bothered by Molly's look. "Remus would have been second godfather if it wasn't for werewolf laws – so him as well."

Molly now looked appropriately abashed.

_"You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"_

_"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with the air of a man readying himself for a fight._

"You've gone insane," the twins said.

"Going up against Mols-"

"When she's mad –"

"You've got a death wish," they finished together again

_"The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know," said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words._

_Ron, Hermione, Fred and George's heads swiveled from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though they were following a tennis rally. Ginny was kneeling amid a pile of abandoned Butterbeer corks, watching the conversation with her mouth slightly open. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius._

_"I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly," said Sirius. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back" (again, there was a collective shudder around the table at the name) "he has more right than most to -"_

_"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Mrs. Weasley. "He's only fifteen and -"_

_"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some."_

_"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. "But he's still -"_

_"He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently._

_"He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"_

"I know that," Sirius said calmly at the same time Lily and James said. "He knows," with a bit more force.

_"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly," said Sirius coldly._

_"I'm not sure you are!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"_

_"What's wrong with that?" said Harry._

_"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes still boring into Sirius. "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"_

_"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" demanded Sirius, his voice rising._

_"Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and -"_

"That's exactly why he shouldn't be staying in the house," Lily, James, Remus and Harry all said.

Molly just looked shock at all these people going against her, she wasn't used to it but she had to admit they were right.

_"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" said Sirius loudly._

_"Arthur!" said Mrs. Weasley, rounding on her husband. "Arthur, back me up!"_

_Mr. Weasley did not speak at took off his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he reply._

"Uh oh," everyone said.

_"Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters."_

_"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!"_

"No one said you had to answer all of his questions," Teddy said reasonable.

_"Personally," said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last, as Mrs. Weasley turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts - not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture - from us, rather than a garbled version from… others."_

"Thank you, Remus," Lily and James said.

"I know how your minds work," Remus said, smiling slightly. "I assumed that is what you'd want."

_"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well… I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart -"_

_"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly._

_"He's as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely._

Everyone smiled at that.

_"Who else has he got?"_

"Sirius and Remus," James said.

"Ron and Hermione," Lily added.

"He's fond of Dora, at least it seems," James put in

"Alright, Alright, sorry," Molly said.

_"He's got me!"_

_"Yes," said Mrs. Weasley, her lip curling, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"_

"Mol, that's not his fault," Gideon said reasonably.

"And that's low," Fabian added.

_Sirius started to rise from his chair._

_"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Lupin sharply. "Sirius, sit down."_

"Yeah, calm them down, Dad," Teddy sighed.

_Mrs. Weasley's lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank slowly back into his chair, his face white._

_"I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this," Lupin continued, "he's old enough to decide for himself."_

_"I want to know what's been going on," Harry said at once._

_He did not look at Mrs. Weasley. _

_"Very well," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking. "Ginny - Ron - Hermione - Fred - George – I want you out of this kitchen, now."_

"Yes because they'll go quietly," the twins and marauders sniggered.

_There was instant uproar._

_"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together._

_"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron._

_"Mum, I want to hear!" wailed Ginny._

"Why do I have a feeling Ginny is the only one that you're going to get out," Lily said, smiling sympathetically at Molly – she was only trying to keep her children safe from the horrors that was hers, Lily's, son's life.

_"NO!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, standing up, her eyes over bright. "I absolutely forbid -"_

_"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "They are of age."_

_"They're still at school."_

_"But they're legally adults now," said Mr. Weasley, in the same tired voice._

_Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face._

_"I - oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron -"_

_"Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" said Ron hotly. "Won't - won't you?" he added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes._

"You don't sound so sure," Dudley chuckled.

"I thought maybe Harry would gives us a taste of our own medicine," Ron said.

"I thought about it," Harry grinned.

_"Course I will," Harry said._

_Ron and Hermione beamed._

_"Fine!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Fine! Ginny - BED!"_

_Ginny did not go quietly._

_They could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs, and when she reached the hall Mrs. Blacks ear-splitting shrieks were added to the din._

"Sorry," Ginny laughed.

"Hermione's just going to tell you anyway," Teddy said confused.

"It would make suspicious if I didn't put up a fight," Ginny said before grinning at his shocked face and James' proud one.

"We're a bad influence on him," Harry groaned but Ginny just giggled.

"Luckily he doesn't have much school left," Hermione said.

_Lupin hurried off to the portrait to restore calm. It was only after he had returned, closing the kitchen door behind him and taking his seat at the table again, that Sirius spoke._

_"Okay, Harry… what do you want to know?"_

_Harry took a deep breath and asked the question that had obsessed him for the last month._

_"Where's Voldemort?" he said, ignoring the renewed shudders and winces at the name. "What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything."_

_"That's because there haven't been any funny deaths yet," said Sirius, "not as far as we know, anyway… and we know quite a lot."_

_"More than he thinks we do, anyway," said Lupin._

_"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked. _

_"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself," said Sirius. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."_

"No, Uncle Harry messed it up for him," Teddy said causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to look at him. "What.?"

"Give it a second, Ted," Harry said smiling.

_"Or rather, you messed it up for him," said Lupin, with a satisfied smile._

"Like father, like son," the twins laughed while Dora just smiled fondly at them both.

_"How?" Harry asked, perplexed._

_"You weren't supposed to survive!" said Sirius. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."_

_"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," said Lupin. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."_

"Woo! Go Harry," the Prewett twins yelled

_"How has that helped?" Harry asked._

_"Are you kidding?" said Bill incredulously. "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"_

_"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," said Sirius._

_"So, what's the Order been doing?" said Harry, looking around at them all._

_"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," said Sirius._

_"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly._

_"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea,' said Lupin, "and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."_

"Luckily for us," the wizards muttered

_"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"_

_"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," said Sirius. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one of the groups he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."_

_"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?"_

_"We're doing our best," said Lupin._

_"How?"_

_"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard," said Bill._

"Let me guess that's harder than it sounds?" Petunia asked.

"Far harder," Arthur agreed

_"It's proving tricky, though."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because of the Ministry's attitude," said Tonks. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know- Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."_

_"But why?" said Harry desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore -"_

_"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem," said Mr. Weasley with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."_

"Problem?" everyone who'd been dead by this time asked.

_"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," said Tonks sadly._

_"Frightened of Dumbledore?" said Harry incredulously._

_"Frightened of what he's up to," said Mr. Weasley. "Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic."_

"If Dumbledore wanted to be Minister then he would have been Minister by then!"Teddy said.

_"But Dumbledore doesn't want -"_

_"Of course he doesn't," said Mr. Weasley. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."_

_"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is - a much more powerful wizard,_

"Of course he is," the wizards chorused.

_and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," said Lupin. "But it seems he's become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."_

_"How can he think that?" said Harry angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up - that I'd make it all up?"_

_"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years," said Sirius bitterly. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."_

_You see the problem," said Lupin. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumour- mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware any things happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."_

_"But you're telling people, aren't you?" said Harry, looking around at Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Bill, Mundungus, Lupin and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"_

"We can't," Dora said, sadly.

_They all smiled humourlessly._

_"Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?" said Sirius restlessly._

"Urg," James groaned. "Had to remind me of that."

_"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," said Lupin. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."_

The whole room hissed in annoyance

_"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," said Sirius, "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them."_

"It's nearly impossible for you," Lily moaned.

_"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though," said Mr. Weasley, "Tonks here, for one – _

"That's because I'm not stupid!" Dora said annoyed

_she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage - Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset, too; he's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."_

"Nice," the twins said.

"Good," Dudley and Petunia said.

_"But if none of you are putting the news out that Voldemorts back -" Harry began._

_"Who said none of us are putting the news out?" said Sirius. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"_

_"What d'you mean?" Harry asked._

_"They're trying to discredit him," said Lupin. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip,_

All the wizards snorted.

_but it's not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemorts return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot - that's the Wizard High Court - and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."_

_"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog Cards," said Bill, grinning._

"Oui, Bill, just lighten zee mood," Fleur giggled.

_"It's no laughing matter," said Mr. Weasley sharply._

"Sorry." Bill and Fleur said.

_"If he carries on defying the Ministry like this he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to he's going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore's out of the way - well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field."_

_"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" asked Harry desperately._

_"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. "He tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on those for the moment.'_

_"What's he after apart from followers?" Harry asked swiftly. He thought he saw Sirius and Lupin exchange the most fleeting of looks before Sirius answered._

_"Stuff he can only get by stealth."_

_When Harry continued to look puzzled, Sirius said, "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."_

_"When he was powerful before?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Like what kind of weapon?" said Harry. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra -?"_

_"That's enough!"_

_Mrs. Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door. _

"Molly!" James, the twins and Teddy groaned.

_Harry hadn't noticed her return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious._

_"I want you in bed, now. All of you," she added, looking around at Fred, George, Ron and Hermione._

_"You can't boss us -" Fred began._

"Yes, she can," Lily said. "She's your mother."

Harry and Ron shared a glance.

_"Watch me," snarled Mrs. Weasley._

_She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."_

_"Why not?" said Harry quickly. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight."_

"No!" Lily and James said

_"No."_

Lily and James nodded.

_It was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke this time, but Lupin._

_"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you…_

"I think Harry had an idea, Remus," Lily and Dora said, before grinning at each other.

"Well I didn't realize just how much he had been through," Remus muttered.

_I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."_

_Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs. Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons and Hermione. One by one they stood up and Harry, recognizing defeat, followed suit._

"So now Hermione goes to tell our lovely Mrs Potter everything," Sirius laughed as the appeared back in the family room

"I'm not Mrs Potter in the memory, Sirius," Ginny said, but couldn't help a small smile.

"Ah well,' Sirius shrugged while Harry and Ginny chuckled.

"What's next, Harry?" Petunia asked shaking her head.

"Ministry," Hermione said before Harry could answer.

"Good, we'll see whether they abide their own laws," James growled although he already knew they wouldn't.

_"Here we are," said Mr. Weasley brightly, pointing at an old red telephone box, which was missing several panes of glass and stood before a heavily graffitied wall. "After you, Harry."_

_He opened the telephone-box door._

_Harry stepped inside, wondering what on earth this was about. Mr. Weasley folded himself in beside Harry and closed the door. It was a tight fit; Harry was jammed against the telephone apparatus, which was hanging crookedly from the wall as though a vandal had tried to rip it off._

_Mr. Weasley reached past Harry for the receiver._

_"Mr. Weasley, I think this might be out of order, too," Harry said._

"No, no, that's the way in," Hermione laughed

_"No, no, I'm sure it's fine," said Mr. Weasley, holding the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. "Let's see… six…" he dialed the number, "two… four… and another four… and another two…"_

"Magic," Lily said.

_As the dial whirred smoothly back into place, a cool female voice sounded inside the telephone box, not from the receiver in Mr. Weasley's hand, but as loudly and plainly as though an invisible woman were standing right beside them._

_"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."_

_"Er…" said Mr. Weasley, clearly uncertain whether or not he should talk into the receiver. He compromised by holding the mouthpiece to his ear,_

"Oh, Arthur!" Molly sighed, while Lily, Dora and Hermione giggled.

_"Arthur Weasley, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, here to escort Harry Potter, who has been asked to attend a disciplinary hearing…"_

_"Thank you," said the cool female voice. "Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes."_

_There was a click and a rattle, and Harry saw something slide out of the metal chute where returned coins usually appeared. He picked it up: it was a square silver badge with Harry Potter, Disciplinary Hearing on it. He pinned it to the front of his T-shirt as the female voice spoke again._

_"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."_

_The floor of the telephone box shuddered. They were sinking slowly into the ground. Harry watched apprehensively as the pavement seemed to rise up past the glass windows of the telephone box until darkness closed over their heads. Then he could see nothing at all; he could hear only a dull grinding noise as the telephone box made its way down through the earth. After about a minute, though it felt much longer to Harry, a chink of golden light illuminated his feet and, widening, rose up his body, until it hit him in the face and he had to blink to stop his eyes from watering._

_"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day," said the woman's voice._

_The door of the telephone box sprang open and Mr. Weasley stepped out of it, followed by Harry, whose mouth had fallen open._

"Skipping," Harry said.

_He beckoned to Harry and led him out of Kingsley's cubicle, through a second set of oak doors, into another passage, turned left, marched along another corridor, turned right into a dimly lit and distinctly shabby corridor, and finally reached a dead end, where a door on the left stood ajar, revealing a broom cupboard, and a door on the right bore a tarnished brass plaque reading:_

_Misuse of Muggle Artifacts._

Everyone smiled fondly.

_Mr. Weasley's dingy office seemed to be slightly smaller than the broom cupboard. Two desks had been crammed inside it and there was barely space to move around them because of all the overflowing filing cabinets lining the walls, on top of which were tottering piles of files. The little wall space available bore witness to Mr. Weasley's obsessions: several posters of cars, including one of a dismantled engine; two illustrations of postboxes he seemed to have cut out of Muggle children's books; and a diagram showing how to wire a plug._

_Sitting on top of Mr. Weasley's overflowing in-tray was an old toaster that was hiccoughing in a disconsolate way and a pair of empty leather gloves that were twiddling their thumbs. A photograph of the Weasley family stood beside the in-tray. Harry noticed that Percy appeared to have walked out of it._

_"We haven't got a window," said Mr. Weasley apologetically, taking off his bomber jacket and placing it on the back of his chair. "We've asked, but they don't seem to think we need one. _

"That's not fair," Dudley said.

"It's not and Arthur's department is actually very important," said Hermione getting smiles from Molly and Arthur before she and Harry shared a look.

_Have a seat, Harry, doesn't look as if Perkins is in yet."_

_Harry squeezed himself into the chair behind Perkins's desk while Mr. Weasley riffled through the sheaf of parchment Kingsley Shacklebolt had given him._

_"Ah," he said, grinning, as he extracted a copy of a magazine entitled The Quibbler from its midst,_

_"yes…" He flicked through it. "Yes, he's right, I'm sure Sirius will find that very amusing - oh dear, what's this now?"_

"I did actually," Sirius said, smiling slightly.

_A memo had just zoomed in through the open door and fluttered to rest on top of the hiccoughing toaster. Mr. Weasley unfolded it and read it aloud._

_"'Third regurgitating public toilet reported in Bethnal Green, kindly investigate immediately.' This is getting ridiculous…"_

_"A regurgitating toilet?"_

_"Anti-Muggle pranksters," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "We had two last week, one in Wimbledon, one in Elephant and Castle. Muggles are pulling the flush and instead of everything disappearing - well, you can imagine._

"Ew!" Lily, Dudley, Petunia and Teddy groaned while everyone else just made a face.

_The poor things keep calling in those - pumbles, I think they're called - you know, the ones who mend pipes and things."_

_"Plumbers?"_

Hermione giggled again.

_"Exactly, yes, but of course they're flummoxed. I only hope we can catch whoever's doing it."_

_"Will it be Aurors who catch them?"_

_"Oh no, this is too trivial for Aurors, it'll be the ordinary Magical Law Enforcement Patrol - ah, Harry, this is Perkins."_

_A stooped, timid-looking old wizard with fluffy white hair had just entered the room, panting._

_"Oh, Arthur!" he said desperately, without looking at Harry. "Thank goodness, I didn't know what to do for the best, whether to wait here for you or not. I've just sent an owl to your home but you've obviously missed it - an urgent message came ten minutes ago -"_

_"I know about the regurgitating toilet," said Mr. Weasley._

_"No, no, it's not the toilet, it's the Potter boy's hearing - they've changed the time and venue - it starts at eight o'clock now and it's down in old Courtroom Ten -"_

"Ten?" James asked, sure that was bad.

_"Down in old - but they told me - Merlin's beard!"_

_Mr. Weasley looked at his watch, let out a yelp and leapt from his chair._

_"Quick, Harry, we should have been there five minutes ago!"_

_A cold male voice rang across the courtroom._

_"You're late."_

_"Sorry," said Harry nervously "I — I didn't know the time had been changed."_

_"That is not the Wizengamot's fault," said the voice. "An owl was sent to you this morning. Take your seat."_

"How long before?" Lily asked.

"10 minutes," Molly said, having read the letter.

_Harry dropped his gaze to the chair in the center of the room, the arms of which were covered in chains. _

"If they chain him, I'll …" James threatened.

_His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked across the stone floor. When he sat gingerly on the edge of the chair the chains clinked threateningly, but did not bind him. Feeling rather sick, he looked up at the people seated at the bench above._

_There were about fifty of them, all, as far as he could see, wearing plum-colored robes with an elaborately worked silver W on the left-hand side of the chest and all staring down their noses at him, some with very austere expressions, others looks of frank curiosity._

_In the very middle of the front row sat Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. Fudge was a portly man who often sported a lime-green bowler hat, though today he had dispensed with it; he had dispensed, too, with the indulgent smile he had once worn when he spoke to Harry. A broad, square-jawed witch with very short grey hair sat on Fudge's left; she wore a monocle and looked forbidding._

"At least, she's there," Molly sighed.

_On Fudge's right was another witch, but she was sitting so far back on the bench that her face was in shadow._

"Is that?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded before both of them groaned.

_"Very well," said Fudge. "The accused being present - finally - let us begin. Are you ready?" he called down the row._

_"Yes, sir," said an eager voice Harry knew. Ron's brother Percy was sitting at the very end of the front bench._

"Oh … great," Ginny sighed, trying not to insult her brother.

_Harry looked at Percy. Percy's eyes, behind his horn-rimmed glasses, were fixed on his parchment, a quill poised in his hand._

_"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," said Fudge in a ringing voice, and Percy began taking notes at once, "into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey._

_"Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister._

"Arg!" the Trio and Ginny yelled causing people to look at them

_Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley -"_

_"Witness for the defense, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," said a quiet voice from behind Harry, who turned his head so fast he cricked his neck._

"What a name," Petunia said, sharing an amused look with Dudley

_Dumbledore was striding serenely across the room wearing long midnight-blue robes and a perfectly calm expression. His long silver beard and hair gleamed in the torchlight as he drew level with Harry and looked up at Fudge through the half-moon spectacles that rested halfway down his very crooked nose._

_The members of the Wizengamot were muttering. All eyes were now on Dumbledore. Some looked annoyed, others slightly frightened; two elderly witches in the back row, however, raised their hands and waved in welcome._

Everyone chuckled at bit at that.

_A powerful emotion had risen in Harry's chest at the sight of Dumbledore, a fortified, hopeful feeling rather like that which phoenix song gave him. He wanted to catch Dumbledore's eye, but Dumbledore was not looking his way; he was continuing to look up at the obviously flustered Fudge._

_"Ah," said Fudge, who looked thoroughly disconcerted. "Dumbledore. Yes. You - er - got our – er - message that the time and -er - place of the hearing had been changed, then?"_

_"I must have missed it," said Dumbledore cheerfully…"However, due to a lucky mistake I arrived at the Ministry three hours early, so no harm done."_

"3 hours!" Molly said shocked.

_Yes - well - I suppose we'll need another chair - I - Weasley, could you -?"_

_"Not to worry, not to worry," said Dumbledore pleasantly; he took out his wand, gave it a little flick, and a squashy chintz armchair appeared out of nowhere next to Harry. Dumbledore sat down, put the tips of his long fingers together and surveyed Fudge over them with an expression of polite interest. The Wizengamot was still muttering and fidgeting restlessly; only when Fudge spoke again did they settle down._

_"Yes," said Fudge again, shuffling his notes. "Well, then. So. The charges. Yes."_

_He extricated a piece of parchment from the pile before him, took a deep breath, and read out, "the charges against the accused are as follows: That he did knowingly, deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a previous written warning from the Ministry of Magic on a similar charge, produce a Patronus Charm in a Muggle-inhabited area, in the presence of a Muggle,_

"But… I already knew about magic," Dudley said confused.

_on the second of August at twenty-three minutes past nine, which constitutes an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, and also under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy._

"Again, I knew about Magic," Dudley repeated.

_"You are Harry James Potter, of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?" Fudge said, glaring at Harry over the top of his parchment._

_"Yes," Harry said._

_"You received an official warning from the Ministry for using illegal magic three years ago, did you not?"_

_"Yes, but -"_

_"And yet you conjured a Patronus on the night of the second of August?" said Fudge._

_"Yes," said Harry, "but -"_

_"Knowing that you are not permitted to use magic outside school while you are under the age of seventeen?"_

_"Yes, but -"_

_"Knowing that you were in an area full of Muggles?"_

_"Yes, but -"_

"Let him speak!" Teddy said through his teeth.

_"Fully aware that you were in close proximity to a Muggle at the time?"_

_"Yes," said Harry angrily, "but I only used it because we were -"_

_The witch with the monocle cut across him in a booming voice._

_"You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, "because -"_

_"A corporeal Patronus?"_

_"A - what?" said Harry._

"A Patronus with a shape," Lily smiled as she remembered it was Prongs. She could remember why too because whenever Harry was scared and only then (with the exception of Christmas) would Prongs appear. He'd scare away the object of fear – one time it had been a snake in their garden, another a knome – and then sit there right by their baby till he calmed again.

_"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? I mean to say, it was more than vapour or smoke?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, feeling both impatient and slightly desperate, "it's a stag, it's always a stag."_

_"Always?" boomed Madam Bones. "You have produced a Patronus before now?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, "I've been doing it for over a year."_

_"And you are fifteen years old?"_

_"Yes, and -"_

_"You learned this at school?"_

_"Yes, Professor Lupin taught me in my third year, because of the -"_

_"Impressive," said Madam Bones, staring down at him, "a true Patronus at his age… very impressive indeed."_

_Some of the wizards and witches around her were muttering again; a few nodded, but others were frowning and shaking their heads._

_"It's not a question of how impressive the magic was," said Fudge in a testy voice, "in fact, the more impressive the worse it is, I would have thought, given that the boy did it in plain view of a Muggle!"_

"Ah, shut up, Fudgy," the twins said.

_Those who had been frowning now murmured in agreement, but it was the sight of Percy's sanctimonious little nod that goaded Harry into speech._

_"I did it because of the Dementors!" he said loudly, _

"Zat'll shut zem up," said Fleur satified.

_before anyone could interrupt him again. He had expected more muttering, but the silence that fell seemed to be somehow denser than before._

_"Dementors?" said Madam Bones after a moment, her thick eyebrows rising until her monocle looked in danger of falling out. "What do you mean, boy?"_

_"I mean there were two Dementors down that alleyway and they went for me and my cousin!"_

_"Ah," said Fudge again, smirking unpleasantly as he looked around at the Wizengamot, as though inviting them to share the joke. "Yes. Yes, I thought we'd be hearing something like this."_

_"Dementors in Little Whinging?" Madam Bones said, in a tone of great surprise. "I don't understand -"_

_"Don't you, Amelia?" said Fudge, still smirking. "Let me explain._

"I think it would be best for Harry to explain," Bill growled.

"This man's more of an idiot than I thought," James muttered

_He's been thinking it through and decided Dementors would make a very nice little cover story, very nice indeed. Muggles can't see Dementors, can they, boy? Highly convenient, highly convenient… so it's just your word and no witnesses…"_

"I would be able to tell them what it felt like," Dudley reasoned.

_"I'm not lying!" said Harry loudly, over another outbreak of muttering from the court. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends of the alley, everything went dark and cold and my cousin felt them and ran for it -"_

_"Enough, enough!" said Fudge, with a very supercilious look on his face. "I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would have been a very well-rehearsed story -"_

_Dumbledore cleared his throat. The Wizengamot fell silent again._

_"We do, in fact, have a witness to the presence of Dementors in that alleyway," he said, "other than Dudley Dursley, I mean."_

_Fudge's plump face seemed to slacken, as though somebody had let air out of it. He stared down at Dumbledore for a moment or two, then, with the appearance of a man pulling himself back together, said, "We haven't got time to listen to more tarradiddles, I'm afraid, Dumbledore. I want this dealt with quickly -"_

"That's not the point," Petunia frowned. "It's finding the truth."

_"I may be wrong," said Dumbledore pleasantly, "but I am sure that under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights, the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her case? Isn't that the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Bones?" he continued, addressing the witch in the monocle._

_"True," said Madam Bones. "Perfectly true."_

_"Oh, very well, very well," snapped Fudge. "Where is this person?"_

_"I brought her with me," said Dumbledore. "She's just outside the door. Should I -?"_

_"No — Weasley, you go," Fudge barked at Percy, who got up at once, ran down the stone steps from the judge's balcony and hurried past Dumbledore and Harry without glancing at them._

_A moment later, Percy returned, followed by Mrs. Figg. She looked scared and more batty than ever. _

"Can squibs see Dementors?" Dora asked but everyone shrugged.

"No," Harry sighed as they did. "Of course not, it's the magic that runs in our veins that allows us to see them – squibs don't have that, they're muggles."

_Dumbledore stood up and gave Mrs. Figg his chair, conjuring a second one for himself._

_"Full name?" said Fudge loudly, when Mrs. Figg had perched herself nervously on the very edge of her seal._

_"Arabella Doreen Figg," said Mrs. Figg in her quavery voice._

_"And who exactly are you?" said Fudge, in a bored and lofty voice._

_"I'm a resident of Little Whinging, close to where Harry Potter lives," said Mrs. Figg._

_"We have no record of any witch or wizard living in Little Whinging, other than Harry Potter," said Madam Bones at once. "That situation has always been closely monitored, given… given past events."_

_"I'm a Squib," said Mrs. Figg. "So you wouldn't have me registered, would you?"_

_"A Squib, eh?" said Fudge, eyeing her closely. "We'll be checking that. You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Weasley. Incidentally, can Squibs see Dementors?" he added, looking left and right along the bench._

_"Yes, we can!" said Mrs. Figg indignantly._

"But…" Dora complained.

_Fudge looked back down at her, his eyebrows raised. "Very well," he said aloofly. "What is your story?"_

_"I had gone out to buy cat food from the corner shop at the end of Wisteria Walk, around about nine o'clock, on the evening of the second of August,"_

_gabbled Mrs. Figg at once, as though she had learned what she was saying by heart, "when I heard a disturbance down the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. On approaching the mouth of the alleyway I saw Dementors running -"_

_"Running?" said Madam Bones sharply. "Dementors don't run, they glide."_

_"That's what I meant to say," said Mrs. Figg quickly, patches of pink appearing in her withered cheeks. "Gliding along the alley towards what looked like two boys."_

_"What did they look like?" said Madam Bones, narrowing her eyes so that the edge of the monocle disappeared into her flesh._

_"Well, one was very large and the other one rather skinny -"_

Many let out snorts of amusement at that.

_"No, no," said Madam Bones impatiently. "The Dementors… describe them."_

_"Oh," said Mrs. Figg, the pink flush creeping up her neck now. "They were big. Big and wearing cloaks."_

Fabian and Gideon sucked in a breath at this.

_"Big and wearing cloaks," repeated Madam Bones coolly, while Fudge snorted derisively. "I see. Anything else?"_

_"Yes," said Mrs. Figg. "I felt them. Everything went cold, and this was a very warm summer's night, mark you. And I felt… as though all happiness had gone from the world… and I remembered… dreadful things…"_

_Her voice shook and died._

"That's better," Remus said. "You can't fake how you sound when talking about a dementor."

_Madam Bones's eyes widened slightly. Harry could see red marks under her eyebrow where the monocle had dug into it._

_"What did the Dementors do?" she asked, and Harry felt a rush of hope._

_"They went for the boys," said Mrs. Figg, her voice stronger and more confident now, the pink flush ebbing away from her face. "One of them had fallen. The other was backing away, trying to repel the Dementor. That was Harry. He tried twice and produced only silver vapour. On the third attempt, he produced a Patronus, which charged down the first Dementor and then, with his encouragement, chased the second one away from his cousin. And that that is what happened,"_

_Mrs. Figg finished, somewhat lamely._

_Madam Bones looked down at Mrs. Figg in silence. Fudge was not looking at her at all, but fidgeting with his papers. Finally, he raised his eyes and said, rather aggressively, "that's what you saw, is it?"_

_"That is what happened," Mrs. Figg repeated._

_"Very well," said Fudge. "You may go."_

_Mrs. Figg cast a frightened look from Fudge to Dumbledore, then got up and shuffled off towards the door. Harry heard it thud shut behind her._

_"Not a very convincing witness," said Fudge loftily._

"I disagree," Lily growled.

_"Oh, I don't know," said Madam Bones, in her booming voice. "She certainly described the effects of a Dementor attack very accurately. And I can't imagine why she would say they were there if they weren't."_

_"But Dementors wandering into a Muggle suburb and just happening to come across a wizard?" snorted Fudge. "The odds on that must be very, very long. Even Bagman wouldn't have bet -"_

_"Oh, I don't think any of us believe the Dementors were there by coincidence," said Dumbledore lightly._

"Is now really the time to bring this up?" Hermione asked.

_The witch sitting to the right of Fudge, with her face in shadow, moved slightly but everyone else was quite still and silent._

_"And what is that supposed to mean?" Fudge asked icily._

_It means that I think they were ordered there," said Dumbledore._

_"I think we might have a record of it if someone had ordered a pair of Dementors to go strolling through Little Whanging!" barked Fudge._

_"Not if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than the Ministry of Magic these days," said Dumbledore calmly. "I have already given you my views on this matter, Cornelius."_

_"Yes, you have"' said Fudge forcefully, "and I have no reason to believe that your views are anything other than bilge, Dumbledore. The Dementors remain in place in Azkaban and are doing everything we ask them to."_

_"Then," said Dumbledore, quietly but clearly, "we must ask ourselves why somebody within the Ministry ordered a pair of Dementors into that alleyway on the second of August."_

_In the complete silence that greeted these words, the witch to the right of Fudge leaned forwards so that Harry saw her for the first time.._

_She was rather squat with a broad, flabby face, as little neck as Uncle Vernon and a very wide, slack mouth. Her eyes were large, round and slightly bulging. Even the little black velvet bow perched on top of her short curly hair put him in mind of a large fly she was about to catch on a long sticky tongue._

_"The Chair recognizes Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," said Fudge._

_The witch spoke in a fluttery, girlish, high-pitched voice._

_"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you, Professor Dumbledore," she said, with a simper that left her big, round eyes as cold as ever._

Everyone in the room shuddered as Teddy mimed throwing up.

_"So silly of me. But it sounded for a teensy moment as though you were suggesting that the Ministry of Magic had ordered an attack on this boy!"_

_She gave a silvery laugh _

"Thank Merlin I don't have to work with her," Harry said. "I'd kill either myself or her."

"Don't blame you," nearly everyone chorused in agreement

_A few other members of the Wizengamot laughed with her. It could not have been plainer that not one of them was really amused._

_"If it is true that the Dementors are taking orders only from the Ministry of Magic, and it is also true that two Dementors attacked Harry and his cousin a week ago, then it follows logically that somebody at the Ministry might have ordered the attacks," said Dumbledore politely. "Of course, these particular Dementors may have been outside Ministry control -"_

_"There are no Dementors outside Ministry control!" snapped Fudge, who had turned brick red. Dumbledore inclined his head in a little bow._

_"Then undoubtedly the Ministry will be making a full inquiry into why two Dementors were so very far from Azkaban and why they attacked without authorization."_

"Don't tell them what to do," Arthur groaned.

_"It is not for you to decide what the Ministry of Magic does or does not do, Dumbledore!" snapped Fudge._

"Dudley, don't you think your Dad would be proud of that colour," Harry chuckled, making Dudley snort.

_Of course it isn't," said Dumbledore mildly. "I was merely expressing my confidence that this matter will not go uninvestigated."_

_He glanced at Madam Bones, who readjusted her monocle and stared back at him, frowning slightly._

_"I would remind everybody that the behavior of these Dementors, if indeed they are not figments of this boy's imagination, is not the subject of this hearing!" said Fudge. "We are here to examine Harry Potter's offences under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery!"_

_Of course we are," said Dumbledore, "but the presence of Dementors in that alleyway is highly relevant. Clause Seven of the Decree states that magic may be used before Muggles in exceptional circumstances, and as those exceptional circumstances include situations which threaten the life of the wizard or witch him - or herself, or any witches, wizards or Muggles present at the time of the -"_

_"We are familiar with Clause Seven, thank you very much!" snarled Fudge._

"Then stick by it," Molly snapped.

_"Of course you are," said Dumbledore courteously. "Then we are in agreement that Harry's use of the Patronus Charm in these circumstances falls precisely into the category of exceptional circumstances the clause describes?"_

_"If there were Dementors, which I doubt."_

_"You have heard it from an eyewitness," Dumbledore interrupted. "If you still doubt her truthfulness, call her back, question her again. I am sure she would not object."_

_"I - that - not -" blustered Fudge, fiddling with the papers before him. "It's - I want this over with today, Dumbledore!"_

"That's not the point!" Petunia said again, shocked at this man's stupidity.

_"But naturally, you would not care how many times you heard from a witness, if the alternative was a serious miscarriage of justice," said Dumbledore._

_"Serious miscarriage, my hat!" said Fudge at the top of his voice. "Have you ever bothered to tot up the number of cock-and-bull stories this boy has come out with, Dumbledore, while trying to cover up his flagrant misuse of magic out of school? I suppose you've forgotten the Hover Charm he used three years ago -"_

_"That wasn't me, it was a house-elf!" said Harry._

"Dobby," the trio said fondly.

_"YOU SEE" roared Fudge, gesturing flamboyantly in Harry's direction. "A house-elf! In a Muggle house! I ask you."_

_"The house-elf in question is currently in the employ of Hogwarts School," said Dumbledore. "I can summon him here in an instant to give evidence if you wish."_

_"I - not - I haven't got time to listen to house-elves! Anyway, that's not the only - he blew up his aunt, for God's sake!" Fudge shouted, banging his fist on the judge's bench and upsetting a bottle of ink._

_"And you very kindly did not press charges on that occasion, accepting, I presume, that even the best wizards cannot always control their emotions," said Dumbledore calmly, as Fudge attempted to scrub the ink off his notes._

_"And I haven't even started on what he gets up to at school."_

"That's not your business," Lily said. "He's done nothing illegal there – that you know of."

_"But, as the Ministry has no authority to punish Hogwarts students for misdemeanors at school, Harry's behavior there is not relevant to this hearing," said Dumbledore, as politely as ever, but now with a suggestion of coolness behind his words._

_"Oho!" said Fudge. "Not our business what he does at school, eh? You think so?"_

"Yes," many said, some strongly, some more warily..

_"The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August," said Dumbledore. "Nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until charges have been successfully proven; again, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August. In your admirable haste to ensure that the law is upheld, you appear, inadvertently I am sure, to have overlooked a few laws yourself."_

"Go Dumbledore!" the twins cheered.

_"Laws can be changed," said Fudge savagely._

_"Of course they can," said Dumbledore, inclining his head. "And you certainly seem to be making many changes, Cornelius. Why, in the few short weeks since I was asked to leave the Wizengamot, it has already become the practice to hold a full criminal trial to deal with a simple matter of underage magic!"_

_A few of the wizards above them shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Fudge turned a slightly deeper shade of puce. The toadlike witch on his right, however, merely gazed at Dumbledore, her face quite expressionless._

_"As far as I am aware," Dumbledore continued, "there is no law yet in place that says this court's job is to punish Harry for every bit of magic he has ever performed. He has been charged with a specific offence and he has presented his defense. All he and I can do now is to await your verdict."_

_Dumbledore put his fingertips together again and said no more. Fudge glared at him, evidently incensed. Harry glanced sideways at Dumbledore, seeking reassurance He continued to look up at the benches where the entire Wizengamot had fallen into urgent, whispered conversations._

_Harry looked at his feet. _

_Then the whispering stopped. Harry wanted to look up at the judges, but found that it was really much, much easier to keep examining his laces._

_"Those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" said Madam Bones' booming voice._

_Harry's head jerked upwards. There were hands in the air, many of them… more than half!_

_Breathing very fast, he tried to count, but before he could finish, Madam Bones had said, "And those in favor of conviction?"_

_Fudge raised his hand; so did half a dozen others, including the witch on his right and the heavily-moustached wizard and the frizzy-haired witch in the second row. Fudge glanced around at them all, looking as though there was something large stuck in his throat, then lowered his own hand. He took two deep breaths and said, in a voice distorted by suppressed rage, "Very well, very well… cleared of all charges."_

"Yes!" everyone cheered while Harry raised an eyebrow at them.

_"Excellent," said Dumbledore briskly, springing to his feet, pulling out his wand and causing the two chintz armchairs to vanish. "Well, I must be getting along. Good-day to you all." And without looking once at Harry, he swept from the dungeon._

"Polite," Ron chuckled as they landed in the family room once again.

"Yeah," Harry said before muttering to Ron. "I got really annoyed with him that year."

"Don't blame you mate."

"Thank Merlin, you go off," Lily said before saying in a hopeful tone. "No more worrying now?"

"Sorry, Mum," Harry chuckled.

"We told you the years get worse as they go on," Hermione smiled as James groaned.

"Let's continue on with it then," said the twins, as cheerful as ever.

_"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know by now, too." (Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged smirks.)_

"You three," Molly and Lily tutted while the marauders and twins gave them thumbs uo behind their backs.

_"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door._

_"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."_

"No!" everyone yelled.

_There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause, during which Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks;_

"I don't blame you," Arthur and Remus muttered

_Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the -"_

_He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge cleared her throat, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech._

"She interrupted Dumbledore," Lily said in a dangerous voice.

"That isn't how things are done at Hogwarts," said Molly

_Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts._

_"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."_

"He wasn't finished, you toad," Dora growled.

_Her voice was high-pitched, breathy and little-girlish and, again. She gave another little throat-clearing cough ("hem, hem") and continued._

Everyone shivered.

_"Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"_

"Sorry," Teddy repeated, looking shocked and a bit sick, although slightly amused at the look on his 15 year old godfathers face.

"How old are you five?" the twins laughed.

_Harry glanced around. None of the faces he could see looked happy. On the contrary, they all looked rather taken-aback at being addressed as though they were five years old._

_"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"_

Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione snorted.

"We hate you," they said.

_Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins._

_"I'll be her friend as long as I don't have to borrow that cardigan," Parvati whispered to Lavender, and both of them lapsed into silent giggles._

Ginny and Lily giggled as well, while Petunia smiled.

_Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them._

_"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."_

_Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back to her. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Harry distinctly saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "hem, hem" and went on with her speech._

"Urg," Ginny groaned

_"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"_

_Harry found his attentiveness ebbing, as though his brain was slipping in and out of tune. The quiet that always filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over on the Ravenclaw table Cho Chang was chatting animatedly with her friends. A few seats along from Cho, Luna Lovegood had got out The Quibbler again._

"Nice," the marauders chucked.

_Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table Ernie Macmillan was one of the few still staring at Professor Umbridge, but he was glassy-eyed and Harry was sure he was only pretending to listen in an attempt to live up to the new prefect's badge gleaming on his chest._

_Professor Umbridge did not seem to notice the restlessness of her audience. The teachers, however, were still listening very attentively, and Hermione seemed to be drinking in every word Umbridge spoke, though, judging by her expression, they were not at all to her taste._

_"… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."_

_She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again._

_"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…"_

_"Yes, it certainly was illuminating," said Hermione in a low voice._

_"You're not telling me you enjoyed it?" Ron said quietly, turning a glazed face towards Hermione. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy."_

"So true," Ginny laughed.

"Ron, Ginny," Mrs Weasley said. "Leave Percy alone.;"

_"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Hermione. "It explained a lot.'_

"It did?" James, Sirius and Dora asked.

_"Did it?" said Harry in surprise. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me."_

"Us too, Harry," said the twins' as well as James and Sirius.

_"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," said Hermione grimly._

_"Was there?" said Ron blankly._

_"How about: 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? How about: 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?"_

_"Well, what does that mean?" said Ron impatiently._

_"I'll tell you what it means," said Hermione through gritted teeth. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."_

Lily and Remus nodded, having worked that out for themselves.

"I can't belive she's the Defence teacher!" Petunia said.

"And the year they need teaching, as well," Dudley frowned.

"Let's see her first lesson," Lily said.

"Okay, Mum," Harry said, although knowing she won't like the first lesson he had with her.

_When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. _

_The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be._

_"Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down._

_A few people mumbled "good afternoon" in reply._

_"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"_

_"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her._

"Are we in Primary School?" Petunia asked shocked causing Dudley, Lily, Dora, Harry and Hermione to laugh.

_There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."_

Everyone groaned

_Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Harry shoved his wand back inside his bag and pulled out quill, ink and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles_

"Really?" Remus asked, shaking his head.

_"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her._

_"The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your OWL year._

_"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please."_

_She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by: Course Aims:_

_1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic._

_2. Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used._

_3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use._

"There's nothing on there about using magic!" the twins yelled in outrage.

_For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she asked, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"_

_There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class._

_"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, 'Yes, Professor Umbridge', or 'No, Professor Umbridge'. So: has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"_

_"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room._

Everyone frowned: how old did she think they were?

_"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One, Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk."_

_Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all closely with those pouchy toad's eyes. Harry turned to page five of his copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read._

"That's going to be as boring as history of magic," Teddy groaned.

_It was desperately dull, quite as bad as listening to Professor Binns. He felt his concentration sliding away from him; he had soon read the same line half a dozen times without taking in more than the first few words. Several silent minutes passed. Next to him, Ron was absent-mindedly turning his quill over and over in his fingers, staring at the same spot on the page. Harry looked right and received a surprise to shake him out of his torpor._

_Hermione had not even opened her copy of Defensive Magical Theory. She was staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand in the air._

"Hermione, were you feeling alright?" Sirius asked.

"Perfectly fine, thank you," Hermione said frowning at him.

_He looked at her enquiringly, but she merely shook her head slightly to indicate that she was not about to answer questions, and continued to stare at Professor Umbridge, who was looking just as resolutely in another direction._

_After several more minutes had passed, however, Harry was not the only one watching Hermione._

"It's far more interesting," Dora laughed.

_When more than half the class were staring at Hermione rather than at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the situation no longer._

_"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her._

_"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione._

_"Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small pointed teeth. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."_

_"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione._

_Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows._

_"And your name is?"_

_"Hermione Granger," said Hermione._

_"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness._

_"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."_

"Nice!" the marauders and twins said.

_There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard._

"Did they not notice?" Petunia laughed.

_"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"_

"Not but outside..." Dudley trailed off.

_"We're not going to use magic?" Ron exclaimed loudly._

_"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr. -?"_

_"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air._

_Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione._

_"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"_

_"Yes," said Hermione. "Surely the whole point of Defence Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"_

"Yes it is," Remus said, having taught it himself.

_"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Professor Umbridge, in her falsely sweet voice_

_"No, but -"_

"- are you?" James asked finishing Hermione's question causing a few snickers around the room.

_"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study._

"Somehow I doubt the clever part," everyone said as Hermione blushed slightly.

_You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way -"_

"If they're going to be attacked it's not going to be risk free," Lily growled getting annoyed at this 'woman'.

_"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a -"_

_"Hand, Mr. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge._

_Harry thrust his fist in the air. Again, Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him, but now several other people had their hands up, too._

_"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Dean._

_"Dean Thomas."_

_"Well, Mr. Thomas?"_

_"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" said Dean. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free."_

"Exactly," Molly nodded

_"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"_

_"No, but -"_

_Professor Umbridge talked over him. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said,_

"Sure you don't," Bill said.

_an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed - not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."_

"Hey!" everyone yelled.

_"If you mean Professor Lupin," piped up Dean angrily, "he was the best we ever -"_

"Thank you, Dean," Remus said, allowing a slight smile to grace his lips.

_"Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying - you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day -"_

"No zey 'aven't," Fleur exclaimed

_"No we haven't," Hermione said, "we just -"_

_"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!"_

_Hermione put up her hand. Professor Umbridge turned away from her._

_"It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."_

"Yes but he was a Death Eater," Arthur said.

_"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" said Dean hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads."_

_"Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!" trilled Professor Umbridge. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up._

_"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?"_

_"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively._

"What?" everyone yelled, not remembering doing an O.W.L defensive spell first try.

_"Without ever practicing them beforehand?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"_

_"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough -"_

_"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" said Harry loudly, his fist in the air again._

_Professor Umbridge looked up._

_"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world," she said softly._

"Yes but school is about preparing them!" Lily said shocked.

_"So we're not supposed to be prepared for what's waiting for us out there?"_

"Exactly, Harry," Lily nodded to her son.

_"There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter."_

_"Oh, yeah?" said Harry. _

_"Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?" enquired Professor Umbridge in a horribly honeyed voice._

"Voldemort!" veryone said.

_"Hmm, let's think…" said Harry in a mock thoughtful voice. "Maybe… Lord Voldemort!"_

_Ron gasped; Lavender Brown uttered a little scream; Neville slipped sideways off his stool._

"Oh, Neville," Ginny sighed.

_Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch. She was staring at Harry with a grimly satisfied expression on her face._

_Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter."_

_The classroom was silent and still. Everyone was staring at either Umbridge or Harry._

_"Now, let me make a few things quite plain."_

_Professor Umbridge stood up and leaned towards them, her stubby-fingered hands splayed on her desk._

_"You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead -"_

_"He wasn't dead," said Harry angrily, "but yeah, he's returned!"_

"Oh, Harry, shut up!" Sirius groaned.

"Would you?" James snapped.

"Excellent point," Sirius agreed.

_'"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for yourself," said Professor Umbridge in one breath without looking at him. "As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."_

_"It is NOT a lie!" said Harry. "I saw him, I fought him!"_

_"Detention, Mr. Potter!" said Professor Umbridge triumphantly. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend._

"Yeah, right," most scoffed.

"I'd only come to you if I wanted someone to practice on," Harry and Ginny growled.

"Maybe not even then," Hermione said, grinning at the couple.

_And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."_

_Professor Umbridge sat down behind her desk. Harry, however, stood up. Everyone was staring at him; Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated._

_"Harry, no!" Hermione whispered in a warning voice, tugging at his sleeve, but Harry jerked his arm out of her reach._

_"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking._

"Oh Merlin," Ginny said so only Harry could hear her. "No wonder those scars on your hand haven't faded, Harry."

_There was a collective intake of breath from the class, for none of them, apart from Ron and Hermione, had ever heard Harry talk about what had happened on the night Cedric had died._

_They stared avidly from Harry to Professor Umbridge, who had raised her eyes and was staring at him without a trace of a fake smile on her face._

_"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident," she said coldly._

"How dare you!" Hermione, Ron, Molly and Ginny shrieked.

"That's an insult to his memory!" Dudley and Arthur yelled.

"What a foul woman!" Fleur shouted before switching to French to swear.

"It was murder!" James, Lily, Sirius, Dora, Remus and Bill yelled.

"I'll give you a tragic accident," the twins growled.

_"It was murder," said Harry. He could feel himself shaking. He had hardly spoken to anyone about this, least of all thirty eagerly listening classmates. "Voldemort killed him and you know it."_

_Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a moment, Harry thought she was going to scream at him. Then she said, in her softest, most sweetly girlish voice, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."_

"Dear," Molly repeated annoyed that she often said the same thing.

_He kicked his chair aside, strode around Ron and Hermione and up to the teacher's desk. He could feel the rest of the class holding its breath. He felt so angry he did not care what happened next._

_Professor Umbridge pulled a small roll of pink parchment_

"Pink parchment," Lily said, looking disgusted.

_out of her handbag, stretched it out on the desk, dipped her quill into a bottle of ink and started scribbling, hunched over so that Harry could not see what she was writing. Nobody spoke. After a minute or so she rolled up the parchment and tapped it with her wand; it sealed itself seamlessly so that he could not open it._

_"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear," said Professor Umbridge, holding out the note to him. He took it from her without saying a word, turned on his heel and left the room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, slamming the classroom door shut behind him. _

"Skipping," Harry said

"You need to control you temper, Harry," Lily said.

"Like you would, Lils?" James managed a smile. "You know he gets that temper from you."

_"What on earth are you shouting about, Potter?" she snapped, as Peeves cackled gleefully and zoomed out of sight. '"Why aren't you in class?"_

_"I've been sent to see you," said Harry stiffly._

_"Sent? What do you mean, sent?"_

"Again, that isn't how Hogwarts works," Remus said.

_He held out the note from Professor Umbridge. Professor McGonagall took it from him, frowning, slit it open with a tap of her wand, stretched it out and began to read. Her eyes zoomed from side to side behind their square spectacles as she read what Umbridge had written, and with each line they became narrower._

_"Come in here, Potter."_

_He followed her inside her study. The door closed automatically behind him._

_"Well?" said Professor McGonagall, rounding on him. "Is this true?"_

_"Is what true?" Harry asked, rather more aggressively than he had intended. "Professor?" headded, in an attempt to sound more polite._

_"Is it true that you shouted at Professor Umbridge?"_

"Yes," Hermione said shaking her head.

_"Yes," said Harry._

_"You called her a liar?"_

'"Yep," Ron said, grinning.

_"Yes."_

_"You told her He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back?"_

"Yes," Ginny frowned.

_"Yes."_

_Professor McGonagall sat down behind her desk, watching Harry closely. Then she said, "Have a biscuit, Potter."_

"What?" everyone said in varius implications and at varius volumes.

_"Have - what?"_

_"Have a biscuit," she repeated impatiently, indicating a tartan tin of cookies lying on top of one of the piles of papers on her desk. "And sit down."_

_He sank into a chair opposite her and helped himself to a Ginger Newt._

"I'm confused," James said.

_Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at Harry._

_"Potter, you need to be careful."_

_Harry swallowed his mouthful of Ginger Newt and stared at her. Her tone of voice was not at all what he was used to; it was not brisk, crisp and stern; it was low and anxious and somehow much more human than usual._

Everyone blinked at the tone and looked utterly confused,

_"Misbehavior in Dolores Umbridge's class could cost you much more than house points and a detention."_

_"What do you -?"_

_"Potter, use your common sense," snapped Professor McGonagall, with an abrupt return to her usual manner. "You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting."_

_The bell rang for the end of the lesson. Overhead and all around came the elephantine sounds of hundreds of students on the move._

_"It says here she's given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow," Professor McGonagall said, looking down at Umbridge's note again._

_"Every evening this week!" Harry repeated, horrified. "But, Professor, couldn't you -?"_

_"No, I couldn't," said Professor McGonagall flatly._

_"But -"_

_"She is your teacher and has every right to give you detention. You will go to her room at five o'clock tomorrow for the first one. Just remember: tread carefully around Dolores Umbridge."_

_"But I was telling the truth!" said Harry, outraged. "Voldemort is back, you know he is; Professor Dumbledore knows he is -"_

_"For heaven's sake, Potter!" said Professor McGonagall, straightening her glasses angrily (she had winced horribly when he had used Voldemort's name)._

"Why?" Teddy asked.

_"Do you really think this is about truth or lies? It's about keeping your head down and your temper under control!"_

"Not going to happen," Remus and Sirius said, looking warily at Lily.

_She stood up, nostrils wide and mouth very thin, and Harry stood up, too._

_"Have another biscuit," she said irritably, thrusting the tin at him._

_"No, thanks," said Harry coldly._

_"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped._

_He took one._

_"Thanks," he said grudgingly._

Everyone laughed; the tones just didn't suit the conversation.

_"Didn't you listen to Dolores Umbridge's speech at the start-of-term feast, Potter?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah… she said… progress will be prohibited or… well, it meant that… that the Ministry of Magic is trying to interfere at Hogwarts."_

_Professor McGonagall eyed him closely for a moment, then sniffed, walked around her desk and held open the door for him._

_"Well, I'm glad you listen to Hermione Granger at any rate," she said, pointing him out of her office._

"You should've just told her no, mate," Ron said, as everyone else, including Hermione, laughed.

"She knows you well," the maunders laughed.

"What was with her?" Teddy asked, still looking scared at the side his headmistress had just shown.

"Nothing, Teddy," Ginny giggled. "She's human."

Once everyone had stopped laughing, Hermione sent Harry a look that told him clearly that even if he didn't want to he was going to have to show the next memory. He sighed, knowing he'd rather show this memory than be subjected to Hermione's wrath.

_At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, "Come in," in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around._

_The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolor kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again._

"The office," Remus whimpered, looking sick at what had once been his office.

"It's sickening," Lily moaned.

"It horrific," Petunia groaned.

_"Good evening, Mr. Potter."_

_Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her._

_"Evening, Professor Umbridge," Harry said stiffly._

_"Well, sit down," she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him._

"Oh so just lines," James said breathing a sigh of relief he didn't notice the shuffiling.

_"Er," said Harry, without moving. "Professor Umbridge. Er - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a… a favor."_

_Her bulging eyes narrowed._

_"Oh, yes?"_

"Don't bother,"' everyone said.

"Worth a shot," Harry muttered

_"Well, I'm… I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night… instead…"_

_He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good._

_"Oh, no," said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. "Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories,_

Most hissed at the toad once again

_Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you."_

_She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down._

_"There," said Umbridge sweetly, "we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter. No, not with your quill," she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are."_

_She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point._

"That better not be what I think it is," Remus growled as James and Sirius eyes widened

_"I want you to write, I must not tell lies," she told him softly._

_"How many times?" Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness._

_"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in," said Umbridge sweetly._

The three Marauders were shaking while Ginny and Teddy's eyes slide to Harry's hand which was clenched making the scars stand out. Everyone looked around at Teddy's sudden intake of breath but his just shook his head, his eyes widening and then narrowing in anger as he let out a growl.

_"Off you go."_

_She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realized what was missing._

_"You haven't given me any ink," he said._

"You won't need ink," the twins darkly having caught on.

"No!" Molly, Arthur, Bill and Fleur breathed, having seen the scars on Harry's hand.

"What?" Lily, Petunia, Dudley and Dora asked

_"Oh, you won't need ink," said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice._

_Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies._

_He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth._

"A blood quill!" Lily shrieked walking over and grabbing Harry's right hand. She shut her eyes when she saw the scars trying to stop the tears from falling and dropped his hand quickly.

"Zat's illegal," Fleur snarled.

'"That doesn't matter to Umbridge," Remus scowled, keeping a hand on Teddy's arm to try and calm him down but it wasn't working as well as it had done for Harry, something he tried to not notice.

_Harry looked round at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile._

_"Yes?"_

_"Nothing," said Harry quietly._

"It's not a battle of wills, Harry," Ginny groaned taking Harry's hand which just had to be the ones with that scars on.

_He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill on it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again, the words had been cut into his skin; once again, they healed over seconds later._

"Skipping," Harry said.

"How long," Dora asked, quietly, trying to control her own anger.

"A few hours," Hermione answered.

_"Come here," she said._

_He stood up. When he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin there was red raw._

_"Hand," she said._

_He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings._

_"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said, smiling. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."_

"No!" Lily yelled. "No wonder you've still got those scars."

With great effort James turned to his sons' wife and friends, "What about you three?"

"We'll got it," Hermione said, "but our's have all faded, I guess she got Harry too many times."

"Right," Remus said trying to distract himself. "What's next, Harry?"

"Umm," Harry said, looking sheepish. "Guys?"

"Excuse us," Hermione dragging Ron and Harry into a corner. "Percy's letter?"

"What?" Ron yelped.

"No, Hermione," Harry said. "There's nothing important in there and it'll just upset Molly and Arthur. We've already told them that Percy "severed ties" with the family once – no need to reminded them."

"Isn't the first conversation about the D.A. coming up now?" Ron said, grinning.

"Brilliant," Harry and Hermione said.

_Ron and Hermione had sat up waiting for him. He was pleased to see them, especially as Hermione was disposed to be sympathetic rather than critical._

_"Here," she said anxiously, pushing a small bowl of yellow liquid towards him, "soak your hand inthat, it's a solution of strained and pickled Murtlap tentacles, it should help."_

"Back from detention, I take it," Lily said frowning.

_Harry placed his bleeding, aching hand into the bowl and experienced a wonderful feeling of relief. Crookshanks curled around his legs, purring loudly, then leapt into his lap and settled down._

_"Thanks," he said gratefully, scratching behind Crookshanks's ears with his left hand._

_"I still reckon you should complain about this," said Ron in a low voice._

_"No," said Harry flatly._

_"McGonagall would go nuts if she knew —"_

_"Yeah, she probably would," said Harry dully. "And how long do you reckon it'd take Umbridge to pass another decree saying anyone who complains about the High Inquisitor gets sacked immediately?"_

_Ron opened his mouth to retort but nothing came out and, after a moment, he closed it again, defeated._

_"She's an awful woman," said Hermione in a small voice. "Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when you came in… we've got to do something about her."_

_"I suggested poison," said Ron grimly._

"That's a good idea," the Prewett twins said.

_"No… I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is, and how we're not going to learn any Defence from her at all," said Hermione._

_"Well, what can we do about that?" said Ron, yawning. "It's too late, isn't it? She's got the job, she's here to stay. Fudge'll make sure of that."_

"Think positively, son," Arthur chuckled.

_"Well," said Hermione tentatively. "You know, I was thinking today…"_

"When are you not?" Ginny asked.

_she shot a slightly nervous look at Harry_

"'Arry's not going to like zis is 'e?" Fleur asked.

"No," Hermione smiled.

_and then plunged on, "I was thinking that - maybe the time's come when we should just - just do it ourselves."_

_"Do what ourselves?" said Harry suspiciously, still floating his hand in the essence of Murtlap tentacles._

_"Well - learn Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves," said Hermione._

The trio and Ginny beamed knowing where this was going

_"Come off it," groaned Ron. "You want us to do extra work? D'you realize Harry and I are behind on homework again and it's only the second week?"_

_"But this is much more important than homework!" said Hermione._

"Hermione!" Ginny said, looking at her searchingly.

_Harry and Ron goggled at her._

_"I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework!" said Ron._

Teddy nodded in agreement.

_"Don't be silly, of course there is," said Hermione, and Harry saw, with an ominous feeling, that her face was suddenly alight with the kind of fervour that SPEW usually inspired in her. "It's about preparing ourselves, like Harry said in Umbridge's first lesson, for what's waiting for us out there. It's about making sure we really can defend ourselves. If we don't learn anything for a whole year -"_

_"We can't do much by ourselves," said Ron in a defeated voice. "I mean, all right, we can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose -"_

_"No, I agree, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books"' said Hermione. "We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."_

_"If you're talking about Lupin…" Harry began._

"I'm too far away," Remus said smirking.

_"No, no, I'm not talking about Lupin," said Hermione. "He's too busy with the Order and, anyway, the most we could see him is during Hogsmeade weekends and that's not nearly often enough."_

_"Who, then?" said Harry, frowning at her._

_Hermione heaved a very deep sigh._

_"Isn't it obvious?" she said. "I'm talking about _you_, Harry."_

_There was a moment's silence. A light night breeze rattled the windowpanes behind Ron, and the fire guttered._

_"About me what?" said Harry._

"Really, Harry?" James laughed.

_"I'm talking about you teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts."_

_Harry stared at her. Then he turned to Ron, Ron did not look exasperated._

_He was frowning slightly, apparently thinking. Then he said, "That's an idea."_

_"What's an idea?" said Harry._

"You teaching them," Teddy said exasperated.

_"You," said Ron. "Teaching us to do it."_

_"But…"Harry was grinning now, "But I'm not a teacher, I can't -"_

_"Harry, you're the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione._

"I bet that hurt to admit," the twins laughed.

_Me?" said Harry, now grinning more broadly than ever. "No I'm not; you've beaten me in every test -"_

_"Actually, I haven't," said Hermione coolly. "You beat me in our third year - the only year we both sat the test and had a teacher who actually knew the subject. But I'm not talking about test results, Harry. Think what you've _done_!"_

_"How d'you mean?"_

"You don't want such a stupid teacher," Sirius laughed before getting hit by Lily.

_"You know what, I'm not sure I want someone this stupid teaching me," Ron said to Hermione, smirking slightly. He turned to Harry._

_"Let's think," he said, pulling a face like Goyle concentrating. "Uh… first year - you saved the Philosopher's Stone from You-Know-Who."_

_"But that was luck," said Harry, "it wasn't skill."_

"A lot of defence is instinct, Harry," Bill said. "Not skill."

_"Second year," Ron interrupted, "you killed the Basilisk and destroyed Riddle."_

_"Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn't turned up, I -"_

"Yeah, that was all Fawkes," Ginny laughed before hitting her husband for his stupidity.

_"Third year," said Ron, louder still, "you fought off about a hundred Dementors at once -"_

_"You know that was a fluke, if the Time-Turner hadn't -"_

_"Last year," Ron said, almost shouting now, "you fought off You-Know-Who _again_-"_

_"Listen to me!" said Harry, almost angrily, because Ron and Hermione were both smirking now._

"You knew that would make him angry," Teddy said, although he was smiling.

_"Just listen to me, all right? It sounds great when you say it like that, but all that stuff was luck - I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I didn't plan any of it, I just did whatever I could think of, and I nearly always had help -"_

"No, you don't," Ron and Hermione said. "You go on the most dangerous parts yourself."

_Ron and Hermione were still smirking _

_"Don't sit there grinning like you know better than I do, I was there, wasn't I?" he said heatedly. "I know what went on, all right? And I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defence Against the Dark Arts, I got through it all because - because help came at the right time, or because I guessed right - but I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing - STOP LAUGHING!"_

_The bowl of Murtlap essence fell to the floor and smashed. He was on his feet. Crookshanks streaked away under a sofa. Ron and Hermione's smiles had vanished._

_"_You don't know what it's like!_ You - neither of you - you've never had to face him, have you? You think it's just memorizing a bunch of spells and throwing them at him, like you're in class or something? The whole time you're sure you know there's nothing between you and dying except your own - your own brain or guts or whatever - like you can't think straight when you know you're about a nanosecond from being murdered, or tortured, or watching your friends die - they've never taught us that in their classes, what it's like to deal with things like that –_

"You shouldn't know that," Dora said, looking saddened as did everyone else in the room as it became clear how affected Harry was by his life.

_and you two sit there acting like I'm a clever little boy to be standing here, alive, like Diggory was stupid, like he messed up — you just don't get it, that could just as easily have been me, it would have been if Voldemort hadn't needed me -"_

"That's not what they were saying," Lily said calmingly.

_"We weren't saying anything like that, mate," said Ron, looking aghast. "We weren't having a go at Diggory, we didn't - you've got the wrong end of the -"_

_He looked helplessly at Hermione, whose face was stricken._

_"Harry," she said timidly, "don't you see? This… this is exactly why we need you… we need to know what it's r-really like… facing him… facing V-Voldemort."_

"That'll calm him down," Arthur said.

"That's why I said it," Hermione agreed. "And the fact that he was a big threat now, he was going to try kill me either way – being a muggleborn."

Everyone grimaced at the reminder

_Still breathing hard, he sank back into his chair. He wished he had not smashed the bowl of Murtlap essence._

_"Well… think about it," said Hermione quietly. "Please?"_

_He nodded. Hermione stood up._

_"Well, I'm off to bed," she said, in a voice that was clearly as natural as she could make it. "Erm… night."_

_Ron had gotten to his feet, too._

_"Coming?" he said awkwardly to Harry._

_"Yeah," said Harry. "In… in a minute. I'll just clear this up."_

_He indicated the smashed bowl on the floor. Ron nodded and left._

_"Reparo," Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the broken pieces of china. They flew back together, good as new, but there was no returning the Murtlap essence to the bowl._

"Skipping two weeks," Hermione said.

_"I was wondering," Hermione said suddenly, "whether you'd thought any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts, Harry."_

_"Course I have," said Harry grumpily, "can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us -"_

"'Zat's not what she means, 'Arry," Fleur laughed.

_"I meant the idea Ron and I had -" Ron cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look. She frowned at him, "- Oh, all right, the idea I had then - about you teaching us."_

_Harry did not answer at once_

_"Well," he said slowly, "yeah, I - I've thought about it a bit."_

_"And?" said Hermione eagerly._

_"I dunno," said Harry, playing for time. He looked up at Ron._

_"I thought it was a good idea from the start," said Ron, _

"Join now Harry's not going to shout," Hermione muttered.

_Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair._

_"You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?"_

"Yes, Harry, dear," Molly said.

_"Yes, Harry," said Hermione gently, "but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said -"_

"Bad thing to say," Ginny groaned.

"Why?" the twins asked.

"Ron's jealous of Krum," Harry chuckled as Ron's ears went red at everyone's looks.

"Thanks Harry," he said.

"Anytime, mate," Harry said, still chuckling.

_Ron looked round at her so fast he appeared to crick his neck. Rubbing it, he said, "Yeah? What did Vicky say?"_

_"Ho ho," said Hermione in a bored voice._

Lily and Petunia giggled.

_"He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang."_

"That's because my son's brilliant," James said, beaming at Harry.

_Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously._

_"You're not still in contact with him, are you?"_

_"So what if I am" said Hermione coolly, though her face was a little pink. "I can have a pen-pal if I -"_

"He doesn't just want to be your pen-pal," Sirius laughed.

_"He didn't only want to be your pen-pal," said Ron accusingly._

_Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, "Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?"_

_"Just you and Ron, yeah?"_

"No," Ginny laughed.

"Had you already asked people"? Harry said, looking at her suspiciously.

"No,' Hermione said quickly. "Just Ginny … and Neville … and Luna."

"Is that all?" Ron laughed.

_"Well," said Hermione, looking a mite anxious again. "Well… now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please… but I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. Oh, don't be pathetic, Ron._

"Complain about Ron when you can barely say the name yourself," Dudley chuckled.

_It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people."_

Dora nodded, "That's fair."

_Harry considered this for a moment, then said, "Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?"_

Everyone snorted.

_"Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say" said Hermione seriously. "Look," she leaned towards him - Ron, who was still watching her with a frown on his face, leaned forwards to listen too - "you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?"_

_"Why do we have to do it outside school?" said Ron._

"Because Umbridge won't be happy if she finds out," Petunia said.

_"Because," said Hermione, returning to the diagram of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, "I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to."_

"No kidding," the marauders, twins and Dora muttered darkly.

"Skipping to Hogsmeade," Harry said.

"The Hog's Head," Hermione added.

"Why?" Dora asked.

"So we wouldn't be over heard," Ron answered.

"You'd be better in the three broomsticks, then," Remus reasoned. "Busier."

"That's what Sirius said," Hermione grumbled.

"Oh Merlin," Remus said.

_The barman sidled towards them out of a back room. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long grey hair and beard. He was tall and thin._

"Aberforth," James laughed.

_"What?" he grunted._

"Friendly," Dudley chortled.

_"Three Butterbeers, please," said Hermione._

_The man reached beneath the counter and pulled up three very dusty, very dirty bottles, which he slammed on the bar._

_"Six Sickles," he said._

_"I'll get them," said Harry quickly, passing over the silver. The barman's eyes traveled over Harry, resting for a fraction of a second on his scar. _

"He knows you are now," Lily said, not sure if that's good or bad.

_Then he turned away and deposited Harry's money in an ancient wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to receive it. Harry, Ron and Hermione retreated to the furthest table from the bar and sat down, looking around. The man in the dirty grey bandages rapped the counter with his knuckles and received another smoking drink from the barman._

_"You know what?" Ron murmured, looking over at the bar with enthusiasm. "We could order anything we liked in here. I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try Firewhisky -"_

"Ronald Weasley!" Molly yelled. "You – are – under – age."

"Sorry, Mum," Ron said glaring at a smirking Harry.

_"You - are - a -prefect," snarled Hermione._

_"Oh," said Ron, the smile fading from his face. "Yeah…"_

_"So, who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?" Harry asked, wrenching open the rusty top of his Butterbeer and taking a swig._

"She didn't," Ron laughed. "For a reason."

_"Just a couple of people," Hermione repeated, checking her watch and looking anxiously towards the door._

"By whose standard?" Petunia asked, smiling.

"Mine and lies," Hermione laughed.

_"I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is - oh, look, this might be them now."_

_The door of the pub had opened. A thick band of dusty sunlight split the room in two for a moment and then vanished, blocked by the incoming rush of a crowd of people._

_First came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with Cho and one of her usually-giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and looking so dreamy she might have walked in by accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait down her back whose name Harry did not know; three Ravenclaw boys he was pretty sure were called Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner and and Terry Boot, Ginny, closely followed by a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose whom Harry recognized vaguely as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and, bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were carrying large paper bags crammed with Zonko's merchandise._

"Oh my," Arthur said looking at the bag.

"A couple of people," Lily and James laughed.

"(Uncle) Harry's not going to like this," Dudley and Teddy said

_"A couple of people?" said Harry hoarsely to Hermione. "A couple of people?"_

Everyone laughed at Harry's obvious discomfort.

_"Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular," said Hermione happily, "Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?"_

_The barman had frozen in the act of wiping out a glass with a rag so filthy it looked as though it had never been washed. _

_"Hi," said Fred, reaching the bar first and counting his companions quickly, "could we have… twenty-five Butterbeers, please?"_

_The barman glared at him for a moment, then, throwing down his rag irritably as though he had been interrupted in something very important, he started passing up dusty Butterbeers from under the bar._

_"Cheers," said Fred, handing them out. "Cough up, everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these…"_

_Harry watched numbly as the large chattering group took their beers from Fred and rummaged in their robes to find coins. _

_"What have you been telling people?" he said in a low voice. "What are they expecting?"_

_"I've told you, they just want to hear what you've got to say," said Hermione soothingly; but Harry continued to look at her so furiously that she added quickly, "you don't have to do anything yet, I'll speak to them first."_

"Yeah, that's for the best," Arthur laughed

"Yeah, Hermione, there's a reason you write the memorial speech," Ginny added.

_"Hi, Harry," said Neville, beaming and taking a seat opposite him._

_Harry tried to smile back, but did not speak; his mouth was exceptionally dry. Cho had just smiled at him and sat down on Ron's right. Her friend, who had curly reddish-blonde hair, did not smile, but gave Harry a thoroughly mistrustful look which plainly told him that, given her way, she would not be here at all._

"That's not safe," Dora muttered as the trio and Ginny grimaced.

_In twos and threes the new arrivals settled around Harry, Ron and Hermione, some looking rather excited, others curious, Luna Lovegood gazing dreamily into space. When everybody had pulled up a chair, the chatter died out. Every eye was upon Harry._

_"Er," said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than usual out of nerves. "Well - er - hi."_

"Lower the octave, will you, Hermione?" Teddy said.

_The group focused its attention on her instead, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to Harry._

_"Well… erm… well, you know why you're here. Erm… well, Harry here had the idea - I mean"(Harry had thrown her a sharp look)_

The twins sniggered at this

_"I had the idea - that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts - and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us -" (Hermione's voice became suddenly much stronger and more confident) "- because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts -" ("Hear, hear," said Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione looked heartened) "- Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands."_

_She paused, looked sideways at Harry, and went on, "And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells -"_

_"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?" said Michael Corner, who was watching her closely._

"Of course she does," Lily said.

_"Of course I do," said Hermione at once. "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defense because… because…" she took a great breath and finished, "because Lord Voldemort is back."_

_The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho's friend shrieked and slopped Butterbeer down herself; Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch; Padma Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he managed to turn into a cough. All of them, however, looked fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry._

_"Well… that's the plan, anyway" said Hermione. "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to -"_

_"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" said the blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice._

Everyone glared at the boy with hatred.

_"Well, Dumbledore believes it -" Hermione began._

_"You mean, Dumbledore believes him," said the blond boy, nodding at Harry._

_"Who are you?" said Ron, rather rudely._

_"Zacharias Smith," said the boy, "and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back."_

"That's not the point," James snarled.

_"Look," said Hermione, intervening swiftly, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about -"_

_"It's okay, Hermione," said Harry._

_"What makes me say You-Know-Who's back?" he repeated, looking Zacharias straight in the face. "I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."_

_The whole group seemed to have held its breath while Harry spoke. Harry had the impression that even the barman was listening. He was wiping the same glass with the filthy rag, making it steadily dirtier._

"Aberforth," Sirius moaned.

_Zacharias said dismissively, "All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know -"_

_"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you," Harry said._

"Man, this boy is annoying," the twins said together.

"You know I think Fred and George might do something," Fabian laughed suddenly.

"Oh yes, my dear brother, in those Zonko's bags," Gideon agreed grinning.

_"I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."_

_He cast an angry look in Hermione's direction. But none of them left their seats, not even Zacharias Smith, though he continued to gaze intently at Harry._

_"So," said Hermione, her voice very high-pitched again. "So… like I was saying… if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and where we're going to -"_

_"Is it true," interrupted the girl with the long plait down her back, looking at Harry, "that you can produce a Patronus?"_

"Here we go," Dudley said.

_There was a murmur of interest around the group at this._

_"Yeah," said Harry slightly defensively._

_"A corporeal Patronus?"_

_The phrase stirred something in Harry's memory._

_"Er - you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" he asked._

_The girl smiled._

_"She's my auntie," she said. "I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So - is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"_

_"Yes," said Harry._

_"Blimey, Harry!" said Lee, looking deeply impressed. "I never knew that!"_

_"Mum told Ron not to spread it around," said Fred, grinning at Harry. "She said you got enough attention as it was."_

"Thank you, Molly," Lily and James beamed at her again.

_"She's not wrong," mumbled Harry, and a couple of people laughed._

_The veiled witch sitting alone shifted very slightly in her seat._

_"And did you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" demanded Terry Boot. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year…"_

_"Er - yeah, I did, yeah," said Harry._

_Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled; the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks and Lavender Brown said "Wow!" softly. Harry was feeling slightly hot around the collar now; he was determinedly looking anywhere but at Cho._

_"And in our first year," said Neville to the group at large, "he saved that Philosophy Stone -"_

_"Philosopher's," hissed Hermione._

_"Yes, that - from You-Know-Who," finished Neville._

_Hannah Abbott's eyes were as round as Galleons._

_"And that's not to mention," said Cho "all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year - getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things…"_

_There was a murmur of impressed agreement around the table. _

_"Look," he said, and everyone fell silent at once, " I… I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but… I had a lot of help with all that stuff…"_

"You? Not being modest?" Ginny snorted. "When hell freezes over."

_"Not with the dragon, you didn't," said Michael Corner at once. "That was a seriously cool bit of flying…"_

_"Yeah, well -" said Harry, feeling it would be churlish to disagree._

_"And nobody helped you get rid of those Dementors this summer," said Susan Bones._

_"No," said Harry, "no, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I'm trying to make is -"_

_"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" said Zacharias Smith._

"Oh shut up!" Teddy snapped.

_"Here's an idea," said Ron loudly, before Harry could speak, "why don't you shut your mouth?"_

_Perhaps the word 'weasel' had affected Ron particularly strongly. In any case, he was now looking at Zacharias as though he would like nothing better than to thump him. Zacharias flushed._

_"Well, we've all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it," he said._

_"That's not what he said," snarled Fred._

_"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" inquired George, pulling a long and lethal looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko's bags._

"What is zat?" Fleur asked as Fabian and Gideon grinned.

"You don't want to know, love," Bill chuckled.

_"Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this," said Fred._

_"Yes, well," said Hermione hastily, "moving on… the point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?"_

_There was a murmur of general agreement. Zacharias folded his arms and said nothing, though perhaps this was because he was too busy keeping an eye on the instrument in Fred's hand._

_"Right," said Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week -"_

_"Hang on," said Angelina, "we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice."_

_"No," said Cho, "nor with ours."_

_"Nor ours," added Zacharias Smith._

"Don't worry about the gits, Harry," James said, while Sirius nodded along and Remus shook his head.

_"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," aid Hermione, slightly impatiently, "but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters -"_

_"Well said!" barked Ernie Macmillan, _

_"Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!"_

_He looked around impressively._

"Urg, he's annoying as well," Dora groaned.

_"I, personally am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know- Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells -"_

_"We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione, "is that she's got some… some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilize us against the Ministry."_

_Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; everybody except Luna Lovegood, who piped up, "Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army.'_

"Sorry?" Lily asked confused.

_"What?" said Harry, completely thrown by this unexpected piece of information._

_"Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths," said Luna solemnly._

_"No, he hasn't," snapped Hermione._

_"Yes, he has," said Luna._

_"What are Heliopaths?" asked Neville, looking blank._

_"They're spirits of fire," said Luna, her protuberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever, "great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of -"_

_"They don't exist, Neville," said Hermione tartly._

_"Oh, yes, they do!" said Luna angrily._

_"I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?" snapped Hermione._

_"There are plenty of eye-witness accounts. Just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you -"_

"Oh god," Petunia said, looking as though she thought it would be a good idea to sit down and wait.

_"Hem, hem," said Ginny, in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed._

"Ginny!" James and Sirius yelled who had done the same thing.

"Sorry," Ginny laughed.

Harry chuckled and kissed her temple.

_"Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and have defence lessons?"_

_"Yes," said Hermione at once, "yes, we were, you're right, Ginny."_

_"Well, once a week sounds cool," said Lee Jordan._

_"As long as -" began Angelina._

_"Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch," said Hermione in a tense voice. "Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet…"_

_This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell silent._

_"Library?" suggested Katie Bell after a few moments._

_"I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library," said Harry._

"Can you imagine her face?" Sirius laughed.

"Probably the same as when you knocked down a load of shelves," Remus said, frowning remembering the old Hogwarts bookshelves going tumbling over like dominos.

_"Maybe an unused classroom?" said Dean._

_"Yeah," said Ron, "McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practicing for the Triwizard."_

_"Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere," said Hermione. "We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting."_

_She rummaged in her bag and produced parchment and a quill, then hesitated, rather as though she was steeling herself to say something._

_"I - I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath, "that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anybody else what we're up to."_

"Something will happen if they do once they signed, right?" Lily asked, looking happy.

_Fred reached out for the parchment and cheerfully wrote his signature, but Harry noticed at once that several people looked less than happy at the prospect of putting their names on the list._

_"Er…" said Zacharias slowly, not taking the parchment that George was trying to pass to him, "well… I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is."_

_But Ernie was looking rather hesitant about signing, too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him._

_"I - well, we are prefects," Ernie burst out. _

"So were Ron and I," Hermione shrieked.

"Yes and you don't see us complaining," Ron added, looking annoyed.

_"And if this list was found… well, I mean to say… you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out -"_

_"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," Harry reminded him._

_"I - yes," said Ernie, "yes, I do believe that, it ' s just -"_

_"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" said Hermione testily._

_"No. No, of course not," said Ernie, looking slightly less anxious. "I - yes, of course I'll sign."_

_Nobody raised objections after Ernie, though Harry saw Cho's friend give her a rather reproachful look before adding her own name._

_When the last person - Zacharias - had signed, Hermione took the parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. There was an odd feeling in the group now. It was as though they had just signed some kind of contract._

Everyone landed back in the family room, the trio looked extremely please with themselves.

"One more thing to add to that memory," Harry said. "this came a few days later."

A peace of parchment rose of the pensieve for them all to read.

_BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS_

_All student organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded._

_An organization, society, team, group or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students._

_Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge)._

_No student organization, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor._

_Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organization, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four._

_Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor_

"Argh, what luck," Teddy sighed.

"Do you really think we listened to that, Ted?" Harry said, smirking at his godson, who rolled his eyes.

"No," he said firmly. "Just that now you have to be more careful."

"She was banning everything," Ginny moaned.

"Quidditch!" James, Sirius and the Twins yelled.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's do one more chapter before having dinner and going to bed,' Ginny said. "We'll continue in the morning."

Everyone nodded in agreement

"Or do you have work, dear?" she asked.

"I can get off," Harry assured her smiling although it was a bit forced thinking about what would have to be shown tomorrow.

_Harry reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below._

_The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors and a large, cracked Foe-Glass that Harry was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moodys office._

"That's amazing," Petunia and Dudley said looking at how handy the room was.

"It's brilliant," said Lily and Dora.

"Everything you need," Remus agreed.

_"These will be good when we're practicing Stunning," said Ron enthusiastically, prodding one of the cushions with his foot._

_"And just look at these books!" said Hermione excitedly, running a finger along the spines of the large leather-bound tomes. "A Compendium of Common Curses and their Counter-Actions… The Dark Arts Outsmarted… Self-Defensive Spellwork… wow…" She looked around at Harry, her face glowing._

"You look happy," the twins laughed.

"Leave her alone,'"Harry and Ron said.

"Yeah, it's rare to see one of the Golden Trio glowing with happiness," Ginny said smiling, although it was slightly sad.

_"Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!"_

_And without further ado she slid 'Jinxes for the Jinxed' from its shelf, sank on to the nearest cushion and began to read._

There was a chuckle of unsurprised laughter.

_There was a gentle knock on the door. Harry looked round. Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean had arrived._

_"Whoa," said Dean, staring around, impressed. "What is this place?"_

"That's a good question.." Lily said.

_Harry began to explain, but before he had finished more people had arrived and he had to start all over again._

_By the time eight o'clock arrived, every cushion was occupied. Harry moved across to the door and turned the key protruding from the lock; it clicked in a satisfyingly loud way and everybody fell silent, looking at him. Hermione carefully marked her page of 'Jinxes for the Jinxed' and set the book aside._

_"Well," said Harry, slightly nervously. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've - er - obviously found it okay."_

_"It's fantastic!" said Cho, and several people murmured their agreement._

_"It's bizarre," said Fred, frowning around at it._

"That, too," Arthur chuckled.

_"We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."_

"Really!" Molly sighed.

_"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass._

_"Dark detectors," said Harry, stepping between the cushions to reach them. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled…"_

_He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass; shadowy figures were moving around inside it, though none was recognizable. He turned his back on it._

_"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and - er -" He noticed a raised hand._

_"What, Hermione?"_

_"I think we ought to elect a leader," said Hermione._

"Huh?" Teddy asked.

_"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad._

_"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," said Hermione, unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So - everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"_

_Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly._

Everyone glared at him.

_"Er - right, thanks," said Harry, who could feel his face burning. "And -what, Hermione?"_

Everyone glares turned to smiles or laughter

_"I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly, her hand still in the air. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"_

_"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?" said Angelina hopefully._

_"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?" suggested Fred._

"That's true," Remus said.

_"I was thinking," said Hermione, frowning at Fred, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we were up to, so we can refer to it safely outside meetings."_

"That's for the best," Lily agreed.

_"The Defense Association?" said Cho. "The D.A. for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"_

_"Yeah, the D.A.'s good," said Ginny. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"_

_There was a good deal of appreciative murmuring and laughter at this._

_"All in favor of the D.A.?" said Hermione bossily, kneeling up on her cushion to count. "That's a majority - motion passed!"_

The Trio and Ginny grinned, that group had played a big part in the war.

_She pinned the piece of parchment with all of their signatures on it on to the wall and wrote across the top in large letters:_

_"Right," said Harry, when she had sat down again, "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful -"_

_"Oh, please," said Zacharias Smith, rolling his eye s and folding his arms. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"_

"What a stupid thing to say," Dudley laughed.

_"I've used it against him," said Harry quietly. "It saved my life in June."_

_Smith opened his mouth stupidly. The rest of the room was very quiet._

_"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry said._

_Smith did not move. Nor did anybody else._

_"Okay," said Harry, his mouth slightly drier than usual with all these eyes upon him, "I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."_

_Everybody got to their feet at once and divided up. Predictably, Neville was left partnerless._

"Oh poor Neville," Molly said.

"Was his wandwork still dangerous?" Remus asked, and Harry nodded.

"He had his father's wand," he explained.

_"You can practice with me," Harry told him. "Right-on the count of three, then-one, two, three-"_

_The room was suddenly full of shouts of Expelliarmus. Wands flew in all directions; missed spells hit books on shelves and sent them flying into the air. Harry was too quick for Neville, whose wand went spinning out of his hand, hit the ceiling in a shower of sparks and landed with a clatter on top of a bookshelf, from which Harry retrieved it with a Summoning Charm._

_Glancing around, he thought he had been right to suggest they practice the basics first; there was a lot of shoddy spellwork going on; many people were not succeeding in Disarming their opponents at all, but merely causing them to jump backwards a few paces or wince as their feeble spell whooshed over them._

"I hope Smith is one," Sirius said.

_"Expelliarmus!" said Neville, and Harry, caught unawares, felt his wand fly out of his hand._

_"I DID IT!" said Neville gleefully. "I've never done it before - I DID IT!"_

_"Good one!" said Harry encouragingly, "Listen, Neville, can you take it in turns to practice with Ron and Hermione for a couple of minutes so I can walk around and see how the rest are doing?"_

_Harry moved off into the middle of the room. Something very odd was happening to Zacharias Smith. Every time he opened his mouth to disarm Anthony Goldstein, his own wand would fly out of his hand, yet Anthony did not seem to be making a sound. Harry did not have to look far to solve the mystery: Fred and George were several feet from Smith and taking it in turns to point their wands at his back._

"Boys," Molly reprimanded

_"Sorry, Harry" said George hastily, when Harry caught his eye. "Couldn't resist."_

"How come they stopped at just a look?" Molly grumbled.

_Harry walked around the other pairs, trying to correct those who were doing the spell wrong._

_Ginny was teamed with Michael Corner; she was doing very well, whereas Michael was either very bad or unwilling to jinx her._

"I made him pay for that," Ginny said before growling, "I am not a pathetic little girl."

That was one of the things she liked about Harry, he knew perfectly well that she could take care of herself and though he'd prefer her to stay safe, he didn't smother her like Michael or Dean did.

_Ernie Macmillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily, giving his partner time to get in under his guard; the Creevey brothers were enthusiastic but erratic and mainly responsible for all the books leaping off the shelves around them; Luna Lovegood was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchley's wand spinning out of his hand, at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end._

_Okay, stop!" Harry shouted. "Stop! STOP!"_

_. He caught the whistle and blew hard. Everyone lowered their wands._

_"That wasn't bad," said Harry, "but there's definite room for improvement." Zacharias Smith glared at him. "Let's try again."_

_He moved off around the room again, stopping here and there to make suggestions. Slowly, the general performance improved._

"You were a very good teacher," Ginny and Hermione said, while Ron nodded.

_He avoided going near Cho and her friend for a while, but after walking twice around every other pair in the room felt he could not ignore them any longer._

_"Oh no," said Cho rather wildly as he approached. "Expelliarmious! I mean, Expellimellius! I - oh, sorry, Marietta!"_

_Her curly-haired friend's sleeve had caught fire._

"Nice," James laughed.

"Very smooth," Sirius added.

_Marietta extinguished it with her own wand and glared at Harry as though it was his fault._

_"You made me nervous, I was doing all right before then!" Cho told Harry ruefully._

_"That was quite good," Harry lied, but when she raised her eyebrows he said, "Well, no, it was lousy, but I know you can do it properly, I was watching from over there."_

_She laughed. Her friend Marietta looked at them rather sourly and turned away._

_"Don't mind her," Cho muttered. "She doesn't really want to be here but I made her come with me. Her parents have forbidden her to do anything that might upset Umbridge. You see - her mum works for the Ministry."_

_"What about your parents?" asked Harry._

_"Well, they've forbidden me to get on the wrong side of Umbridge, too," said Cho, drawing herself up proudly. "But if they think I'm not going to fight You-Know-Who after what happened to Cedric -"_

_She broke off, looking rather confused, and an awkward silence fell between them; Terry Boot's wand went whizzing past Harry's ear and hit Alicia Spinnet hard on the nose._

"Ouch," Petunia said while Dudley and the marauders laughed with the twins.

_"Well, my dad is very supportive of any anti-Ministry action!" said Luna Lovegood proudly from just behind Harry; evidently she had been eavesdropping on his conversation while Justin Finch-Fletchley attempted to disentangle himself from the robes that had flown up over his head. "He's always saying he'd believe anything of Fudge; I mean, the number of goblins Fudge has had assassinated! And of course he uses the Department of Mysteries to develop terrible poisons, which he secretly feeds to anybody who disagrees with him. And then there's his Umgubular Slashkilter —"_

_"Don't ask," Harry muttered to Cho as she opened her mouth, looking puzzled. She giggled._

"I think she likes you," Dora said, Harry just rolled his eyes noticing the slightly sour expression on Ginny's face and wrapped an arm around her.

_"Hey, Harry," Hermione called from the other end of the room, "have you checked the time?"_

_He looked down at his watch and was shocked to see it was already ten past nine, which meant they needed to get back to their common rooms immediately or risk being caught and punished by Filch for being out of bounds. He blew his whistle; everybody stopped shouting "Expelliarmus" and the last couple of wands clattered to the floor._

_"Well, that was pretty good," said Harry, "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"_

_"Sooner!' said Dean Thomas eagerly and many people nodded in agreement._

"They all enjoyed it," Remus said beaming.

_Angelina, however, said quickly. "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!"_

_"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," said Harry, "we can decide on additional meetings then. Come on, we'd better get going."_

"Brilliant, Harry!" Petunia said.

"You seem like a good teacher," Gideon observed.

"He is," Teddy and Ginny said while Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Uncle Harry does a few lessons at Hogwarts," Teddy explained at Fabians look.

"Lucky students," he laughed.

"Come on, dinner," Molly said although she was beaming at Harry.

They all trudged to the dining room after a few more praises at Harry teaching skills. Luckily Kreacher cooked a quick meal and they got to bed quickly, ready to be up early for the next day.


	23. Chapter 22 - Love and Grief

"Morning," Hermione sang as she and Ron entered the family room the next morning, having gone home for the night

Ginny geeted them with a smile, a sleepy Teddy beside her.

"I see you two got a good nights sleep," Teddy grumbled – he hadn't been able to sleep knowing how his godfather had gotten the scars on his hand.

"I take it you didn't," Dora laughed, ruffling his turquoise hair only to be swatted away.

"Shall we start then? If we're all here…" Petunia asked, smiling slightly and Harry went to nod but Ginny spoke up.

"In a minute," she said before turning to Harry and speaking in a lower tone. "I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" he asked concern appearing on his face as he reached toward her.

"In a minute," she said again. "Come."

They left the room to everyone's confusion and sat in the library, Ginny pacing as Harry sat in one of the many chairs. He hadn't seen her like this in years and frowning he spoke:

"Come on, Ginny," he said. "What's wrong?"

She stopped to look at him, "Will you tell me something?"

"That depends," he replied looking at her suspiciously

"On what?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

"On what it is," he said as she rolled her eyes.

"Harry… do you remember that mission you went on - where the whole team disappeared for five months?" she asked hesitantly: she didn't really want to bring it up, not with how much pain it had caused him.

'Yes,' he said slowly, his expression practically questioning how she could think he'd forget it, "but why?"

"Teddy was talking about it the other day," she lied. "Remember?"

"Yeah…" he said still looking at her suspiciously.

"I want to know what happened," Ginny said quickly.

"Why?" he blanched. "It was years ago."

"Yes, but you were gone for six months, five of which I knew something had gone wrong, I was petrified," Ginny said, frowning. "I need to know, Harry, you understand that, right? I dropped it because I thought it might be too painful to revisit so soon, but can you really tell me it's still painful now?"

"No," Harry said. "But Gin –"

"Five months, Harry, five months without a word," Ginny said, sounding a bit broken. "I need to know. Please."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair before fixing her with a stare as though waiting for her to break.

"Please," Ginny repeated, taking his hand.

He sat there for a minute just staring into the distance, apparently thinking it through in his own head before shutting his eyes and saying, "they wanted to know where the team's family were."

Ginny beamed at him for a single moment, long enough to let him know how grateful she was that he was opening this up to her. Of course, the smile dropped quickly.

"So they did what?"

He fixed her with a stare again this time checking is she really wanted to hear what he was about to say.

"They tortured them," Harry said, and Ginny didn't miss the "them" in the sentence, although they both knew Harry was including himself in there.

Ginny took a deep breath and asked, "for how long?"

'Plimit, you know him?" Ginny nodded warily. "He had it for about a minute once a week - he got off easy."

"What if they already knew where your family was?" Ginny asked, wondering whilst trying not to actually take in that last piece of information.

"They just starved you a bit," Harry said, frowning as he went back to that mission.

"Really?" Ginny said, raising her eyebrows, hating the haunted look in Harry's eyes especially since she had put it there this time. "They knew where we were, I saw them, and you were in far worse shape than just being starved."

He wrapped his arms around her as she shuddered slightly.

"Yes," he said slowly. "They knew where you were but that's not what they wanted from me."

Ginny swallowed before asking, "When and how did you get the cuts?"

"Them?" Harry said, thinking back. "That was the last night, the woman was as mad as Bellatrix," he chuckled slightly. "They wanted to know how to bring Voldemort back and didn't believe me when I said there wasn't a way.

"Eventually they got bored of the Crutiatus, so they went muggle style," he sighed slightly. "They quite enjoyed that."

"So … they started cutting you," Ginny flinched. "With a knife?"

"Yeah,' Harry frowned sounding older than he was.

Ginny took a deep breath trying not to cry, she could see that scene. Harry bound or something screaming as they cut into his skin – what was it with people cutting him for telling the truth? Harry rubbed his hands up and down her arms trying to calm her and stop her shaking but to no avail.

"Come on, Gin," he whispered in her ear softly. "The whole team was fine, I'm fine."

"How long did they keep the unforgivable on you?" came Ginny's voice. Harry grimaced not wanting to lie to her but not wanting to tell her the truth. "Don't you dare lie to me, Harry Potter."

Harry sighed, "it … started of about a minute a few times a week but slowly got worse."

"How long, Harry?"

"It went up to about 20 minutes,' he said in a whisper as though saying it quieter would hurt her less. He tensed himself for her to start raging at these people but he didn't expect what he got – tears. Gut wrenching tears that made it hard to breathe. They steamed down her face as she tightened her grip around him.

It took her five minutes to calm down from her sobbing but still tears streamed down her face far faster than Harry could wipe the off. He stopped and just started to rock them, whispering calming things in her ear.

Two minutes later she pulled herself together enough to ask the question she knew she must.

"Any more recent times? I need to know, Harry. You're my husband. I need to know."

"Yes," Harry said softly, still rocking her. "But not as bad, not nearly as bad and not for 4 years, Ginny. I promise."

Five minutes Fleur and Hermione came in to check on them.

"Everyzing alright?" Fleur asked.

"We're fine, Fleur," Harry said, after glancing at Ginny who had been in control for a few minutes.

"Let's get on with today," Ginny said, standing up and taking Harry's hand.

"Harry, you're shirt's wet," Hermione laughed ignoring that Ginny must have been crying. The woman hated being seen as weak and Hermione was not going to point it out.

"Huh?' he asked looking at it. "Oh right."

He waved his wand to dry his shirt before leading the three women out of the room. Ginny caught Hermione's questioning eye and nodded.

Everyone looked at them as they entered the family room but they all just shook their heads.

"Now, we're starting," Harry said, smiling while Ginny managed a small one. "Molly, Arthur, you sure you want to want this?"

"What-? Oh," Arthur said. "We'll be fine."

"If you're sure," Harry said and everyone followed him into the pensieve.

They landed in a dark room, gliding between shining metal bars, across stone floor.

_he could see objects around him shimmering in strange, vibrant colours… he was turning his head… at first glance the corridor was empty… but no… a man was sitting on the floor ahead, his chin drooping on to his chest, his outline gleaming in the dark…_

_Harry put out his tongue … the man sitting in front of a door at the end of the corridor…_

_But the man was stirring… a silver Cloak fell from his legs as he jumped to his feet; and Harry saw his vibrant, blurred outline towering above him, saw a wand withdrawn from a belt… _

"Is this a dream?" Teddy asked, looking sick.

"Not a dream, Teddy," Harry said, frowning

"We're in Voldemorts head," Hermione explained.

_he had no choice… he reared high from the floor and struck once,_

Molly and Ginny screamed.

_twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man's flesh, feeling the warm gush of blood…_

_The man was yelling in pain… _

Everyone whimpered slightly.

_then he fell silent… he slumped backwards against the wall… blood was splattering on to the floor…_

_"Harry! HARRY!"_

"Oh thank god," Petunia breathed.

"Who was that?" Lily asked pale.

"Arthur," Sirius said.

"What?" yelled the twins staring at their brother-in-law who nodded his head at them.

"I was found quickly, thanks to Harry and Dumbledore," he said, calmly. "Stayed in St. Mungo's for a while and was back to normal."

"So you told Dumbledore," James breathed.

Harry and Ron nodded both looking sickened.

"And the kids went to Grimmauld place," Molly said. "You can continue there, Harry."

"Thanks Molly," Harry laughed.

_Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, poking her head in to his and Ron's bedroom, where the pair of them were playing wizard chess watched by Hermione, Ginny and Crookshanks, "could you come down to the kitchen? Professor Snape would like a word with you."_

"No," James moaned.

"Why?" Lily asked, warily.

_Harry did not immediately register what she had said; one of his castles was engaged in a violent tussle with a pawn of Ron's and he was egging it on enthusiastically._

_"Squash him - squash him, he's only a pawn, you idiot. Sorry, Mrs. Weasley, what did you say?"_

"Nice, Harry," the twins laughed,

_"Professor Snape, dear. In the kitchen. He'd like a word."_

_Harry's mouth fell open in horror. He looked around at Ron, Hermione and Ginny, all of whom were gaping back at him. Crookshanks, whom Hermione had been restraining with difficulty for the past quarter of an hour, leapt gleefully on to the board and set the pieces running for cover, squealing at the top of their voices._

"Nice, Hermione,"Teddy laughed.

'_Snape?" said Harry blankly._

_"Professor Snape, dear," said Mrs. Weasley reprovingly. "Now come on, quickly, he says he can't stay long."_

"Good," Dora said.

_"What's he want with you?" said Ron, looking unnerved as Mrs. Weasley withdrew from the room. "You haven't done anything, have you?"_

_"No!" said Harry indignantly._

"That'll be first," Remus said. 2At least in Snape's view."

_A minute or two later, he pushed open the kitchen door to find Sirius and Snape both seated at the long kitchen table, glaring in opposite directions. The silence between them was heavy with mutual dislike. A letter lay open on the table in front of Sirius._

_"Er," said Harry, to announce his presence._

_Snape looked around at him, his face framed between curtains of greasy black hair._

_"Sit down, Potter."_

"Polite, Sev," Lily scolded.

_"You know," said Sirius loudly, leaning back on his rear chair legs and speaking to the ceiling, "I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see."_

"Why are you talking to the ceiling?" Dudley asked.

"I'd curse him otherwise," Sirius said.

"You nearly did anyways," Harry muttered.

_An ugly flush suffused Snape's pallid face. Harry sat down in a chair beside Sirius, facing Snape across the table._

_"I was supposed to see you alone, Potter," said Snape, the familiar sneer curling his mouth, "but Black -"_

_"I'm his godfather," said Sirius, louder than ever._

"Exactly," James, Remus and Lily said smiling aT Sirius who looked annoyed as ever.

_"I am here on Dumbledore's orders," said Snape, whose voice, by contrast, was becoming more and more quietly waspish, "but by all means stay, Black, I know you like to feel… involved."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Petunia asked.

_"What's that supposed to mean?" said Sirius, letting his chair fall back on to all four legs with a loud bang._

"Oh dear," Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Remus, James and Lily said.

_"Merely that I am sure you must feel - ah - frustrated by the fact that you can do nothing useful," Snape laid a delicate stress on the word, "for the Order."_

"Severus," Lily moaned.

_It was Sirius's turn to flush. Snape's lip curled in triumph as he turned to Harry._

_"The Headmaster has sent me to tell you, Potter, that it is his wish for you to study Occlumency this term."_

"What? Really?" Teddy said.

"It's probably for the best," Lily reasoned.

_"Study what?" said Harry blankly._

"Don't worry, we didn't know either at that age," the twins laughed.

_Snape's sneer became more pronounced._

_"Occlumency, Potter. The magical Defence of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."_

_"Why do I have to study Occlu — thing?" he blurted out._

"Harry," Molly sighed.

_"Because the Headmaster thinks it a good idea," said Snape smoothly. "You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. "Who's going to be teaching me?"_

_Snape raised an eyebrow._

_"I am," he said._

"No!" everyone who didn't know yelled.

"He won't be fair," James groaned.

_He looked quickly round at Sirius for support._

"Yes because Sirius will be help here," Ron said, sarcastically.

_"Why can't Dumbledore teach Harry?" asked Sirius aggressively. "Why you?"_

_"I suppose because it is a headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks," said Snape silkily. "I assure you I did not beg for the job." _

"I wish Dumbledore had done it," Molly sighed.

_He got to his feet. "I will expect you at six o'clock on Monday evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are taking remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in my classes could deny you need them."_

"Oi," Lily and James said, frowning.

_He turned to leave, his black traveling cloak billowing behind him._

_"Wait a moment," said Sirius, sitting up straighter in his chair._

_Snape turned back to face them, sneering._

_"I am in rather a hurry, Black. Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time."_

"Leave him alone," Teddy growled causing Harry and Remus to smile proudly at him.

_"I'll get to the point, then," said Sirius, standing up. He was rather taller than Snape who, Harry noticed, balled his fist in the pocket of his cloak over what Harry was sure was the handle of his wand. "If I hear you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."_

_"How touching," Snape sneered. "But surely you have noticed that Potter is very like his father?"_

"Yes, I have," Remus, Sirius and Lily said.

_"Yes, I have," said Sirius proudly._

_"Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him," Snape said sleekly._

Lily frowned. Originally she may have agreed but after being with him and married to him she knew that, although James acted that way, criticism really did bug him and get taken to heart. He just didn't let anyone see it.

_Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode around the table towards Snape, pulling out his wand as he went. Snape whipped out his own. They were squaring up to each other, Sirius looking livid, Snape calculating, his eyes darting from Sirius's wand-tip to his face._

_"Sirius!" said Harry loudly, but Sirius appeared not to hear him._

"He's not going to listen," James said knowing his best mate.

_"I've warned you, Snivellus," said Sirius, his face barely a foot from Snape's,_

"Snivellus," Lily groaned.

"You said it once, Mum," Harry reasoned.

"How do you know that?" Lily asked her eyes wide but she got no answer.

_"I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better -"_

_"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" whispered Snape. "Or are you afraid he might not take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?"_

"He doesn't have a choice," Arthur said, wearily.

_"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"_

_"Speaking of dogs," said Snape softly, "did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform… gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it?"_

_Sirius raised his wand._

_"NO!" Harry yelled, vaulting over the table and trying to get in between them. "Sirius, don't!"_

"I'm surprised you did that," Remus said, smiling slightly. "I was never brave enough."_ I didn't want to loose my only friends._

_"Are you calling me a coward?" roared Sirius, trying to push Harry out of the way, but Harry would not budge._

_"Why, yes, I suppose I am," said Snape._

_"Harry - get - out - of - it!" snarled Sirius, pushing him aside with his free hand._

_The kitchen door opened and the entire Weasley family, plus Hermione, came inside, all looking very happy, with Mr. Weasley walking proudly in their midst dressed in a pair of striped pyjamas covered by a mackintosh._

_"Cured!" he announced brightly to the kitchen at large. "Completely cured!"_

_He and all the other Weasleys froze on the threshold, gazing at the scene in front of them, which was also suspended in mid-action, both Sirius and Snape looking towards the door with their wands pointing into each other's faces and Harry immobile between them, a hand stretched out to each, trying to force them apart._

_"Merlin's beard," said Mr. Weasley, the smile sliding off his face, "what's going on here?"_

Everyone chuckled at the comic side of the memory.

_Both Sirius and Snape lowered their wands. Harry looked from one to the other. Each wore an expression of utmost contempt, yet the unexpected entrance of so many witnesses seemed to have brought them to their senses. Snape pocketed his wand, turned on his heel and swept back across the kitchen, passing the Weasleys without comment. At the door he looked back._

_"Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potter."_

_And he was gone. Sirius glared after him, his wand at his side._

"Sirius," Lily sighed, shaking her head.

"Arg, come on, Lily," Fabian said.

"Snape deserved it," Gideon added.

"He did not!" Lily and Molly snapped.

"Sorry, sorry," Sirius said. "Let's see how Snape treats, Harry, then we can decide."

"Right," Harry agreed.

_He paused outside the door when he reached it, then, taking a deep breath, he knocked and entered._

_The shadowy room was lined with shelves bearing hundreds of glass jars in which slimy bits of animals and plants were suspended in variously colored potions. In one corner stood the cupboard full of ingredients._

"What a lovely office," Lily said, looking revolted.

_Harry's attention was drawn towards the desk, however, where a shallow stone basin engraved with runes and symbols lay in a pool of candlelight. It was Dumbledore's Pensieve. Wondering what on earth it was doing there, he jumped when Snape's cold voice came out of the shadows._

_"Shut the door behind you, Potter."_

_Harry did as he was told. When he turned back into the room, Snape had moved into the light and was pointing silently at the chair opposite his desk. Harry sat down and so did Snape, his cold black eyes fixed unblinkingly upon Harry, dislike etched in every line of his face._

_"Well, Potter, you know why you are here," he said. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency. I can only hope that you prove more adept at it than at Potions."_

"If you weren't such a git, he'd be just fine," Sirius said.

_"Right," said Harry tersely._

_"This may not be an ordinary class, Potter," said Snape, his eyes narrowed malevolently, "but I am still your teacher and you will therefore call me 'sir' or 'professor' at all times."_

"You need to earn the respect," Arthur said.

_"Yes… sir," said Harry._

_Snape continued to survey him through narrowed eyes for a moment, then said, "Now, Occlumency. As I told you back in your dear godfather's kitchen, this branch of magic seals the mind against magical intrusion and influence."_

_"And why does Professor Dumbledore think I need it, sir?" said Harry, looking directly into Snape's eyes and wondering whether Snape would answer._

_Snape looked back at him for a moment and then said contemptuously, "Surely even you could have worked that out by now, Potter? The Dark Lord is highly skilled at Legilimency -"_

_"What's that? Sir?"_

_"It is the ability to extract feelings and memories from another persons mind -"_

_"He can read minds?" said Harry quickly._

"No, don't say that," Remus groaned.

_"You have no subtlety, Potter," said Snape, his dark eyes glittering. "You do not understand fine distinctions. It is one of the shortcomings that makes you such a lamentable potion-maker." _

_Snape paused for a moment, apparently to savor the pleasure of insulting Harry, before continuing._

_"Only Muggles talk of 'mind-reading'. The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter - or at least, most minds are." He smirked_

"That was good till then," Molly observed.

_"It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The Dark Lord, _

James glared at that, something was wrong.

_for instance, almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so can utter falsehoods in his presence without detection."_

"Still sounds like mind-reading to me," Dudley said frowning.

_"So he could know what we're thinking right now? Sir?"_

_"The Dark Lord is at a considerable distance and the walls and grounds of Hogwarts are guarded by many ancient spells and charms to ensure the bodily and mental safety of those who dwell within them," said Snape. "Time and space matter in magic, Potter. Eye contact is often essential to Legilimency."_

"So never look Severus Snape in the eye," Petunia nodded. "Point noted."

_Well then, why do I have to learn Occlumency?"_

_Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, thin finger as he did so._

_"The usual rules do not seem to apply with you, Potter. The curse that failed to kill you seems to have forged some kind of connection between you and the Dark Lord. The evidence suggests that at times, when your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable - when you are asleep, for instance - you are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord."_

_"But why does Professor Dumbledore want to stop it?" he asked abruptly. "I don't like it much, but it's been useful, hasn't it? I mean… I saw that snake attack Mr. Weasley and if I hadn't, Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have been able to save him, would he? Sir?"_

"That's a good point but…" Lily said.

"We don't want Voldemort in your mind," James finished.

_Snape stared at Harry for a few moments, still tracing his mouth with his finger._

_When he spoke again, it was slowly and deliberately, as though he weighed every word._

_"It appears that the Dark Lord has been unaware of the connection between you and himself until very recently. Up till now it seems that you have been experiencing his emotions, and sharing his thoughts, without his being any the wiser. However, the vision you had shortly before Christmas -"_

_"The one with the snake and Mr. Weasley?"_

_"Do not interrupt me, Potter," said Snape in a dangerous voice. "As I was saying, the vision you had shortly before Christmas represented such a powerful incursion upon the Dark Lord's thoughts -"_

_"I saw inside the snake's head, not his!"_

_"I thought I just told you not to interrupt me, Potter?"_

_"How come I saw through the snakes eyes if it's Voldemort's thoughts I'm sharing?"_

_"Do not say the Dark Lord's name!" spat Snape._

"It's just a name!" Teddy said.

_There was a nasty silence. They glared at each other across the Pensieve._

_"Professor Dumbledore says his name," said Harry quietly._

"That makes you sound like a five year old," the twins laughed.

_"Dumbledore is an extremely powerful wizard," Snape muttered. "While he may feel secure enough to use the name… the rest of us…"_

_He rubbed his left forearm, apparently unconsciously, on the spot where Harry knew the Dark Mark was burned into his skin._

_"I just wanted to know," Harry began again, forcing his voice back to politeness, "why -"_

"Yes, Harry, be polite," Molly said smiling.

_"You seem to have visited the snake's mind because that was where the Dark Lord was at that particular moment," snarled Snape. "He was possessing the snake at the time and so you dreamed you were inside it, too."_

_"And Vol— he - realized I was there?"_

_"It seems so," said Snape coolly._

_"How do you know?" said Harry urgently. "Is this just Professor Dumbledore guessing, or -?"_

_"I told you," said Snape, rigid in his chair, his eyes slits, "to call me 'sir'."_

_"Yes, sir," said Harry impatiently, "but how do you know -?"_

_"It is enough that we know," said Snape repressively. "The important point is that the Dark Lord is now aware that you are gaining access to his thoughts and feelings. He has also deduced that the process is likely to work in reverse; that is to say, he has realized that he might be able to access your thoughts and feelings in return -"_

_"And he might try and make me do things?" asked Harry. "Sir?" he added hurriedly._

_"He might," said Snape, sounding cold and unconcerned. "Which brings us back to Occlumency."_

_Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket of his robes and Harry tensed in his chair, but Snape merely raised the wand to his temple and placed its tip into the greasy roots of his hair._

_When he withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from it and fell gracefully into the Pensieve, where it swirled silvery-white, neither gas nor liquid. Twice more, Snape raised the wand to his temple and deposited the silvery substance into the stone basin, then, without offering any explanation of his behavior, he picked up the Pensieve carefully, removed it to a shelf out of their way and returned to face Harry with his wand held at the ready._

"I wonder what's in there," Sirius, Remus and James said.

_"Stand up and take out your wand, Potter."_

_Harry got to his feet, feeling nervous. They faced each other with the desk between them._

_"You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of," said Snape._

_"And what are you going to do?" Harry asked, eyeing Snape's wand apprehensively._

_"I am about to attempt to break into your mind," said Snape softly. "We are going to see how well you resist. I have been told that you have already shown aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse. You will find that similar powers are needed for this… brace yourself, now. Legilimens!"_

_Snape had struck before Harry was ready, before he had even begun to summon any force of resistance. The office swam in front of his eyes and vanished; image after image was racing through his mind like a flickering film so vivid it blinded him to his surroundings._

"Cool, we're going to see this too," Hermione said, while Harry groaned.

_He was five, watching Dudley riding a new red bicycle… he was nine, and Ripper the bulldog was chasing him up a tree and the Dursleys were laughing below on the lawn…_

Petunia and Dudley shuffled uncomfortably as everyone looked at them.

_he was sitting under the Sorting Hat, and it was telling him he would do well in Slytherin… Hermione was lying in the hospital wing, her face covered with thick black hair… a hundred Dementors were closing in on him beside the dark lake… Cho Chang was drawing nearer to him under the mistletoe…_

"Ew," Ginny and Teddy said.

_"No," said a voice inside Harry's head, as the memory of Cho drew nearer, "you're not watching that, you're not watching it, it's private –"_

_He felt a sharp pain in his knee. Snape's office had come back into view and he realized that he had fallen to the floor; one of his knees had collided painfully with the leg of Snape's desk. He looked up at Snape, who had lowered his wand and was rubbing his wrist. There was an angry weal there, like a scorch mark._

"Nice," Sirius grinned.

"So worth it," the twins said, laughing.

_"Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?" asked Snape coolly._

_"No," said Harry bitterly, getting up from the floor._

_"I thought not," said Snape, watching him closely. "You let me get in too far. You lost control."_

_"Did you see everything I saw?" Harry asked, unsure whether he wanted to hear the answer._

_"Flashes of it," said Snape, his lip curling. "To whom did the dog belong?"_

_"My Aunt Marge," Harry muttered, hating Snape._

_"Well, for a first attempt that was not as poor as it might have been," said Snape, raising his wand once more._

"And that means very good, coming from Snape," Remus said, smiling.

_"You managed to stop me eventually, though you wasted time and energy shouting. You must remain focused. Repel me with your brain and you will not need to resort to your wand."_

_"I'm trying," said Harry angrily, "but you're not telling me how!"_

"Exactly," Molly and Lily said.

_"Manners, Potter," said Snape dangerously. "Now, I want you to close your eyes."_

"Yes, because you'll feel safe doing that," Ron snorted.

_Harry threw him a filthy look before doing as he was told. _

_"Clear your mind, Potter," said Snape's cold voice. "Let go of all emotion…"_

This time Hermione snorted as well.

_"You're not doing it, Potter… you will need more discipline than this… focus, now…"_

_"Let's go again… on the count of three… one - two - three -Legilimens!"_

_A great black dragon was rearing in front of him… his father and mother were waving at him out of an enchanted mirror… Cedric Diggory was lying on the ground with blank eyes staring at him…_

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

_Harry was on his knees again, his face buried in his hands, his brain aching as though someone had been trying to pull it from his skull._

_"Get up!" said Snape sharply. "Get up! You are not trying, you are making no effort. You are allowing me access to memories you fear, handing me weapons!"_

"Severus," Lily yelled. "How would you like it?"

_Harry stood up again. Snape looked paler than usual, and angrier._

_"I - am - making - an - effort," he said through clenched teeth._

_"I told you to empty yourself of emotion!"_

_"Yeah? Well, I'm finding that hard at the moment," Harry snarled._

"Harry," Ginny and Hermione sighed.

"Nice one, mate," Ron, however, laughed.

_"Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!" said Snape savagely. "Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked so easily - weak people, in other words –_

"That's not true," most said.

"That sounds like something Voldemort said first year," Dora muttered.

_they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!"_

_"I am not weak," said Harry in a low voice._

_"Then prove it! Master yourself!" spat Snape. "Control your anger, discipline your mind! We shall try again! Get ready, now! Legilimens!"_

"Zat's a bit better," Fleur said. "At leest 'e told you what to do."

_He was watching Uncle Vernon hammering the letterbox shut… a hundred Dementors were drifting across the lake in the grounds towards him… he was running along a windowless passage with Mr. Weasley… they were drawing nearer to the plain black door at the end of the corridor… Harry expected to go through it… but Mr. Weasley led him off to the left, down a flight of stone steps…_

_"I KNOW! I KNOW!"_

_He was on all fours again on Snape's office floor, but the voice that had just issued from his mouth was triumphant._

"You know what?" Bill asked.

_He pushed himself up again to find Snape staring at him, his wand raised. It looked as though, this time, Snape had lifted the spell before Harry had even tried to fight back._

_"What happened then, Potter?" he asked, eyeing Harry intently._

_"I saw - I remembered," Harry panted. "I've just realized…"_

_"Realized what?" asked Snape sharply._

_Harry did not answer at once._

_He looked up at Snape._

_"What's in the Department of Mysteries?"_

"Oh no," the order members of that time groaned.

"What?" everyone else except the Trio and Ginny asked.

_"What did you say?" Snape asked quietly and Harry saw, with deep satisfaction, that Snape was unnerved._

_"I said, what's in the Department of Mysteries, sir?" Harry said._

_"And why," said Snape slowly, "would you ask such a thing?"_

_"Because" said Harry, watching Snape's face closely, "that corridor I've just seen - I've been dreaming about it for months — I've just recognized it - it leads to the Department of Mysteries… and I think Voldemort wants something from —"_

_"I have told you not to say the Dark Lord's name!"_

_They glared at each other. Harry's scar seared again, but he did not care. Snape looked agitated; but when he spoke again he sounded as though he was trying to appear cool and unconcerned._

_"There are many things in the Department of Mysteries, Potter, few of which you would understand and none of which concern you. Do I make myself plain?"_

"You're lying," the Trio said, causing any not in the order in this time to look at them in confusion, excluding Ginny.

_"Yes," Harry said, still rubbing his prickling scar, which was becoming more painful._

_"I want you back here same time on Wednesday. We will continue work then."_

_"Fine," said Harry. He was desperate to get out of Snape's office and find Ron and Hermione._

_"You are to rid your mind of all emotion every night before sleep; empty it, make it blank and calm, you understand?"_

"You didn't, did you?" Lily said, frowning at her son, who shuffled uncomfortably,

"You wanted know how I knew you called Snape "Snivellus" Mum," Harry said completely ignoring her questions. "That's where we're skipping too."

"Great," Lily said and it was James' turn to shuffle.

_"You're late, Potter," said Snape coldly, as Harry closed the door behind him._

_Snape was standing with his back to Harry, removing, as usual, certain of his thoughts and placing them carefully in Dumbledore's Pensieve. He dropped the last silvery strand into the stone basin and turned to face Harry._

_So," he said. "Have you been practicing?"_

_"Yes," Harry lied, looking carefully at one of the legs of Snape's desk._

_"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?" said Snape smoothly. "Wand out, Potter."_

_Harry moved into his usual position, facing Snape with the desk between them. _

_"On the count of three then," said Snape lazily. "One - two -"_

_Snape's office door banged open and Draco Malfoy sped in._

"Urg," Dudley groaned. "That's just who you want."

_"Professor Snape, sir - oh - sorry -"_

_Malfoy was looking at Snape and Harry in some surprise._

_"It's all right, Draco," said Snape, lowering his w and. "Potter is here for a little remedial Potions."_

_Harry had not seen Malfoy look so gleeful since Umbridge had turned up to inspect Hagrid._

"Git," James and Sirius said, no one sure if they were talking about Snape or Malfoy.

_"I didn't know," he said, leering at Harry, who knew his face was burning. _

_"Well, Draco, what is it?" asked Snape._

_"It's Professor Umbridge, sir - she needs your help," said Malfoy. "They've found Montague, sir; he's turned up jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor."_

"How did he get there?" the twins laughed with everyone else even Molly's lips twitched.

_"How did he get in there?" demanded Snape._

_"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused."_

_"Very well, very well. Potter," said Snape, "we shall resume this lesson tomorrow evening."_

_He turned and swept from his office. Malfoy mouthed, "Remedial Potions?" at Harry behind Snape's back before following him._

_Harry replaced his wand inside his robes and made to leave the room He was at the office door when he saw it: a patch of shivering light dancing on the doorframe. He stopped, and stood looking at it._

_He turned around. The light was coming from the Pensieve sitting on Snape's desk. The silver white contents were ebbing and swirling within. Snape's thoughts._

_Harry gazed at the Pensieve, curiosity welling inside him… what was it that Snape was so keen to hide from Harry?_

_The silvery lights shivered on the wall… Harry took two steps towards the desk, thinking hard._

"Don't you dare!" Molly and Lily said, although they knew it was useless.

"Go on," Teddy and Ron said.

_Harry looked over his shoulder. Harry walked the remaining few feet to the Pensieve and stood over it, gazing into its depths. He hesitated, listening, then pulled out his wand again. The office and the corridor beyond were completely silent. He gave the contents of the Pensieve a small prod with the end of his wand._

_The silvery stuff within began to swirl very fast. Harry leaned forwards over it and saw that it had become transparent. He was, once again, looking down into a room as though through a circular window in the ceiling… in fact, unless he was much mistaken, he was looking down into the Great Hall._

_His breath was actually fogging the surface of Snape's thoughts… _

_He took a great gulp of breath, and plunged his face into the surface of Snape's thoughts. At once, the floor of the office lurched, tipping Harry head-first into the Pensieve…_

"Harry James!" Lily yelled. "People have their privacy."

Harry, however, was unaffected, "that's not what your upset about." He nodded to the memory which was still playing

_He was falling through cold blackness, spinning furiously as he went, and then -_

_He was standing in the middle of the Great Hall, but the four house tables were gone. Instead, there were more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, at each of which sat a student, head bent low, scribbling on a roll of parchment. The only sound was the scratching of quills and the occasional rustle as somebody adjusted their parchment. It was clearly exam time._

_So Snape had to be fifteen or sixteen, around Harry's own age. His hand was flying across the parchment; he had written at least a foot more than his closest neighbors, and yet his writing was minuscule and cramped._

_"Five more minutes!"_

_The voice made Harry jump. Turning, he saw the top of Professor Flitwick's head moving between the desks a short distance away. Professor Flitwick was walking past a boy with untidy black hair… very untidy black hair…_

Everyone smiled fondly; glad Harry could see this, especially the ones who didn't know where this memory was going.

_Harry moved so quickly that, had he been solid, he would have knocked desks flying. Instead he seemed to slide, dreamlike, across two aisles and up a third. The back of the black-haired boy's head drew nearer and… he was straightening up now, putting down his quill, pulling his roll of parchment towards him so as to reread what he had written…_

"James is working!" Sirius said looking shocked.

_Harry stopped in front of the desk and gazed down at his fifteen-year-old father._

_It was as though he was looking at himself but with deliberate mistakes. James's eyes were hazel, his nose was slightly longer than Harry's and there was no scar on his forehead, but they had the same thin face, same mouth, same eyebrows; James's hair stuck up at the back exactly as Harry's did, his hands could have been Harry's and Harry could tell that, when James stood up, they would be within an inch of each other in height._

"That's kind of creepy"' Ron muttered.

_James yawned hugely and rumpled up his hair, making it even messier than it had been. Then, with a glance towards Professor Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at a boy sitting four seats behind him._

_Harry saw Sirius give James the thumbs-up. Sirius was lounging in his chair at his ease, tilting it back on two legs. He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance._

"Nice hair," Dora laughed.

"Leave my beautiful hair alone, Nymphie," Sirius said.

"Not call me that!" Dora yelled.

_A girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed. And two seats along from this girl was Remus Lupin. He looked rather pale and peaky _

"The full moon was in a few days," Remus explained.

_and was absorbed in the exam: as he reread his answers, he scratched his chin with the end of his quill, frowning slightly._

'At least someone's working,' Lily said.

_So that meant Wormtail had to be around here somewhere, too… and sure enough, Harry spotted him within seconds: a small, mousy-haired boy with a pointed nose. Wormtail looked anxious; he was chewing his fingernails, staring down at his paper, scuffing the ground with his toes._

The marauders glared at Pettigrew with hate.

_Every now and then he glanced hopefully at his neighbors' paper. Harry stared at Wormtail for a moment, then back at James, who was now doodling on a bit of scrap parchment._

_He had drawn a Snitch and was now tracing the letters L.E. _

Lily rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face.

_"Quills down, please!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!"_

_Over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed into the air and into Professor Flitwick's outstretched arms, knocking him backwards off his feet._

"Oh Flitwick," Lily said fondly – he had been one of her favourite teachers.

The Marauders just laughed as did Teddy, Dora and the twins,

_Several people laughed. A couple of students at the front desks got up, took hold of Professor Flitwick beneath the elbows and lifted him back on to his feet._

"Lily," James said raising his eyebrows at his wife and the looking back at a red-headed girl in the memory.

"Shut up," she said.

_"Thank you… thank you," panted Professor Flitwick. "Very well, everybody, you're free to go!"_

_Harry looked down at his father, who had hastily crossed out the L.E. he had been embellishing, jumped to his feet, stuffed his quill and the exam paper into his bag, which he slung over his back, and stood waiting for Sirius to join him._

_Harry looked around and glimpsed Snape a short way away, moving between the tables towards the doors to the Entrance Hall, still absorbed in his own exam paper. Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, and his oily hair was jumping about his face._

_A gang of chattering girls separated Snape from James, Sirius and Lupin, and by planting himself in their midst, Harry managed to keep Snape in sight while straining his ears to catch the voices of James and his friends._

_"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall._

_"Loved it," said Lupin briskly. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."_

"Very hard," Dora said sarcastically.

_"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" said James in tones of mock concern._

_"Think I did," said Lupin seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."_

"Nice, Dad," Teddy laughed, who was watching the memory hungrily. "Though you still need two more points!"

_Wormtail was the only one who didn't laugh._

_"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail,' he said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else -"_

_"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James impatiently. "You run round with a werewolf once a month -"_

_"Keep your voice down," implored Lupin._

_Harry looked anxiously behind him again. Snape remained close by, still buried in his exam questions _

_To his intense relief, however, when James and his three friends strode off down the lawn towards the lake, Snape followed, still poring over the exam paper and apparently with no fixed idea of where he was going. By keeping a little ahead of him, Harry managed to maintain a close watch on James and the others._

_"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," he heard Sirius say. "I'll be surprised if I don't get 'Outstanding' on it at least."_

"Really," Molly sighed.

_"Me too," said James. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch._

_"Where'd you get that?"_

_"Nicked it," said James casually._

"James!" Lily, Molly and Hermione snapped.

_He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away before seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Wormtail watched him in awe._

_They stopped in the shade of the very same beech tree on the edge of the lake where Harry, Ron and Hermione had once spent a Sunday finishing their homework, and threw themselves down on the grass. Harry looked over his shoulder yet again and saw, to his delight, that Snape had settled himself on the grass in the dense shadow of a clump of bushes. He was as deeply immersed in the OWL paper as ever, which left Harry free to sit down on the grass between the beech and the bushes and watch the foursome under the tree. The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls who had just left the Great Hall were sitting, with their shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water._

_Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so. James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second._

"Nice one," Bill laughed.

_Wormtail was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded. After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn't tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention._

_Harry noticed that his father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though to keep it from getting too tidy, and he also kept looking over at the girls by the water's edge._

_"Put that away, will you," said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer, "before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."_

"Sirius," Fleur reprimanded lightly.

_Wormtail turned slightly pink, but James grinned._

_"If it bothers you," he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket_

_"I'm bored," said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon."_

"You might," Remus said, forebodingly.

_"You might," said Lupin darkly from behind his book._

"Don't change much, do you?" the twins laughed.

_"We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here…" and he held out his book._

"He says he's bored so you give him a book!" Teddy exclaimed his attention focused soley on his young father. "Are you insane?"

"Remus, I love your son,' Sirius laughed while Remus grumbled.

_But Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."_

_"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is…"_

_Sirius's head turned. He became very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit._

_"Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."_

"Oh dear," Dudley muttered.

_Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at._

_Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the OWL paper in his bag. As he left the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up._

_Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows; Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face._

_"All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly._

"Idiot," many muttered and James kept his gaze trained to the floor.

_Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, "Expelliarmus!"_

_Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter._

_"Impedimenta!" he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own fallen wand._

_Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained._

_Snape lay panting on the ground. James and Sirius advanced on him, wands raised, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water's edge as he went. Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view._

_"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James._

_"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."_

Many people were shakily their head frowning.

_Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly._

_Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes._

_"You - wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, "you - wait!"_

_"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"_

_Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened._

_"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"_

_Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him -_

_"Leave him ALONE!"_

Everyone grinned, somebody was going to put there boys in their place.

_James and Sirius looked round. James's free hand immediately jumped to his hair._

_It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders, and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes - Harry's eyes. Harry's mother._

"Lily!" several people cheered.

_"All right, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature._

_"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"_

_"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…"_

_Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Lupin, still apparently intent on his book, didn't, and nor did Lily._

_"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."_

_"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on… go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."_

_Behind him, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled._

_"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily._

"'Ow did you two end up married?" Fleur asked, looking shocked and Lily simply took James' hand and gave it a squeeze.

_"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. "Oy!"_

_But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of graying underpants._

_Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Wormtail roared with laughter._

_Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant said, "Let him down!"_

'_Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, "Locomotor mortis!" and Snape keeled over again at once, rigid as a board._

_"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily._

"She was best in our year," James shrugged sheepishly looking up again.

_"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly._

_"Take the curse off him, then!"_

_James sighed deeply then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse._

_"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus —"_

_"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"_

Everyone hissed at Snape – how dare he?

"He said that to you…" Hermione said, thinking of what it would be like if Harry said it too her.

"That's was the end of our friendship," Lily said, sadly and it was James' turn to squeeze her hand. "Although it was already rocky."

_Lily blinked._

_"Fine," she said coolly. _

"You dealt with that well," Arthur observed.

_"I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."_

Lily looked slightly ashamed at that.

_"Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him._

_"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is."_

_"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!"_

"No, you wouldn't," Lily said, kissing him sweetly on the check. "Good thing about Potter's and Weasley's they don't care about blood purity."

All the Wesley and Potters looked proud of this.

_"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."_

"Ouch," everyone muttered on James' behalf.

_She turned on her heel and hurried away._

_"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Hey, EVANS!"_

_But she didn't look back._

_"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him._

_"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," said Sirius._

"Yeah, between the lines," the twins scoffed.

_"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right -"_

_There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air._

_"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"_

"You didn't!" Hermione shrieked.

"No, no,' Remus said. 'McGonagall came along."

_But whether James really did take off Snapes pants, Harry never found out._

_A hand had closed tight over his upper arm, closed with a pincer-like grip. Wincing, Harry looked round to see who had hold of him, and saw a fully grown, adult-sized Snape standing right beside him, white with rage._

"Uh oh," James gulped.

_"Having fun?"_

"No," everyone growled.

_Harry felt himself rising into the air; the summer's day evaporated around him; he was floating upwards through icy blackness, Snape's hand still tight upon his upper arm. Then, with a swooping feeling as though he had turned head-over-heels in midair, his feet hit the stone floor of Snape's dungeon and he was standing again beside the Pensieve on Snape's desk in the shadowy, present-day Potion masters study._

_"So," said Snape, gripping Harry's arm so tightly Harry's hand was starting to feel numb. "So… been enjoying yourself, Potter?"_

"Nope," the Trio said again.

_"N-no," said Harry, trying to free his arm._

_It was scary: Snape's lips were shaking, his face was white, his teeth were bared._

_"Amusing man, your father, wasn't he?" said Snape, shaking Harry so hard his glasses slipped down his nose._

"No," Lily, Ginny, Hermione and Molly said looking at James.

_"I - didn't -"_

_Snape threw Harry from him with all his might. Harry fell hard on to the dungeon floor._

"Watch it," the marauders growled.

_"You will not repeat what you saw to anybody!" Snape bellowed._

_"No," said Harry, getting to his feet as far from Snape as he could. "No, of course I w—"_

"'Arry?" Fleur said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Oops," Harry said shrugging sheepishly.

_"Get out, get out, I don't want to see you in this office ever again!"_

"I don't think he wants to be in their either," Bill and Dudley muttered.

_And as Harry hurtled towards the door, a jar of dead cockroaches exploded over his head. He wrenched the door open and flew along the corridor, stopping only when he had put three floors between himself and Snape. There he leaned against the wall, panting, and rubbing his bruised arm._"

"Urg, you probably hated me," James groaned sinking into a chair and throwing and arm across his face.

Sirius and Remus shared a look before going to sit on either side of him.

"We set him straight, Prongs," Remus said.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "He just never thought he'd feel sorry for Snape."

"And he wondered why Lily ever married you," Remus added not being able to help the amusement seeping into his voice.

'I think we're all wondering that,' Dudley said looking at his aunt.

"He changed," Lily said sighing fondly and trying to drag James' arm off his face. "He deflated his head."

"Stop hexing people," Remus added.

"Stop asking her out at every chance he got," Sirius laughed.

"Became Head Boy," Lily finished. "He grew up in other words."

"Right," Molly said although she still looked disapproving.

"It's like Ron and Hermione," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, they fought for years before the got together," Ginny added, laughing while the two in question glared at them.

"And I call you my best friend Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head at him.

"Technically you call him your brother," Ron corrected, "and that gives him the right to take the piss out of you!"

Hermione simply smiled and shook her head.

"Right," Bill said, chuckling. "Shall we continue Harry?"

"What is next?" Dudley asked.

'History of Magic OWL,' Harry said and everyone who didn't know exclaimed glances at this – what could be important about an exam?

_"Turn over your papers," said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hour-glass. "You may begin."_

_Harry stared fixedly at the first question. It was several seconds before it occurred to him that he had not taken in a word of it; there was a wasp buzzing distractingly against one of the high windows. Slowly, tortuously, he at last began to write an answer._

_. He simply skipped question four (In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?), He had a stab at question five (How was the Statute of Secrecy breached in 1749 and what measures were introduced to prevent a recurrence?) _

_He looked ahead for a question he could definitely answer and his eyes alighted upon number ten: Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join._

_He began to write, looking up now and again to check the large hour-glass on the desk beside Professor Marchbanks. He was sitting right behind Parvati Patil, whose long dark hair fell below the back of her chair. Once or twice he found himself staring at the tiny golden lights that glistened in it when she moved her head slightly, and had to give his own head a little shake to clear it._

_Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, so that the glowing red of his eyelids grew dark and cool_

_He opened his eyes; they stung and watered at the sight of the blazing white parchment. Slowly, he wrote two lines about the trolls, then read through what he had done so far. _

_He closed his eyes again, trying to see them, trying to remember… his face in his hands, while all around him quills scratched out never-ending answers and the sand trickled through the hour-glass at the front…_

_He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again,_

"Huh?" Lily said, momentarily confused.

_walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last… the black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors…_

_Straight across the stone floor and through the second door… patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, he must hurry…_

_He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others…_

_Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres… when he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows…_

_But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving on the floor like a wounded animal… _

_A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness…_

_"Take it for me… lift it down, now… I cannot touch it… but you can"_

_The black shape on the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his own arm… heard the high, cold voice say "Crucio!"_

Everyone gasped at the curse.

_The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted and the figure groaned and became motionless._

_"Lord Voldemort is waiting"_

_Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance…_

_"You'll have to kill me," whispered Sirius._

"No!" the twins, Teddy, Lily and James yelled

_"Undoubtedly I shall in the end," said the cold voice. "But you will fetch it for me first, Black… you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again… we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream…"_

_But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his wand again; somebody yelled and fell sideways off a hot desk on to the cold stone floor; Harry awoke as he hit the ground, still yelling, his scar on fire, as the Great Hall erupted all around him._

"Oh my god," Petunia said while Sirius stared at his godson - that's what he thought he was running into.

"Sirius!" Lily yelped hugging him, Harry shook his head over he shoulder- don't tell them.

"Don't do it," James said staring sternly at his son even if James himself would have done it.

"Sirius won't want you to put yourself in danger," Fabian agreed.

"How did Voldemort find him though," Gideon asked but everyone else grimaced.

"Come on, let's let the memory continue," Harry said. "It's quite a long on so brace yourself."

_"I'm not going… I don't need the hospital wing… I don't want"_

_He was gibbering as he tried to pull away from Professor Tofty, who was looking at Harry with much concern after helping him out into the Entrance Hall with the students all around them staring._

_"I'm - I'm fine, sir," Harry stammered, wiping the sweat from his face. "Really… I just fell asleep… had a nightmare…"_

_"Pressure of examinations!" said the old wizard sympathetically, patting Harry shakily on the shoulder. "It happens, young man, it happens! Now, a cooling drink of water, and perhaps you will be ready to return to the Great Hall? The examination is nearly over, but you may be able to round off your last answer nicely?"_

_"Yes," said Harry wildly. "I mean… no… I've done - done as much as I can, I think…"_

_"Very well, very well," said the old wizard gently. "I shall go and collect your examination paper and I suggest that you go and have a nice lie down."_

_"I'll do that," said Harry, nodding vigorously. "Thanks very much."_

_The second that the old man's heels disappeared over the threshold into the Great Hall, Harry ran up the marble staircase, hurtled along the corridors so fast the portraits he passed muttered reproaches, up more flights of stairs, and finally burst like a hurricane through the double doors of the hospital wing, causing Madam Pomfrey - who had been spooning some bright blue liquid into Montague's open mouth - to shriek in alarm._

_"Potter, what do you think you're doing?"_

_"I need to see Professor McGonagall," gasped Harry, the breath tearing his lungs. "Now… it's urgent!"_

"Why's Professor McGonagall there?" Lily asked.

"Four stunner's straight to the chest," Hermione growled.

"Umbridge was trying to get Hagrid and McGonagall came and they stunned her," Molly said sadly.

"At her age that could kill her," James snarled.

"But it didn't," Ron said.

"Luckily," Ginny sighed.

_"She's not here, Potter," said Madam Pomfrey sadly. "She was transferred to St. Mungo's this morning. Four Stunning Spells straight to the chest at her age? It's a wonder they didn't kill her."_

_"She's… gone?" said Harry, shocked._

_The bell rang just outside the dormitory and he heard the usual distant rumbling of students starting to flood out into the corridors above and below him. He remained quite still, looking at Madam Pomfrey_

_"I don't wonder you're shocked, Potter," said Madam Pomfrey, with a kind of fierce approval in her face. "As if one of them could have Stunned Minerva McGonagall face-on by daylight! Cowardice, that's what it was… despicable cowardice… if I wasn't worried what would happen to you students without me, I'd resign in protest."_

_"Yes," said Harry blankly._

_He wheeled around and strode blindly from the hospital wing into the teeming corridor where he stood, buffeted by the crowd, panic expanding inside him like poison gas so that his head swam and he could not think what to do…_

_He was running again, pushing students out of the way, oblivious to their angry protests. He sprinted back down two floors and was at the top of the marble staircase when he saw them hurrying towards him._

_"Harry!" said Hermione at once, looking very frightened. "What happened? Are you all right? Are you ill?"_

_"Where have you been?" demanded Ron._

_"Come with me," Harry said quickly. "Come on, I've got to tell you something."_

_He led them along the first-floor corridor, peering through doorways, and at last found an empty classroom into which he dived, closing the door behind Ron and Hermione the moment they were inside, and leaned against it, facing them._

_"Voldemort's got Sirius."_

"No beating around the bush," Arthur approved.

_"What?"_

_"How d'you -?"_

_"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."_

_"But - but where? How?" said Hermione, whose face was white._

_"I dunno how," said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they're at the end of row ninety-seven… he's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there… he's torturing him… says he'll end by killing him!"_

_Harry found his voice was shaking, as were his knees. He moved over to a desk and sat down on it, trying to master himself._

_"How're we going to get there?" he asked them._

_There was a moment's silence. Then Ron said, "G-get there?"_

_"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry said loudly._

_"But - Harry…" said Ron weakly._

_"What? What?" said Harry._

_He could not understand why they were both gaping at him as though he was asking them something unreasonable._

_"Harry," said Hermione in a rather frightened voice, "er… how… how did Voldemort get into the Ministry of Magic without anybody realizing he was there?"_

_"How do I know?" bellowed Harry. "The question is how we're going to get in there!"_

_"But… Harry, think about this," said Hermione, taking a step towards him, "it's five o'clock in the afternoon… the Ministry of Magic must be full of workers… how would Voldemort and Sirius have got in without being seen? Harry… they're probably the two most wanted wizards in the world… you think they could get into a building full of Aurors undetected?"_

"That's good reasoning," Lily nodded, glad for a reason to believe Sirius wasn't there.

_"I dunno, Voldemort used an Invisibility Cloak or something!" Harry shouted. "Anyway, the Department of Mysteries has always been completely empty whenever I've been -"_

_"You've never been there, Harry," said Hermione quietly. "You've dreamed about the place, that's all."_

_"They're not normal dreams!" Harry shouted in her face, standing up and taking a step closer to her in turn. He wanted to shake her._

_"How d'you explain Ron's dad then, what was all that about, how come I knew what had happened to him?"_

_"He's got a point," said Ron quietly, looking at Hermione._

_"But this is just — just sounds unlikely." said Hermione desperately. _

"Unlikely things happen around you," the twins tried to joke.

_"Harry, how on earth could Voldemort have got hold of Sirius when he's been in Grimmauld Place all the time?"_

_"Sirius might've cracked and just wanted some fresh air," said Ron, sounding worried. "He's been desperate to get out of that house for ages -"_

_"But why," Hermione persisted, "why on earth would Voldemort want to use Sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?"_

_"I dunno, there could be loads of reasons!" Harry yelled at her. "Maybe Sirius is just someone Voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt -"_

"Or he knew I cared for Sirius," Harry muttered under his breath.

_"You know what, I've just thought of something," said Ron in a hushed voice. "Sirius's brother was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Maybe he told Sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!"_

_"Yeah - and that's why Dumbledore's been so keen to keep Sirius locked up all the time!" said Harry._

_"Look, I'm sorry," cried Hermione, "but neither of you is making sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof Voldemort and Sirius are even there -"_

_"Hermione, Harry's seen them!" said Ron, rounding on her._

_"Okay," she said, looking frightened yet determined, "I've just got to say this -"_

_"What?"_

_"You… this isn't a criticism, Harry! But you do… sort of… I mean - don't you think you've got a bit of a - a -saving-people thing!" she said._

"No, he just needs to protect the people he loves," Teddy and Ginny said frowning.

_He glared at her._

_"And what's that supposed to mean, 'a -saving-people thing'?"_

_"Well… you…" she looked more apprehensive than ever. "I mean… last year, for instance… in the lake… during the Tournament… you shouldn't have… I mean, you didn't need to save that little Delacour girl… you got a bit… carried away…"_

"'E was saving someone 'e thought was going to die," Fleur agreed, "but it was a good reason."

_"I mean, it was really great of you and everything," said Hermione quickly, looking positively petrified at the look on Harry's face, "everyone thought it was a wonderful thing to do -"_

_"That's funny," said Harry through gritted teeth, "because I definitely remember Ron saying I'd wasted time acting the hero… is that what you think this is? You reckon I want to act the hero again?"_

"Oh, Harry," Petunia sighed.

_"No, no, no!" said Hermione, looking aghast. "That's not what I mean at all!"_

_"Well, spit out what you've got to say, because we're wasting time here!" Harry shouted._

_"I'm trying to say - Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the - the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's just trying to get you into the Department of Myst—?"_

Everyone who knew the truth flinched at the fact that that was what had happened.

_"Hermione, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not - they've taken McGonagall to St. Mungo's, there isn't anyone from the Order left at Hogwarts who we can tell, and if we don't go, Sirius is dead!"_

_"But Harry - what if your dream was - was just that, a dream?"_

_Harry let out a roar of frustration. Hermione actually stepped back from him, looking alarmed._

"Calm down, Harry," Arthur said.

_"You don't get it!" Harry shouted at her, "I'm not having nightmares, I'm not just dreaming! What d'you think all the Occlumency was for, why d'you think Dumbledore wanted me prevented from seeing these things? Because they're REAL, Hermione - Sirius is trapped, I've seen him. Voldemort's got him, and no one else knows, and that means we're the only ones who can save him, and if you don't want to do it, fine, but I'm going, understand? And if I remember rightly, you didn't have a problem with my saving-people thing when it was you I was saving from the Dementors, or -" he rounded on Ron "- when it was your sister I was saving from the Basilisk -"_

_"I never said I had a problem!" said Ron heatedly._

_"But Harry, you've just said it," said Hermione fiercely, "Dumbledore wanted you to learn to shut these things out of your mind, if you'd done Occlumency properly you'd never have seen this -"_

_"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN -"_

_"Sirius told you there was nothing more important than you learning to close your mind!"_

_"WELL, I EXPECT HE'D SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I'D JUST-"_

_The classroom door opened. Harry, Ron and Hermione whipped around. Ginny walked in, looking curious, closely followed by Luna, who as usual looked as though she had drifted in accidentally._

_"Hi," said Ginny uncertainly. "We recognized Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?"_

_"Never you mind," said Harry roughly._

"Harry," Lily reprimanded.

_Ginny raised her eyebrows._

_"There's no need to take that tone with me," she said coolly, "I was only wondering whether I could help."_

"Nice one, Ginny," James laughed.

"She's one of the only one who's brave enough to do that," Teddy laughed.

"That's because he wouldn't dare shout at me," Ginny laughed smirking wrapping an arm around Harry.

_"Well, you can't," said Harry shortly._

_"You're being rather rude, you know," said Luna serenely._

_Harry swore and turned away. _

"Language," Molly said.

_"Wait," said Hermione suddenly. "Wait… Harry, they can help."_

_Harry and Ron looked at her._

_"Listen," she said urgently, "Harry, we need to establish whether Sirius really has left Headquarters."_

_"I've told you, I saw -"_

_"Harry, I'm begging you, please!" said Hermione desperately. "Please let's just check that Sirius isn't at home before we go charging off to London. If we find out he's not there, then I swear I won't try to stop you. I'll come, I'll d - do whatever it takes to try and save him."_

Everyone smiled at the obvious friendship between the two.

"I just didn't want you to lose another person," Hermione said again, repeating what she said during the third year memories, although their actions hadn't helped at all.

_"Sirius is being tortured NOW!" shouted Harry. "We haven't got time to waste."_

_"But if this is a trick of Voldemort's, Harry, we've got to check, we've got to."_

_"How?" Harry demanded. "How're we going to check?"_

_"We'll have to use Umbridge's fire and see if we can contact him," said Hermione, who looked positively terrified at the thought. "We'll draw Umbridge away again, but we'll need lookouts, and that's where we can use Ginny and Luna."_

_Though clearly struggling to understand what was going on, Ginny said immediately, "Yeah, we'll do it," and Luna said, "When you say 'Sirius', are you talking about Stubby Boardman?"_

"I remember that article," Sirius said letting out his usual bark-like laugh.

_Nobody answered her._

_"Okay," Harry said aggressively to Hermione, "Okay, if you can think of a way of doing this quickly, I'm with you, otherwise I'm going to the Department of Mysteries right now."_

_"The Department of Mysteries?" said Luna, looking mildly surprised. "But how are you going to get there?"_

_Again, Harry ignored her._

"Polite," Remus said.

_"Right," said Hermione, twisting her hands together and pacing up and down between the desks. "Right… well… one of us has to go and find Umbridge and - and send her off in the wrong direction, keep her away from her office. They could tell her - I don't know - that Peeves is up to something awful as usual"_

_"I'll do it," said Ron at once. "I'll tell her Peeves is smashing up the Transfiguration department or something, it's miles away from her office. Come to think of it, I could probably persuade Peeves to do it if I met him on the way."_

"That's our nephew," Fabian laughed.

_It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that Hermione made no objection to the smashing up of the Transfiguration department._

_"Okay," she said, her brow furrowed as she continued to pace. "Now, we need to keep students right away from her office while we force entry, or some Slytherins bound to go and tip her off."_

_"Luna and I can stand at either end of the corridor," said Ginny promptly, "and warn people not to go down there because someone's let off a load of Garrotting Gas." Hermione looked surprised at the readiness with which Ginny had come up with this lie;_

"And that's our niece," Gideon added to his brother's previous comment while Harry kissed he head fondly.

_Ginny shrugged and said, "Fred and George were planning to do it before they left."_

"Of course they were," Molly said frowning.

_"Okay," said Hermione. "Well then, Harry, you and I will be under the Invisibility Cloak and we'll sneak into the office and you can talk to Sirius -"_

_"He's not there, Hermione!"_

_"I mean, you can - can check whether Sirius is at home or not while I keep watch, I don't think you should be in there alone, Lee's already proved the windows a weak spot, sending those Nifflers through it."_

_Even through his anger and impatience, Harry recognized Hermione's offer to accompany him into Umbridge's office as a sign of solidarity and loyalty._

Hermione beamed at Harry as that was said during the memory although she was rather confused as to why it was said.

_"I… okay, thanks," he muttered._

_"Right, well, even if we do all of that, I don't think we're going to be able to bank on more than five minutes," said Hermione, looking relieved that Harry seemed to have accepted the plan, "not with Filch and the wretched Inquisitorial Squad floating around."_

_"Five minutes'll be enough," said Harry. "C'mon, let's go -"_

_"Now?" said Hermione, looking shocked._

"No! In five months," James said shortly, the worry for Sirius making him short-tempered.

_"Of course now!" said Harry angrily. "What did you think; we're going to wait until after dinner or something? Hermione, Sirius is being tortured right now!"_

_"I - oh, all right," she said desperately. "You go and get the Invisibility Cloak and we'll meet you at the end of Umbridge's corridor, okay?"_

"Skipping," Harry said, not looking forward to anything left to show today.

_Harry was jumping the last few stairs to join Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna, who were huddled together at the end of Umbridge's corridor._

_"Got it," he panted. "Ready to go, then?"_

_"All right," whispered Hermione as a gang of loud sixth-years passed them. "So Ron - you go and head Umbridge off… Ginny, Luna, if you can start moving people out of the corridor… Harry and I will get the Cloak on and wait until the coast is clear…"_

_Ron strode away, his bright-red hair visible right to the end of the passage; meanwhile Ginny's equally vivid head bobbed between the jostling students surrounding them in the other direction, trailed by Luna's blonde one._

_"Get over here," muttered Hermione, tugging at Harry's wrist and pulling him back into a recess where the ugly stone head of a medieval wizard stood muttering to itself on a column. "Are - are you sure you're okay, Harry? You're still very pale."_

"You try it," Teddy said, who couldn't help imagining if he was in this situation.

'_I'm fine," he said shortly, tugging the Invisibility Cloak from out of his bag_

_"Here," he said; he threw the Invisibility Cloak over both of them and they stood listening carefully over the Latin mumblings of the bust in front of them._

_"You can't come down here!" Ginny was calling to the crowd. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swivelling staircase, someone's let off Garrotting Gas just along here -"_

_They could hear people complaining; one surly voice said, "I can't see no gas."_

_"That's because it's colorless," said Ginny in a convincingly exasperated voice, "but if you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who doesn't believe us."_

"You are brilliant at this," Teddy exclaimed.

"It's not just your godfather, you know," Ginny said hauntingly.

"Don't you get any ideas, Ted," Harry said, frowning.

_Slowly, the crowd thinned. The news about the Garrotting Gas seemed to have spread; people were not coming this way any more. When at last the surrounding area was quite clear, Hermione said quietly, "I think that's as good as we're going to get, Harry — come on, let's do it."_

_They moved forwards, covered by the Cloak. Luna was standing with her back to them at the far end of the corridor._

_As they passed Ginny, Hermione whispered, "Good one… don't forget the signal."_

_"What's the signal?" muttered Harry, as they approached Umbridge's door._

_"A loud chorus of 'Weasley is our King' if they see Umbridge coming," replied Hermione, as Harry inserted the blade of Sirius's knife in the crack between door and wall._

"Weasley is our King?" Bill asked.

"You'll see," Harry and Hermione laughed.

_The lock clicked open and they entered the office._

_The garish kittens were basking in the late-afternoon sunshine that was warming their plates, but otherwise the office was as still and unoccupied as last time. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief._

_"I thought she might have added extra security after the second Niffler."_

_They pulled off the Cloak; Hermione hurried over to the window and stood out of sight, peering down into the grounds with her wand out. Harry dashed over to the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder and threw a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his head into the dancing fire and cried, "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!"_

_His head began to spin as though he had just got off a fair-ground ride though his knees remained firmly planted on the cold office floor. He kept his eyes screwed up against the whirling ash and when the spinning stopped he opened them to find himself looking out at the long, cold kitchen of Grimmauld Place._

_There was nobody there. He had expected this, yet was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and panic that seemed to burst through his stomach at the sight of the deserted room._

_"Sirius?" he shouted. "Sirius, are you there?"_

"I thought I heard something," Sirius muttered to Remus.

_His voice echoed around the room, but there was no answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the fire._

_"Who's there?" he called, wondering whether it was just a mouse._

_Kreacher the house-elf crept into view. He looked highly delighted about something, though he seemed to have recently sustained a nasty injury to both hands, which were heavily bandaged._

"For a reason," the trio growled even Hermione and even though they had forgiven the elf.

_"It's the Potter boy's head in the fire," Kreacher informed the empty kitchen, stealing furtive, oddly triumphant glances at Harry. "What has he come for, Kreacher wonders?"_

"You know perfectly well," Ginny snarled but only Harry heard her.

_"Where's Sirius, Kreacher?" Harry demanded._

_The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle._

_"Master has gone out, Harry Potter."_

"SIRIUS!" Lily and James yelled as the twins yelled "Damn!"

_"Where's he gone? Where's he gone, Kreacher?"_

_Kreacher merely cackled._

_"I'm warning you!" said Harry, fully aware that his scope for inflicting punishment upon Kreacher was almost non-existent in this position. "What about Lupin? Mad-Eye? Any of them, are any of them there?"_

_"Nobody here but Kreacher!" said the elf gleefully, and turning away from Harry he began to walk slowly towards the door at the end of the kitchen. "Kreacher thinks he will have a little chat with his mistress now, yes, he hasn't had a chance in a long time, Kreacher's master has been keeping him away from her -"_

_"Where has Sirius gone?" Harry yelled after the elf. "Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?"_

_Kreacher stopped in his tracks. Harry could just make out the back of his bald head through the forest of chair legs before him._

_"Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going," said the elf quietly._

_"But you know!" shouted Harry. "Don't you? You know where he is!"_

_There was a moment's silence, then the elf let out his loudest cackle yet._

_"Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!" he said gleefully. "Kreacher and his mistress are alone again!"_

"He didn't," Teddy growled.

_And he scurried forwards and disappeared through the door to the hall._

_"You -!"_

_But before he could utter a single curse or insult, Harry felt a great pain at the top of his head; he inhaled a lot of ash and, choking, found himself being dragged backwards through the flames, until with a horrible abruptness he was staring up into the wide, pallid face of Professor Umbridge who had dragged him backwards out of the fire by the hair and was now bending his neck back as far as it would go, as though she were going to slit his throat._

"Uh oh," everyone muttered.

_"You think," she whispered, bending Harry's neck back even further, so that he was looking up at the ceiling, "that after two Nifflers I was going to let one more foul, scavenging little creature enter my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around my doorway after the last one got in, you foolish boy. Take his wand," she barked at someone he could not see, and he felt a hand grope inside the chest pocket of his robes and remove the wand._

_"Hers, too."_

_Harry heard a scuffle over by the door and knew that Hermione had also just had her wand wrested from her._

_"I want to know why you are in my office," said Umbridge, shaking the fist clutching his hair so that he staggered._

_"I was - trying to get my Firebolt!" Harry croaked._

_"Liar." She shook his head again. "Your Firebolt is under strict guard in the dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You had your head in my fire. With whom have you been communicating?"_

_"No one -" said Harry, trying to pull away from her. He felt several hairs part company with his scalp._

_"Liar!" shouted Umbridge. She threw him from her and he slammed into the desk_

"Watch it!" Sirius and Dora growled.

_. Now he could see Hermione pinioned against the wall by Millicent Bulstrode. Malfoy was leaning on the windowsill, smirking as he threw Harry's wand into the air one-handed and caught it again._

_There was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Ginny, Luna and - to Harry's bewilderment - Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation. All four of them had been gagged._

_"Got 'em all," said Warrington, shoving Ron roughly forwards into the room. "That one," he poked a thick finger at Neville, "tried to stop me taking her," he pointed at Ginny, who was trying to kick the shins of the large Slytherin girl holding her, "so I brought him along too."_

_"Good, good," said Umbridge, watching Ginny's struggles. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will shortly be a Weasley-free zone, doesn't it?"_

"Imagine if she was there in a few years," Ron laughed. "The amount of Weasley's!"

"Ron, don't wish our children, nieces and nephew to her wrath," Hermione shrieked.

_Malfoy laughed loudly and sycophantically. Umbridge gave her wide, complacent smile and settled herself into a chintz-covered armchair, blinking up at her captives like a toad in a flowerbed._

_"So, Potter," she said. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent this buffoon,"_

"Hey!" Molly, Arthur and Bill growled.

_she nodded at Ron — Malfoy laughed even louder - "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of all the school telescopes - Mr. Filch having just informed me so._

"Bad luck," James groaned

_"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone."_

_Malfoy and a few of the other members of the Inquisitorial Squad laughed some more at that._

Lily growled.

_Harry found he was so full of rage and hatred he was shaking._

_"It's none of your business who I talk to," he snarled._

_Umbridge's slack face seemed to tighten._

_"Very well," she said in her most dangerous and falsely sweet voice. "Very well, Mr Potter… I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco fetch Professor Snape."_

_Malfoy stowed Harry's wand inside his robes and left the room smirking, but Harry hardly noticed. _

"Severus," Lily said, suddenly happy. "Severus is in the order."

_There was silence in the office except for the fidgeting and scuffling resulting from the Slytherins' efforts to keep Ron and the others under control. Ron's lip was bleeding on to Umbridge's carpet as he struggled against Warrington's half-nelson; Ginny was still trying to stamp on the feet of the sixth-year girl who had both her upper arms in a tight grip; Neville was turning steadily more purple in the face while tugging at Crabbe's arms; and Hermione was attempting, in vain, to throw Millicent Bulstrode off her. Luna, however, stood limply by the side of her captor, gazing vaguely out of the window as though rather bored by the proceedings._

"Let them go," Teddy snarled.

_Harry looked back at Umbridge, who was watching him closely. He kept his face deliberately smooth and blank as footsteps were heard in the corridor outside and Draco Malfoy entered the room, closely followed by Snape._

_"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" said Snape, looking around at all the pairs of struggling students with an expression of complete indifference._

"Headmistress!" the twins yelled.

"She drove Dumbledore out," Remus said.

"How come she isn't in his office," Lily said tightly.

"It sealed itself of from her," Ginny said causing everyone to laugh.

_"Ah, Professor Snape," said Umbridge, smiling widely and standing up again. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."_

"They have rights, you toad!" Molly screeched.

_"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter," he said, surveying her coolly through his greasy curtains of black hair. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."_

"Ha, and I didn't even drink it," Harry chuckled.

"I should hope not," Dora said.

_Umbridge flushed._

_"You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious._

_"Certainly," said Snape, his lip curling. "It takes a full moon-cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."_

_"A month?" squawked Umbridge, swelling toadishly. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"_

_"Really?" said Snape, showing his first, faint sign of interest as he looked round at Harry. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules."_

_His cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry's, who met his gaze unflinchingly._

_"I wish to interrogate him!" repeated Umbridge angrily, and Snape looked away from Harry back into her furiously quivering face. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"_

_"I have already told you," said Snape smoothly, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter - and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did - I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling."_

_Snape looked back at Harry, who stared at him, frantic to communicate without words._

_Voldemort's got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries, he's got Sirius -_

_"You are on probation!" shrieked Professor Umbridge, and Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised._

"How is she?" Fabian chuckled.

"I would say about five," Gideon answered.

_"You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"_

_Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. Harry knew his last chance of letting the Order know what was going on was walking out of the door._

_"He's got Padfoot!" he shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"_

"Brilliant, 'Arry," Fleur approved.

_Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridges door handle._

_"Padfoot?" cried Professor Umbridge, looking eagerly from Harry to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"_

_Snape looked round at Harry. His face was inscrutable. _

_"I have no idea," said Snape coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."_

_He closed the door behind him with a snap._

_He looked at Umbridge, her chest was heaving with rage and frustration._

_"Very well," she said, and she pulled out her wand. "Very well...I am left with no alternative... this is more than a matter of school discipline...this is an issue of Ministry security...yes...yes…"_

_She seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, staring at Harry, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily. As he watched her, Harry felt horribly powerless without his own wand._

_"You are forcing me, Potter… I do not want to," said Umbridge, _

"What's she planning?" Lily asked warily

_still moving restlessly on the spot, "but sometimes circumstances justify the use… I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice."_

_Malfoy was watching her with a hungry expression on his face._

_"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," said Umbridge quietly._

"No!" everyone yelled, except the four who had been there.

"That's illegal," Dora snarled, glaring at Umbridge

_"No!" shrieked Hermione. "Professor Umbridge - it's illegal."_

_But Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Harry had never seen before. She raised her wand._

_"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" cried Hermione._

_"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry's body in turn, apparently trying to decide where it would hurt most. "He never knew I ordered Dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same."_

"That was her!" Molly gasped.

_"It was you!" gasped Harry. "You sent the Dementors after me?"_

_"Somebody had to act," breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry's forehead. "They were all bleating about silencing you somehow - discrediting you - but I was the one who actually did something about it… only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today though, not now -" And taking a deep breath, she cried, "Cruc—"_

_"NO!" shouted Hermione in a cracked voice from behind Millicent Bulstrode. "No - Harry - we'll have to tell her!"_

"What?" everyone yelled.

_"No way!" yelled Harry, staring at the little of Hermione he could see._

_"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's… what's the point?"_

_And Hermione began to cry weakly into the back of Millicent Bulstrode's robes. Millicent stopped trying to squash her against the wall immediately and dodged out of her way looking disgusted._

_"Well, well, well!" said Umbridge, looking triumphant. "Little Miss Question-all is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!"_

_"Er - my - nee - no!" shouted Ron through his gag._

_Ginny was staring at Hermione as though she had never seen her before. Neville, still choking for breath, was gazing at her, too. But Harry had just noticed something. Though Hermione was sobbing desperately into her hands, there was no trace of a tear._

"What are you doing?" Dudley asked.

"Something brilliant no doubt," Petunia replied.

_"I'm - I'm sorry everyone," said Hermione. "But - I can't stand it -"_

_"That's right, that's right, girl!" said Umbridge, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the abandoned chintz chair and leaning over her. "Now then… with whom was Potter communicating just now?"_

_"Well," gulped Hermione into her hands, "well, he was trying to speak to Professor Dumbledore."_

_Ron froze, his eyes wide; Ginny stopped trying to stamp on her Slytherin captor's toes; and even Luna looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, the attention of Umbridge and her minions was focused too exclusively upon Hermione to notice these suspicious signs._

"So obvious," Bill muttered.

_"Dumbledore?" said Umbridge eagerly. "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"_

_"Well… no" sobbed Hermione. "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head -"_

_"Idiot girl - Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!"_

"He probably would actually," Arthur chuckled.

_shouted Umbridge, disappointment etched in every sagging line of her face._

_"But - but we needed to tell him something important!" wailed Hermione, holding her hands more tightly over her face, not, Harry knew, out of anguish, but to disguise the continued absence of tears._

_"Yes?" said Umbridge with a sudden resurgence of excitement. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"_

_"We… we wanted to tell him it's r - ready!" choked Hermione._

_"What's ready?" demanded Umbridge, and now she grabbed Hermione's shoulders again and shook her slightly. "What's ready, girl?"_

_"The… the weapon," said Hermione._

_"Weapon? Weapon?" said Umbridge, and her eyes seemed to pop with excitement. "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"_

"Brilliant," James said. "Now you can just agree to what she wants."

_"Y — y - yes," gasped Hermione, "but he had to leave before it was finished and n - n - now we've finished it for him, and we c - c - can't find him t - t - to tell him!"_

_"What kind of weapon is it?" said Umbridge harshly, her stubby hands still tight on Hermione's shoulders._

_"We don't r - r - really understand it," said Hermione, sniffing loudly. "We j - j - just did what P - P - Professor Dumbledore told us t - t - to do."_

_Umbridge straightened up, looking exultant._

_"Lead me to the weapon," she said._

_"I'm not showing… them," said Hermione shrilly, looking around at the Slytherins through her fingers._

_"It is not for you to set conditions," said Professor Umbridge harshly._

_"Fine," said Hermione, now sobbing into her hands again. "Fine… let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you'd invite loads and loads of people to come and see! Th - that would serve you right - oh, I'd love it if the wh - whole school knew where it was, and how to u - use it, and then if you annoy any of them they'll be able to s - sort you out!"_

_These words had a powerful impact on Umbridge: she glanced swiftly and suspiciously around at her Inquisitorial Squad, her bulging eyes resting for a moment on Malfoy, who was too slow to disguise the look of eagerness and greed that had appeared on his face._

_Umbridge contemplated Hermione for another long moment, then spoke in what she clearly thought was a motherly voice._

_"All right, dear, let's make it just you and me… and we'll take Potter, too, shall we? Get up, now."_

_"Professor," said Malfoy eagerly, "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the Squad should come with you to look after -"_

_"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?" asked Umbridge sharply._

"Well …" Sirius said but trailed of his intent clear.

_"In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these -" she gestured around at Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna "- escape."_

_"All right," said Malfoy, looking sulky and disappointed._

_"And you two can go ahead of me and show me the way" said Umbridge, pointing at Harry and Hermione with her wand. "Lead on."_

"Show or not, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Nah, lets just tell them," Harry said smiling,

"Centaurs," Hermione said smugly.

"Of course, she hates half-breeds," Remus chuckled at the brilliance of it all. "She'll dig herself into a hole."

"That's brilliant, Hermione," Sirius said, looking at her in awe.

"Are we skipping?" Petunia asked, looking at the memory streaming past.

'Yeah," Harry shrugged. They escaped, by the way, and we flew to the ministry of Thestrals."

"'Ow did you escape?" Fleur asked Ginny and Ron.

"Couple of Stunners, a Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx," Ron said, laughing. "But Ginny was best; she got Malfoy - Bat Bogey Hex - it was superb, his whole face was covered in the great flapping things."

"Ginny's good at the hex," Harry said, proudly.

"It's the way Weasley women keep their men in line," Molly laughed. "We taught every women once they'd married into the family."

Harry, Ron, Bill and Arthur all flinched, having had that curse on them while everyone else laughed at their misfortune.

"What are Thestrals?" Dudley asked.

"A Thestral is a breed of winged horses," Hermione said sounding like a text book, "with a skeletal body, face with reptilian features, and wide leathery wings that resemble a bat's.

"They are very rare, and are considered dangerous by the Ministry of Magic. Thestrals are, undeservedly, know as omens of misfortune and aggression by many wizards because they are only visible to those who have witnessed death at least once, and have fully accepted the concept) or due to their somewhat grim, gaunt and ghostly appearance."

"Well done, Dud," Harry laughed as Dudley grimaced the lecture.

"How many of you could see them?" Teddy asked.

"Me, Neville and Luna," Harry replied, smiling at him

"Now can we continue," James asked.

"Wait a minute," Dora said trying to put this off. "I saw six people there, how come you all went?"

"Because Harry run out of reasons why we couldn't," Ginny laughed, while everyone rolled their eyes at the answer.

The memory continued with them all standing in the lift.

_He pressed the nearest 'down' button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button; the grilles closed with a bang and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling. Harry had not realized how noisy the lifts were on the day he had come with Mr. Weasley; he was sure the din would raise every security person within the building, yet when the lift halted, the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," and the grilles slid open. They stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift._

_Harry turned towards the plain black door. _

_"Let's go," he whispered, and he led the way down the corridor, Luna right behind him, gazing around with her mouth slightly open._

_"Okay, listen," said Harry stopping again within six feet of the door. "Maybe… maybe a couple of people should stay here as a — as a lookout, and —"_

_"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" asked Ginny, her eyebrows raised. "You could be miles away."_

"Yeah, Aunt Ginny," Teddy cheered. "Reason."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other before rolling their eyes.

_"We're coming with you, Harry," said Neville._

_"Let's get on with it," said Ron firmly._

_He turned to face the door and walked forwards… it swung open and he marched over the threshold, the others at his heels._

_They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black including the floor and ceiling; identical, unmarked, handle less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue; their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor made it look as though there was dark water underfoot._

_"Someone shut the door," Harry muttered._

"Umm," Dora said. "That's not clever."

"We know," the four muttered.

_He regretted giving this order the moment Neville had obeyed it. Without the long chink of light from the torch lit corridor behind them, the place became so dark that for a moment the only things they could see were the bunches of shivering blue flames on the walls and their ghostly reflections in the floor._

_there were around a dozen doors here. Just as he was gazing ahead at the doors opposite him, trying to decide which was the right one, there was a great rumbling noise and the candles began to move sideways. The circular wall was rotating._

_Hermione grabbed Harry's arm as though frightened the floor might move, too, but it did not._

_For a few seconds, the blue flames around them were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite as suddenly as it had started, the rumbling stopped and everything became stationary once again._

_Harry's eyes had blue streaks burned into them; it was all he could see._

_"What was that about?" whispered Ron fearfully._

_"I think it was to stop us knowing which door we came in through," said Ginny in a hushed voice._

_Harry realized at once she was right: he could no sooner identify the exit door than locate an ant on the jet-black floor; and the door through which they needed to proceed could be any one of the dozen surrounding them._

_"How're we going to get back out?" said Neville uncomfortably._

_"Well, that doesn't matter now," said Harry forcefully, blinking to try to erase the blue lines from his vision, and clutching his wand tighter than ever, "we won't need to get out till we've found Sirius -"_

_"Don't go calling for him, though!" Hermione said urgently._

"Hermione, trust me I wasn't going to," Harry chuckled.

"Good"' she said.

_"Where do we go, then, Harry?" Ron asked._

_"I don't -" Harry began. He swallowed. "In the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room - that's this one - and then I went through another door into a room that kind of… glitters. We should try a few doors," he said hastily, "I'll know the right way when I see it. C'mon."_

_He marched straight at the door now facing him, the others following close behind him, set his left hand against its cool, shining surface, raised his wand ready to strike the moment it opened, and pushed._

_It swung open easily._

_After the darkness of the first room, the lamps hanging low on golden chains from this ceiling gave the impression that this long rectangular room was much brighter, though there were no glittering, shimmering lights as Harry had seen in his dreams. The place was quite empty except for a few desks and, in the very middle of the room, an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid, big enough for all of them to swim in; a number of pearly-white objects were drifting around lazily in it._

_"What're those things?" whispered Ron._

_"Dunno," said Harry._

_"Are they fish?" breathed Ginny._

_"Aquavirius Maggots!" said Luna excitedly. "Dad said the Ministry were breeding —"_

_"No," said Hermione. She sounded odd. She moved forward to look through the side of the tank._

_"They're brains."_

Ron shivered as he remembered how he'd summoned them

_"Brains?"_

_"Yes… I wonder what they're doing with them?"_

_Harry joined her at the tank. Sure enough, there could be no mistake now he saw them at close quarters. Glimmering eerily, they drifted in and out of sight in the depths of the green liquid, looking something like slimy cauliflowers._

"That's disgusting," Dudley said.

_"Let's get out of here," said Harry. "This isn't right, we need to try another door."_

_"There are doors here, too," said Ron, pointing around the walls. _

_"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one," he said. "I think we should go back and try from there."_

_So they hurried back into the dark, circular room; the ghostly shapes of the brains were now swimming before Harry's eyes instead of the blue candle flames._

_"Wait!" said Hermione sharply, as Luna made to close the door of the brain room behind them._

_"Flagrate!"_

_She drew with her wand in midair and a fiery 'X' appeared on the door._

"Brilliant, Hermione," Remus said, smiling

_No sooner had the door clicked shut behind them than there was a great rumbling, and once again the wall began to revolve very fast, but now there was a great red-gold blur in amongst the faint blue and, when all became still again, the fiery cross still burned, showing the door they had already tried._

_"Good thinking," said Harry. "Okay, let's try this one -"_

_Again, he strode directly at the door facing him and pushed it open, his wand still raised, the others at his heels._

_This room was larger than the last, dimly lit and rectangular, and the center of it was sunken, forming a great stone pit some twenty feet deep. They were standing on the topmost tier of what seemed to be stone benches running all around the room and descending in steep steps like an amphitheatre, or the courtroom in which Harry had been tried by the Wizengamot. Instead of a chained chair, however, there was a raised stone dais in the center of the pit, on which stood a stone archway that looked so ancient, cracked and crumbling that Harry was amazed the thing was still standing. Unsupported by any surrounding wall, the archway was hung with a tattered black curtain or veil which, despite the complete stillness of the cold surrounding air, was fluttering very slightly as though it had just been touched._

Harry and Sirius flinched – stupid curtain.

_"Who's there?" said Harry, jumping down on to the bench below. There was no answering voice, but the veil continued to flutter and sway._

_"Careful!" whispered Hermione._

_Harry scrambled down the benches one by one until he reached the stone bottom of the sunken pit. His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked slowly towards the dais. The pointed archway looked much taller from where he now stood than it had when he'd been looking down on it from above. Still the veil swayed gently, as though somebody had just passed through it._

_"Sirius?" Harry spoke again, but more quietly now that he was nearer._

_He had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway. Gripping his wand very tightly, he edged around the dais, but there was nobody there; all that could be seen was the other side of the tattered black veil._

_"Let's go," called Hermione from halfway up the stone steps. "This isn't right, Harry, come on, let's go."_

_She sounded scared, much more scared than she had in the room where the brains swam._

_"Harry, let's go, okay?" said Hermione more forcefully._

_"Okay," he said, but did not move. He had just heard something. There were faint whispering, murmuring noises coming from the other side of the veil._

_"What are you saying?" he said, very loudly, so that his words echoed all around the stone benches._

_"Nobody's talking, Harry!" said Hermione, now moving over to him._

_Someone's whispering behind there," he said, moving out of her reach and continuing to frown at the veil. "Is that you, Ron?"_

_"I'm here, mate," said Ron, appearing around the side of the archway._

_"Can't anyone else hear it?" Harry demanded, for the whispering and murmuring was becoming louder; without really meaning to put it there, he found his foot was on the dais._

_"I can hear them too," breathed Luna, joining them around the side of the archway and gazing at the swaying veil. "There are people in there!"_

"Is this another death thing?" Petunia asked, remembering what Harry had said to Teddy.

_"What do you mean, 'in there'?" demanded Hermione, jumping down from the bottom step and sounding much angrier than the occasion warranted, "there isn't any 'in there', it's just an archway, there's no room for anybody to be there. Harry, stop it, come away -"_

_She grabbed his arm and pulled, but he resisted._

_"Harry, we are supposed to be here for Sirius!" she said in a high-pitched, strained voice._

_"Sirius," Harry repeated, still gazing, mesmerized, at the continuously swaying veil. "Yeah…"_

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry muttered.

_He took several paces back from the dais and wrenched his eyes from the veil._

_"Let's go," he said._

_"That's what I've been trying to - well, come on, then!" said Hermione, and she led the way back around the dais. On the other side, Ginny and Neville were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil too. _

"What is that?" Lily asked. "Why are you so affected by it?"

"It tries to lure people to it," Ginny said slowly as though thinking her words though. "At least, I think."

"It's an archway between the land of the living and the land of the dead," Harry said, frowning slightly. "Me and Luna could hear whisperings because we had seen loved ones who had passed away. Ginny's right it tries to lure in by making you think there's some kind of beauty to it so you don't want to stare at it for to long or you'll feel an urge, I suppose, to walk through it."

"How do you know this?" James asked.

Harry glanced at Sirius, "I did some work on it for Kingsley," he replied, half lying.

_Without speaking, Hermione took hold of Ginny's arm, Ron grabbed Neville's, and they marched them firmly back to the lowest stone bench and clambered all the way back up to the door._

_"What d'you reckon that arch was?" Harry asked Hermione as they regained the dark circular room._

_"I don't know, but whatever it was, it was dangerous," she said firmly, again inscribing a fiery cross on the door._

_Once more, the wall span and became still again. Harry approached another door at random and pushed. It did not move._

_"What's wrong?" said Hermione._

_"It's… locked…" said Harry, throwing his weight at the door, but it didn't budge._

_"This is it, then, isn't it?" said Ron excitedly, joining Harry in the attempt to force the door open._

_"Bound to be!"_

_"Get out of the way!" said Hermione sharply. She pointed her wand at the place where a lock would have been on an ordinary door and said, "Alohomora!"_

_Nothing happened._

_"Sirius's knife!" said Harry. He pulled it out from inside his robes and slid it into the crack between the door and the wall. The others all watched eagerly as he ran it from top to bottom, withdrew it and then flung his shoulder again at the door. It remained as firmly shut as ever._

_What was more, when Harry looked down at the knife, he saw the blade had melted._

_"Right, we're leaving that room," said Hermione decisively._

_"But what if that's the one?" said Ron, staring at it with a mixture of apprehension and longing._

_"It can't be, Harry could get through all the doors in his dream," said Hermione, marking the door with another fiery cross as Harry replaced the now-useless handle of Sirius's knife in his pocket._

_"You know what could be in there?" said Luna eagerly, as the wall started to spin yet again._

_"Something blibbering, no doubt," said Hermione under her breath and Neville gave a nervous little laugh._

_The wall slid to a halt and Harry, with a feeling of increasing desperation, pushed the next door open._

_"This is it!"_

_He knew it at once by the beautiful, dancing, diamond-sparkling light. As Harry's eyes became accustomed to the brilliant glare, he saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, grandfather and carriage, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room, so that a busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps. The source of the dancing, diamond-bright light was a towering crystal ball jar that stood at the far end of the room._

_"This way!"_

_he led the way down the narrow space between the lines of desks, heading for the source of the light, the crystal bell jar quite as tall as he was that stood on a desk and appeared to be full of a billowing, glittering wind._

_"Oh, look!" said Ginny, as they drew nearer, pointing at the very heart of the bell jar._

_Drifting along in the sparkling current inside was a tiny, jewel-bright egg. As it rose in the jar, it cracked open and a hummingbird emerged, which was carried to the very top of the jar, but as it fell on the draught its feathers became bedraggled and damp again, and by the time it had been borne back to the bottom of the jar it had been enclosed once more in its egg._

_"Keep going!" said Harry sharply, because Ginny showed signs of wanting to stop and watch the egg's progress back into a bird._

_"You dawdled enough by that old arch!" she said crossly, but followed him past the bell jar to the only door behind it._

_"This is it," Harry said again, and his heart was now pumping so hard and fast he felt it must interfere with his speech, "it's through here -"_

Everyone took a deep breath.

_He glanced around at them all; they had their wands out and looked suddenly serious and anxious. He looked back at the door and pushed. It swung open._

_They were there, they had found the place: high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from more candle-brackets set at intervals along the shelves. Like those in the circular room behind them, their flames were burning blue. The room was very cold._

_Harry edged forward and peered down one of the shadowy aisles between two rows of shelves._

_He could not hear anything or see the slightest sign of movement._

_"You said it was row ninety-seven," whispered Hermione._

_"Yeah," breathed Harry, looking up at the end of the closest row. Beneath the branch of blue glowing candles protruding from it glimmered the silver figure fifty-three._

_"We need to go right, I think," whispered Hermione, squinting to the next row. "Yes… that's fifty-four…"_

_"Keep your wands ready," Harry said softly._

_They crept forward, glancing behind them as they went on down the long alleys of shelves, the further ends of which were in near-total darkness. Tiny, yellowing labels had been stuck beneath each glass orb on the shelves. Some of them had a weird, liquid glow; others were as dull and dark within as blown light bulbs._

_They passed row eighty-four… eighty-five… Harry was listening hard for the slightest sound of movement._

_"Ninety-seven!" whispered Hermione._

_They stood grouped around the end of the row, gazing down the alley beside it. There was nobody there._

"It's a trap," Fabian groaned.

"He's not there, he never was," Gideon agreed.

_"He's right down at the end," said Harry, whose mouth had become slightly dry. "You can't see properly from here."_

_And he led them between the towering rows of glass balls, some of which glowed softly as they passed…_

_"He should be near here," whispered Harry, convinced that every step was going to bring the ragged form of Sirius into view on the darkened floor. "Anywhere here… really close…"_

_"Harry?" said Hermione tentatively, but he did not want to respond. His mouth was very dry._

_"Somewhere about… here…" he said._

_They had reached the end of the row and emerged into more dim candlelight. There was nobody there. All was echoing, dusty silence._

_"He might be…" Harry whispered hoarsely, peering down the next alley. "Or maybe…" He hurried to look down the one beyond that._

_"Harry?" said Hermione again._

_"What?" he snarled._

_"I… I don't think Sirius is here."_

"I'm not," Sirius said, sure he could say it now but it caused everyone to groan and yet look slightly happy.

_Nobody spoke._

_He ran up the space at the end of the rows, staring down them. Empty aisle after empty aisle flickered past. He ran the other way, back past his staring companions. There was no sign of Sirius anywhere, nor any hint of a struggle._

_"Harry?" Ron called._

_"What?"_

_"Have you seen this?" said Ron,_

"The prophecy," Lily and James gasped remembering hearing it from Dumbledore as he told them to go into hiding.

_"What?" said Harry, but eagerly this._

_He strode back to where they were all standing, a little way down row ninety-seven, but found nothing except Ron staring at one of the dusty glass spheres on the shelf._

_"What?" Harry repeated glumly._

_"It's — it's got your name on," said Ron._

_Harry moved a little closer. Ron was pointing at one of the small glass spheres that glowed with a dull inner light, though it was very dusty and appeared not to have been touched for many years._

_"My name?" said Harry blankly._

_He stepped forwards. Not as tall as Ron, he had to crane his neck to read the yellowish label affixed to the shelf right beneath the dusty glass ball. In spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously, and below that:_

_S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D._

"To Dumbledore," Petunia said.

"Yeah, who else would have such a strange name," Dudley tried to joke.

_Dark Lord and (?)Harry Potter_

"What's that about?" Petunia asked. "Why is there a question mark?"

"You'll see," Harry replied.

_Harry stared at it._

_"What is it?" Ron asked, sounding unnerved. "What's your name doing down here?"_

_He glanced along at the other labels on that stretch of shelf._

_"I'm not here," he said, sounding perplexed. "None of the rest of us are here."_

_"Harry, I don't think you should touch it," said Hermione sharply, as he stretched out his hand._

_"Why not?" he said. "It's something to do with me, isn't it?"_

_"Don't, Harry," said Neville suddenly. Harry looked at him. Neville's round face was shining slightly with sweat. He looked as though he could not take much more suspense._

_"It's got my name on," said Harry._

_And feeling slightly reckless, he closed his fingers around the dusty ball's surface. He had expected it to feel cold, but it did not. On the contrary, it felt as though it had been lying in the sun for hours, as though the glow of light within was warming it. Expecting, even hoping, that something dramatic was going to happen, something exciting that might make their long and dangerous journey worthwhile after all, Harry lifted the glass ball down from its shelf and stared at it._

_Nothing whatsoever happened. The others moved in closer around Harry, gazing at the orb as he brushed it free of the clogging dust._

_And then, from right behind them, a drawling voice spoke._

_"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."_

"Malfoy," Dora groaned.

"Death Eaters!" the twins yelled.

"Get out of there!" Lily screeched.

_Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts; Ginny gave a gasp of horror._

_"To me, Potter," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up._

_They were trapped, and outnumbered two to one._

_"To me," said Malfoy yet again._

"Repeating it won't help," James said, smirking slightly

_"Where's Sirius?" Harry said._

"Me no there," Sirius said in a childish voice trying to diffuse some of the tension and not think about what was going to be happening soon, a few lips twitched.

_Several of the Death Eaters laughed; a harsh female voice from the midst of the shadowy figures to Harry's left said triumphantly, "The Dark Lord always knows!"_

_"Always," echoed Malfoy softly. "Now, give me the prophecy Potter."_

_"I want to know where Sirius is!"_

_"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimicked the woman to his left._

_She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were mere feet away from Harry and the others, the light from their wands dazzling Harry's eyes._

_"You've got him," said Harry, ignoring the rising panic in his chest, the dread he had been fightingsince they had first entered the ninety-seventh row. "He's here. I know he is."_

_"The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," said the woman in a horrible, mock baby voice._

"Bellatrix," Remus growled.

_Harry felt Ron stir beside him._

_"Don't do anything," Harry muttered. "Not yet -"_

_The woman who had mimicked him let out a raucous scream of laughter._

_"You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"_

"Oh we're going to," Hermione said proudly.

_"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," said Malfoy softly. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."_

_"I know Sirius is here," said Harry. "I know you've got him!"_

_More of the Death Eaters laughed, though the woman laughed loudest of all._

_"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," said Malfoy. "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."_

_"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand to chest height. As he did so, the five wands of Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna rose on either side of him. _

_But the Death Eaters did not strike._

"Good," Molly breathed.

_"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," said Malfoy coolly._

_It was Harry's turn to laugh._

_"Yeah, right!" he said. "I give you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"_

"Harry, don't anger them," Arthur instructed.

_The words were hardly out of his mouth when the female Death Eater shrieked: "Accio proph—"_

_Harry was just ready for her: he shouted "Protego!" before she had finished her spell, and though the glass sphere slipped to the tips of his fingers he managed to cling on to it._

_"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. "Very well, then -"_

_"I TOLD YOU, NO!" Lucius Malfoy roared at the woman. "If you smash it -!"_

_The woman stepped forward, away from her fellows, and pulled off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow._

_"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well - take the smallest one," she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."_

"Touch her and I'll kill you," Molly and Lily growled.

_Harry felt the others close in around Ginny; he stepped sideways so that he was right in front of her, the prophecy held up to his chest._

James smiled at that knowing he'd do exactly the same thing to Lily even if she shouted at him for hours afterwards.

"How did you know I was the smallest one?" Ginny huffed.

"She was looking straight at you," Harry said.

_You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," he told Bellatrix. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"_

"Good Harry," Remus said.

_She did not move; she merely stared at him, the tip of her tongue moistening her thin mouth._

_"So," said Harry, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about, anyway?"_

_"What kind of prophecy?" repeated Bellatrix, the grin fading from her face. "You jest, Harry Potter."_

"Yes, didn't you know Harry Potter was a jester," Gideon laughed.

"Extremely good one at that," Fabian added. "Jests for the Queen."

_"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death Eater, looking for a weak link, a space through which they could escape. "How come Voldemort wants it?"_

_Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses._

_"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix._

_"Yeah," said Harry, maintaining his tight grip on the glass ball, expecting another attempt to bewitch it from him. "Yeah, I've got no problem with saying Vol—"_

_"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare -"_

_"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" said Harry recklessly._

Everyone groaned at the stupid thing to say.

_Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's pure-blood?"_

_"STUPEF—"_

_"NO!"_

_A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered._

_Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts._

_"…at the solstice will come a new…" said the figure of an old, bearded man._

_"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!"_

_"He dared - he dares -" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently, "he stands there - filthy half-blood -"_

_"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" bawled Malfoy._

_"… and none will come after…" said the figure of a young woman._

_The two figures that had burst from the shattered spheres had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass upon the floor. They had, however, given Harry an idea. The problem was going to be conveying it to the others._

_"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over," he said, playing for time. He moved his foot slowly sideways, feeling around for someone else's._

_"Do not play games with us, Potter," said Malfoy._

_"I'm not playing games," said Harry, half his mind on the conversation, half on his wandering foot. And then he found someone's toes and pressed down upon them. A sharp intake of breath behind him told him they were Hermione's._

_"What?" she whispered._

_"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Malfoy sneered._

"Of course not," Lily said. "He's far too young."

_"I - what?" said Harry. And for a moment he quite forgot his plan. "What about my scar?"_

_"What?" whispered Hermione more urgently behind him._

_"Can this be?" said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, and under cover of their laughter, Harry hissed to Hermione, moving his lips as little as possible, "Smash shelves -"_

"But all the history," Teddy said, with wide eyes while Harry just stared at him. "Not that I want you to d-die just … you know."

_"Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why -"_

_"- when I say now-"_

_"- you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording…"_

_"Did he?" said Harry. Behind him he felt rather than heard Hermione passing his message to the others and he sought to keep talking, to distract the Death Eaters. "So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"_

_"Why?" Malfoy sounded incredulously delighted. "Because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."_

_"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"_

_"About both of you, Potter, about both of you… haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"_

"No, not from you," Dora growled.

_Harry stared into the slitted eye-holes through which Malfoy's grey eyes were gleaming. _

_"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" he said quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy, his fingers tightening over the warm glass sphere in his hand. It was hardly larger than a Snitch and still gritty with dust. "And he's made me come and get it for him? Why couldn't he come and get it himself?"_

_"Get it himself?" shrieked Bellatrix, over a cackle of mad laughter. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"_

"Yes but it'd be less obvious than all you Death Eaters, surely" Dudley said.

_"So, he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" said Harry. "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it - and Bode?"_

"That's what they for," Gideon said.

"To do his dirty work," Fabian finished

_"Very good, Potter, very good…" said Malfoy slowly. "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell—"_

_"NOW!" yelled Harry._

_Five different voices behind him bellowed, "REDUCTO!" Five curses flew in five different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit; the towering structure swayed as a hundred glass spheres burst apart, pearly-white figures unfurled into the air and floated there, their voices echoing from who knew what long-dead past amid the torrent of crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down upon the floor -_

_"RUN!" Harry yelled, _

"Nice plan," Petunia laughed.

_as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to fall from above. He seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forwards, holding one arm over his head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. A Death Eater lunged forwards through the cloud of dust and Harry elbowed him hard in the masked face; they were all yelling, there were cries of pain, and thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres - Harry found the way ahead clear and saw Ron, Ginny and Luna sprint past him, their arms over their heads; something heavy struck him on the side of the face but he merely ducked his head and sprinted onwards; a hand caught him by the shoulder; he heard Hermione shout, "Stupefy!" The hand released him at once –_

_They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Harry turned right and began to sprint in earnest; he could hear footsteps right behind him and Hermione's voice urging Neville on; straight ahead, the door through which they had come was ajar; Harry could see the glittering light of the bell jar; he pelted through the doorway, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, and waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them -_

_"Colloportus!" gasped Hermione and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise._

_"Where - where are the others?" gasped Harry._

_He had thought Ron, Luna and Ginny were ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there._

"You split up!" Fleur and Bill yelled sharing a scared glance.

_"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face._

_"Listen!" whispered Neville._

_Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed; Harry put his ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say — his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary – _

"It's never necessary," James said firmly.

_Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right -Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead - Macnair and Avery, through here - Rookwood, over there - Mulciber, come with me!"_

_"What do we do?" Hermione asked Harry, trembling from head to foot._

_"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start," said Harry. "Let's get away from this door." They ran as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut._

_"Stand aside!" said a rough voice. "Alohomora!"_

_As the door flew open, Harry, Hermione and Neville dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly._

_"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice._

_"Check under the desks," said another._

_Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend; poking his wand out from under the desk, he shouted, "STUPEFY!"_

"Oh Merlin," Lily moaned grabbing James' hand - this was getting mad.

_A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backwards into a grandfather clock and knocked it over; the second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harry's spell and was pointing his own wand at Hermione, who was crawling out from under the desk to get a better aim._

_"Avada –'_

"No!" Teddy yelled.

_Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned a desk in his anxiety to help; and pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair, he cried:_

_"EXPELLIARMUS!"_

_Both Harry's and the Death Eater's wands flew out of their hands and soared back towards the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy; both scrambled to their feet and charged after them, the Death Eater in front, Harry hot on his heels, and Neville bringing up the rear, plainly horror-struck by what he had done._

_"Get out of the way, Harry!" yelled Neville, clearly determined to repair the damage._

_Harry flung himself sideways as Neville took aim again and shouted:_

_"STUPEFY!"_

_The jet of red light had flown right over the Death Eater's shoulder and hit a glass-fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hour-glasses; the cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, sprang back up on to the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered -_

_The Death Eater had snatched up his wand, which lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar._

_Harry ducked down behind another desk as the man turned; his mask had slipped so that he couldn't see. He ripped it off with his free hand and shouted: "STUP—"_

_"STUPEFY!" screamed Hermione, who had just caught up with them. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of his chest: he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a clatter and he collapsed backwards towards the bell jar. Harry expected to hear a dunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar on to the floor, but instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it were nothing but a soap bubble and he came to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind._

_"Accio wand!" cried Hermione. Harry's wand flew from a dark corner into her hand and she threw it to him._

_"Thanks," he said. "Right, let's get out of —"_

_"Look out!" said Neville, horrified. He was staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar._

_All three of them raised their wands again, but none of them struck: they were all gazing, open-mouthed, appalled, at what was happening to the man's head._

_It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull; his cheeks becoming smooth, his skull round and covered with a peach like fuzz…_

_A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again; but even as they watched, their mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the pate and chin…_

_"It's Time," said Hermione in an awestruck voice. "Time…"_

_The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together it began to shrink back to babyhood once more…_

_There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream._

_"RON?" Harry yelled, turning quickly from the monstrous transformation taking place before them. "GINNY? LUNA?"_

_"Harry!" Hermione screamed._

_The Death Eater had pulled his head out of the bell jar. His appearance was utterly bizarre, his tiny baby's head bawling loudly while his thick arms flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing Harry, who had ducked. Harry raised his wand but to his amazement Hermione seized his arm._

_"You can't hurt a baby!"_

"No, deal with him," Dora disagreed.

_There was no time to argue the point; Harry could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy and knew, too late, that he ought not to have shouted and given away their position._

_"Come on!" he said, and leaving the ugly baby-headed Death Eater staggering behind them they took off for the door that stood open at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway._

_They had run halfway towards it when Harry saw through the open door two more Death Eaters running across the black room towards them; veering left, he burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind them._

_"Collo—" began Hermione, but before she could complete the spell the door had burst open and the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside._

_With a cry of triumph, both yelled:_

_"IMPEDIMENTA!"_

Everyone was screaming and yelling and there was nothing Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny could do to stop them.

_Harry, Hermione and Neville were all knocked backwards off their feet; Neville was thrown over the desk and disappeared from view; Hermione smashed into a bookcase and was promptly deluged in a cascade of heavy books; the back of Harry's head slammed into the stone wall behind him, tiny lights burst in front of his eyes and for a moment he was too dizzy and bewildered to react._

_"WE'VE GOT HIM!" yelled the Death Eater nearest Harry. "IN AN OFFICE OFF—"_

_"Silencio!" cried Hermione and the man's voice was extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out. He was thrust aside by his fellow Death Eater._

_"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Harry, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he feel forwards, face down on to the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move._

_"Well done, Ha—"_

_But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand; a streak of what looked like purple flame passed right across Hermione's chest. She gave a tiny "Oh!" as though of surprise and crumpled on to the floor, where she lay motionless._

_"HERMIONE!"_

"What happened?" Molly yelled over everyone else.

"I thought you were dead," Harry said to Hermione.

_Harry fell to his knees beside her as Neville crawled rapidly towards her from under the desk, his wand held up in front of him. The Death Eater kicked out hard at Neville's head as he emerged - his foot broke Neville's wand in two and connected with his face. Neville gave a howl of pain and recoiled, clutching his mouth and nose. Harry twisted around, his own wand held high, and saw that the Death Eater had ripped off his mask and was pointing his wand directly at Harry, who recognized the long, pale, twisted face from the Daily Prophet: Antonin Dolohov, the wizard who had murdered the Prewetts._

"Hey, do something to him!" Fabian, Gideon, Molly, Bill and Arthur shouted.

_Dolohov grinned. With his free hand, he pointed from the prophecy still clutched in Harry's hand, to himself, then at Hermione. Though he could no longer speak, his meaning could not have been clearer. Give me the prophecy, or you get the same as her…_

_"Like you won't kill us all anyway, the moment I hand it over!" said Harry._

_A whine of panic inside his head was preventing him thinking properly: he had one hand on Hermione's shoulder._

_"Whaddever you do, Harry," said Neville fiercely from under the desk, lowering his hands to show a clearly broken nose and blood pouring down his mouth and chin, "don'd gib it to him!"_

"Now he won't be able to pronounce the spells," Harry heard his mother moan but he was the only one who had due to the noise.

_Then there was a crash outside the door and Dolohov looked over his shoulder - the baby-headed Death Eater had appeared in the doorway, his head bawling, his great fists still flailing uncontrollably at everything around him. Harry seized his chance:_

_"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"_

_The spell hit Dolohov before he could block it and he toppled forwards across his comrade, both of them rigid as boards and unable to move an inch._

_"Hermione," Harry said at once, shaking her as the baby-headed Death Eater blundered out of sight again. "Hermione, wake up…"_

_"Whad did he do to her?" said Neville, crawling out from under the desk to kneel at her other side, blood streaming from his rapidly swelling nose._

_"I dunno…"_

_Neville groped for Hermione's wrist._

_"Dat's a pulse, Harry, I'b sure id is."_

_"She's alive?"_

"Yes I am," Hermione yelled. "Now will you please shut up!"

Everyone fell silent and looked at her.

"Sorry," some mumbled.

_"Yeah, I dink so."_

_There was a pause in which Harry listened hard for the sound of more footsteps, but all he could hear were the whimpers and blunderings of the baby-headed Death Eater in the next room._

_"Neville, we're not far from the exit," Harry whispered, "we're right next to that circular room… if we can just get you across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come, I'll bet you can get Hermione up the corridor and into the lift… then you could find someone… raise the alarm…"_

_"And whad are you going do do?" said Neville, mopping his bleeding nose with his sleeve and frowning at Harry._

_"I've got to find the others," said Harry._

_"Well, I'b going do find dem wid you," said Neville firmly._

_"But Hermione —"_

_"We'll dake her wid us," said Neville firmly. "I'll carry her — you're bedder at fighding dem dan I ab -"_

_He stood up and seized one of Hermione's arms, glaring at Harry, who hesitated, then grabbed the other and helped hoist Hermione's limp form over Neville's shoulders._

_"Wait," said Harry, snatching up Hermione's wand from the floor and shoving it into Neville's hand, "you'd better take this."_

_Neville kicked aside the broken fragments of his own wand as they walked slowly towards the door._

_"My gran's going do kill be," said Neville thickly, blood spattering from his nose as he spoke, "dat was by dad's old wand."_

"Well, it is better you have your own wand," Remus said. "It'll work better for him."

_Harry stuck his head out of the door and looked around cautiously. The baby-headed Death Eater was screaming and banging into things, toppling grandfather clocks and overturning desks, bawling and confused, while the glass-fronted cabinet that Harry now suspected had contained Time-Turners continued to fall, shatter and repair itself on the wall behind them._

_"He's never going to notice us," he whispered. "C'mon… keep close behind me…"_

_They crept out of the office and back towards the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forwards, Neville tottering slightly due to Hermione's weight; the door of the Time Room swung shut behind them and the walls began to rotate once more. The recent blow on the back of Harry's head seemed to have unsteadied him; he narrowed his eyes, swaying slightly, until the walls stopped moving again. With a sinking heart, Harry saw that Hermione's fiery crosses had faded from the doors._

_"So which way d'you reck—?"_

_But before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three people fell out of it._

_"Ron!" croaked Harry, dashing towards them. "Ginny - are you all -?"_

_"Harry," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forwards, seizing the front of Harry's robes and gazing at him with unfocused eyes, "there you are… ha ha ha… you look funny, Harry… you're all messed up…"_

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked.

_Ron's face was very white and something dark was trickling from the corner of his mouth. Next moment his knees had given way, but he still clutched the front of Harry's robes, so that Harry was pulled into a kind of bow._

_"Ginny?" Harry said fearfully. "What happened?"_

_But Ginny shook her head and slid down the wall into a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle._

"Are you all right?" Teddy asked, staring at his mother figure, she nodded smiling.

_"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack," whispered Luna, who was bending over her and who alone seemed to be unhurt. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets; it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark -"_

_"Harry, we saw Uranus up close!" said Ron, still giggling feebly. "Get it, Harry? We saw Uranus - ha ha ha -"_

"Seriously, what is wrong with him?" Dudley asked.

_A bubble of blood grew at the corner of Ron's mouth and burst._

_"- anyway, one of them grabbed Ginny's foot, I used the Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in his face, but…" Luna gestured hopelessly at Ginny, who was breathing in a very shallow way, her eyes still closed._

_"And what about Ron?" said Harry fearfully, as Ron continued to giggle, still hanging off the front of Harry's robes._

_"I don't know what they hit him with," said Luna sadly, "but he's gone a bit funny, I could hardly get him along at all."_

_"Harry," said Ron, pulling Harry's ear down to his mouth and still giggling weakly, "you know who this girl is, Harry? She's Loony… Loony Lovegood… ha ha ha "_

"Luna," Ron said firmly, correcting his past self but the expression on his face really did say he thought he had gone mad.

_"We've got to get out of here," said Harry firmly. "Luna, can you help Ginny?"_

_"Yes," said Luna, sticking her wand behind her ear for safekeeping, then putting an arm around Ginny's waist and pulling her up._

_"It's only my ankle, I can do it myself!" said Ginny impatiently, but next moment she had collapsed sideways and grabbed Luna for support._

Harry frowned at her and she said. "I wanted to it myself so someone else could be free to fight."

_Harry pulled Ron's arm over his shoulder. He looked around: they had a one in twelve chance of getting the exit right first time -_

_He heaved Ron towards a door; they were within a few feet of it when another door across the hall burst open and three Death Eaters sped in, led by Bellatrix Lestrange._

_"There they are!" she shrieked._

_Stunning Spells shot across the room: Harry smashed his way through the door ahead, flung Ron unceremoniously from him and ducked back to help Neville in with Hermione: they were all over the threshold just in time to slam the door against Bellatrix._

_"Colloportus!" shouted Harry, and he heard three bodies slam into the door on the other side._

_"It doesn't matter!" said a man's voice. "There are other ways in - WE'VE GOT THEM, THEY'RE HERE!"_

_Harry span around; they were back in the Brain Room and, sure enough, there were doors all around the walls. He could hear footsteps in the hall behind them as more Death Eaters came running to join the first._

_"Luna - Neville - help me!"_

_The three of them tore around the room, sealing the doors as they went; Harry crashed into a table and rolled over the top of it in his haste to reach the next door:_

_"Colloportus!"_

_There were footsteps running along behind the doors, every now and then another heavy body would launch itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered; Luna and Neville were bewitching the doors along the opposite wall - then, as Harry reached the very top of the room, he heard Luna cry:_

_"Collo—aaaaaaaaargh…"_

_He turned in time to see her flying through the air; five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she had not reached in time; Luna hit a desk, slid over its surface and on to the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled, as still as Hermione._

"Oh god,'"Teddy whimpered, this was documented but not in so much detail.

_"Get Potter!" shrieked Bellatrix, and she ran at him; he dodged her and sprinted back up the room; he was safe as long as they thought they might hit the prophecy -_

_"Hey!" said Ron, who had staggered to his feet and was now tottering drunkenly towards Harry, giggling. "Hey Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn't that weird, Harry?"_

_"Ron, get out of the way, get down -"_

_But Ron had already pointed his wand at the tank._

_"Honest, Harry, they're brains - look -Accio brain!"_

"Oh Ron," Sirius groaned.

"That's was horrible," Ron muttered.

_The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Harry, Ginny and Neville and each of the Death Eaters turned in spite of themselves to watch the top of the tank as a brain burst from the green liquid like a leaping fish: for a moment it seemed suspended in midair, then it soared towards Ron, spinning as it came, and what looked like ribbons of moving images flew from it, unravelling like rolls of film-_

_"Ha ha ha, Harry, look at it -" said Ron, watching it disgorge its gaudy innards, "Harry come and touch it; bet it's weird -"_

_"RON, NO!"_

_Harry did not know what would happen if Ron touched the tentacles of thought now flying behind the brain, but he was sure it would not be anything good. He darted forwards but Ron had already caught the brain in his outstretched hands._

_The moment they made contact with his skin, the tentacles began wrapping themselves around Ron's arms like ropes._

_"Harry, look what's happen— No - no - I don't like it - no, stop - stop -"_

Molly whimpered she didn't like this either.

_But the thin ribbons were spinning around Ron's chest now; he tugged and tore at them as the brain was pulled tight against him like an octopus's body._

_"Diffindo!" yelled Harry, trying to sever the feelers wrapping themselves tightly around Ron before his eyes, but they would not break. Ron fell over, still thrashing against his bonds._

_"Harry, it'll suffocate him!" screamed Ginny, immobilized by her broken ankle on the floor – then a jet of red light flew from one of the Death Eater's wands and hit her squarely in the face. She keeled over sideways and lay there unconscious._

"(Aunt) Ginny!" Molly, Remus, Dora, Lily and Teddy yelled.

_"STUBEFY!" shouted Neville, wheeling around and waving Hermione's wand at the oncoming Death Eaters, "STUBEFY, STUBEFY!"_

_But nothing happened._

_One of the Death Eaters shot their own Stunning Spell at Neville; it missed him by inches. Harry and Neville were now the only two left fighting the five Death Eaters, two of whom sent off streams of silver light like arrows which missed but left craters in the wall behind them. Harry ran for it as Bellatrix Lestrange raced right at him: holding the prophecy high above his head, he sprinted back up the room; all he could think of doing was to draw the Death Eaters away from the others._

_It seemed to have worked; they streaked after him, knocking chairs and tables flying but not daring to bewitch him in case they hurt the prophecy, and he dashed through the only door still open, the one through which the Death Eaters themselves had come; inwardly praying that Neville would stay with Ron and find some way of releasing him. He ran a few feet into the new room and felt the floor vanish -_

_He was falling down steep stone step after steep stone step, bouncing on every tier until at last, with a crash that knocked all the breath out of his body, he landed flat on his back in the sunken pit where the stone archway stood on its dais._

"Oh no," Petunia murmured remembering Harry description of this from before.

_The whole room was ringing with the Death Eaters' laughter: he looked up and saw the five who had been in the Brain Room descending towards him, while as many more emerged through other doorways and began leaping from bench to bench towards him. Harry got to his feet though his legs were trembling so badly they barely supported him: the prophecy was still miraculously unbroken in his left hand, his wand clutched tightly in his right. He backed away, looking around, trying to keep all the Death Eaters within his sight. The back of his legs hit something solid: he had reached the dais where the archway stood. He climbed backwards onto it._

_The Death Eaters all halted, gazing at him. Some were panting as hard as he was. One was bleeding badly; Dolohov, freed of the Body-Bind Curse, was leering, his wand pointing straight at Harry's face._

_"Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask, "now hand me the prophecy like a good boy."_

"Harry's not going to listen to you," Remus said proudly.

_"Let - let the others go, and I'll give it to you!" said Harry desperately._

_A few of the Death Eaters laughed._

_"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," said Lucius Malfoy, his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you… or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"_

_"He's dot alone!" shouted a voice from above them. "He's still god be!"_

_Harry's heart sank: Neville was scrambling down the stone benches towards them, Hermione's wand held fast in his trembling hand._

_"Neville - no - go back to Ron -"_

_"STUBEFY!" Neville shouted again, pointing his wand at each Death Eater in turn. "STUBEFY! STUBE—"_

_One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville from behind, pinioning his arms to his sides. He struggled and kicked; several of the Death Eaters laughed._

_"It's Longbottom, isn't it" sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause… your death will not come as a great shock."_

"I hate your cousin Sirius," Lily snarled.

"Trust me, so do a lot of people," he said, and then grinned. "Including myself."

_"Longbottom?" repeated Bellatrix, and a truly evil smile lit her gaunt face. "Why, I have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, boy,"_

_"I DOE YOU HAB!" roared Neville, and he fought so hard against his captors encircling grip that the Death Eater shouted, "Someone Stun him!"_

_"No, no, no," said Bellatrix. She looked transported, alive with excitement as she glanced at Harry, then back at Neville. "No, let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents… unless Potter wants to give us the prophecy."_

_"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM!" roared Neville, who seemed beside himself, kicking and writhing as Bellatrix drew nearer to him and his captor, her wand raised. "DON'D GIB ID DO DEM, HARRY!"_

_Bellatrix raised her wand. "Crucio!"_

"No!" Lily and Petunia screamed.

Many clenched the fists and Ginny buried her face in Harry's chest not wanting to see this but there was nothing they could to block out his screams

_Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground. The Death Eater dropped him and he fell to the floor, twitching and screaming in agony._

_"That was just a taster!" said Bellatrix, raising her wand so that Neville's screams stopped and he lay sobbing at her feet. She turned and gazed up at Harry. "Now, Potter, either give us the prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"_

_Harry did not have to think; there was no choice. The prophecy was hot with the heat of him clutching hand as he held it out. Malfoy jumped forwards to take it._

_Then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley._

"Now, I'm there," Sirius said but that just caused Remus, Dora and Harry to flinch.

_Malfoy turned, and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him._

"Nice one, mum," Teddy said.

_Harry did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but dived off the dais out of the way. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order, who were now raining spells down upon them as they jumped from step to step towards the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, Harry could see Neville crawling along._

_He dodged another jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach Neville._

_"Are you okay?" he yelled, as another spell soared inches over their heads._

_"Yes," said Neville, trying to pull himself up._

_"And Ron?"_

_"I dink he's all righd - he was still fighding de brain when I lefd -"_

_The stone floor between them exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Neville's hand had been only seconds before; both scrambled away from the spot, then a thick arm came out of nowhere, seized Harry around the neck and pulled him upright, so that his toes were barely touching the floor._

"Get off him!" Lily, James, Sirius and Remus snarled.

_"Give it to me," growled a voice in his ear, "give me the prophecy -"_

_The man was pressing so tightly on Harry's windpipe that he could not breathe. Through watering eyes he saw Sirius duelling with a Death Eater some ten feet away; Kingsley was fighting two at once; Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix - nobody seemed to realize that Harry was dying. He turned his wand backwards towards the man's side, but had no breath to utter an incantation, and the man's free hand was groping towards the hand in which Harry was grasping the prophecy -_

_"AARGH!"_

_Neville had come lunging out of nowhere; unable to articulate a spell, he had jabbed Hermione's wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eaters mask._

"Nice," the twins laughed.

"My wand," Hermione groaned.

_The man relinquished Harry at once with a howl of pain. Harry whirled around to face him and gasped: "STUPEFY!"_

_The Death Eater keeled over backwards and his mask slipped off: it was Macnair, Buckbeak's would-be killer, one of his eyes now swollen and bloodshot._

_"Thanks!" Harry said to Neville, pulling him aside as Sirius and his Death Eater lurched past, duelling so fiercely that their wands were blurs; then Harry's foot made contact with something round and hard and he slipped. For a moment he thought he had dropped the prophecy, but then he saw Moody's magical eye spinning away across the floor._

_Its owner was lying on his side, bleeding from the head, and his attacker was now bearing down upon Harry and Neville: Dolohov, his long pale face twisted with glee._

"Mad-Eye" everyone yelled shocked.

_"Tarantallegra!" he shouted, his wand pointing at Neville, whose legs went immediately into a kind of frenzied tap-dance, unbalancing him and causing him to fall to the floor again._

_"Now, Potter -"_

_He made the same slashing movement with his wand that he had used on Hermione just as Harry yelled, "Protego!"_

_Harry felt something streak across his face like a blunt knife; the force of it knocked him sideways and he fell over Neville's jerking legs, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the spell._

_Dolohov raised his wand again. "Accio proph—"_

_Sirius had hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder and sent him flying out of the way._

"Good godfather," James chuckled

_The prophecy had again flown to the tips of Harry's fingers but he had managed to cling on to it. Now Sirius and Dolohov were dueling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand-tips - Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on Harry and Hermione. Springing up, Harry yelled, _

_"Petrificus Totalus!" Once again, Dolohov's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards, landing with a crash on his back._

_"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, forcing Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards them. "Now I want you to get out of-"_

_They both ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray._

"Mum!" Teddy groaned. Dora squeezed his shoulder.

_"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Harry did not see what happened next: Kingsley swayed across his field of vision, battling with the pockmarked and no longer masked Rookwood; another jet of green light flew over Harry's head as he launched himself towards Neville -_

_"Can you stand?" he bellowed in Neville's ear, as Neville's legs jerked and twitched uncontrollably. "Put your arm round my neck -"_

_Neville did so - Harry heaved — Neville's legs were still flying in every direction, they would not support him, and then, out of nowhere, a man lunged at them: both fell backwards, Neville's legs waving wildly like an overturned beetle's, Harry with his left arm held up in the air to try to save the small glass ball from being smashed._

_"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" snarled Lucius Malfoy's voice in his ear, and Harry felt the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between his ribs._

_"No - get - off - me… Neville - catch it!"_

_Harry flung the prophecy across the floor, Neville spun himself around on his back and scooped the ball to his chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, "Impedimenta!"_

"Brilliant, Harry," Bill said.

_Malfoy was blasted off his back. As Harry scrambled up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now duelling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Neville again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them._

_"Harry, round up the others and GO!"_

"Thanks you, Remus," Lily sighed.

_Harry seized Neville by the shoulder of his robes and lifted him bodily on to the first tier of stone steps; Neville's legs twitched and jerked and would not support his weight; Harry heaved again with all the strength he possessed and they climbed another step -_

_A spell hit the stone bench at Harry's heel; it crumbled away and he fell back to the step below._

_Neville sank to the ground, his legs still jerking and thrashing, and he thrust the prophecy into his pocket._

_"Come on!" said Harry desperately, hauling at Neville's robes. "Just try and push with your legs"_

_He gave another stupendous heave and Neville's robes tore all along the left seam - the small spun-glass ball dropped from his pocket and, before either of them could catch it, one of Neville's floundering feet kicked it: it flew some ten feet to their right and smashed on the step beneath them. As both of them stared at the place where it had broken, appalled at what had happened, a pearly-white figure with hugely magnified eyes rose into the air, unnoticed by any but them. Harry could see its mouth moving, but in all the crashes and screams and yells surrounding them, not one word of the prophecy could he hear. The figure stopped speaking and dissolved into nothingness._

_"Harry, I'b sorry!" cried Neville, his face anguished as his legs continued to flounder. "I'b so sorry, Harry, I didn'd bean do -"_

_"It doesn't matter!" Harry shouted. "Just try and stand, let's get out of -"_

"Zat's the important zing," Fleur agreed

_"Dubbledore!" said Neville, his sweaty face suddenly transported, staring over Harry's shoulder._

_"What?"_

_"DUBBLEDORE!"_

_Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. _

"Dumbledore!" everyone cheered.

_Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body - they were saved. Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry, who had no more thoughts of leaving._

_Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line -_

_Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her._

_"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room._

_The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest._

_The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock._

_Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais._

_It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch._

"No!" Lily and James gasped.

Everything froze, including the memory, as they all stared at Sirius.

"Oh Merlin," Lily cried before launching herself at him and sobbing.

Tears ran down everyone's faces no matter when it is they died or how well they knew Sirius. Petunia had a hand on her mouth while Ginny and Hermione were taking huge shuddering breathes wrapped in their husbands arms.

Teddy stared at Sirius for a few minutes before pulling away from his parents and running to his own godfather, knocking him and Ginny sideways before Harry wrapped an arm around him. Ginny squeezed his hand knowing he was thinking how much it would hurt for him to lose Harry and therefore knowing how much Sirius death would hurt Harry.

James stared in shook until Lily released Sirius and hugged his best mate, a few minutes later Sirius spoke up.

"Merlin," he said. "You do all realize I'm alive, right?"

Lily slapped him round the head.

"Come on, you softies, lets continue with this memory," Sirius chuckled, knowing he would know nothing and it was killing him.

_Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place._

_Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, _

_But Sirius did not reappear._

_"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"_

Everyone flinched and Teddy's arms tightened around Harry.

_He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. _

_But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back._

_"There's nothing you can do, Harry -"_

_"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"_

_"- it's too late, Harry."_

_"We can still reach him -" Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go…_

_"There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… he's gone."_

_"He hasn't gone!" Harry yelled._

_He did not believe it; he would not believe it; still he fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had. Lupin did not understand; people hid behind that curtain; Harry had heard them whispering the first time he had entered the room. Sirius was hiding, simply lurking out of sight._

"Harry, you aren't helping," Ginny cried as Sirius looked sadly at his godson – he'd never imagined his death had caused Harry so much pain, they hadn't spent all that much time together.

_"SIRIUS!" he bellowed. "SIRIUS!"_

_"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. "He can't come back, because he's d-"_

_"HE - IS - NOT - DEAD!" roared Harry. "SIRIUS!"_

_There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling, the flashes of more spells. _

_Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais. Harry, still staring at the archway, was angry at Sirius now for keeping him waiting._

"Hey," Sirius said, frowning.

_But some part of him realized, even as he fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before… Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry, to help him… if Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back… that he really was._

"Oh Harry," Molly sobbed.

"We're skipping," Harry said using his Auror training so he only sounded marginally upset despite how he really felt.

The memory continued as Harry was edging around a fountain.

_Harry was edging around the fountain on the other side when Bellatrix screamed, "Crucio!" and he was forced to duck down again as the centaur's arm, holding its bow, span off and landed with a crash on the floor a short distance from the golden wizard's head._

"You went after her," Sirius groaned – he should have known.

_"Potter, you cannot win against me!" she cried._

_He could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of him. He backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur's legs, his head level with the house-elf's._

_"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete"_

_"Stupefy!" yelled Harry. He had edged right around to where the goblin stood beaming up at the now headless wizard and taken aim at her back as she peered around the fountain. She reacted so fast he barely had time to duck._

_"Protego!"_

_The jet of red light, his own Stunning Spell, bounced back at him. Harry scrambled back behind the fountain and one of the goblin's ears went flying across the room._

_"Potter, I'm going to give you one chance!" shouted Bellatrix. "Give me the prophecy - roll it out towards me now - and I may spare your life!"_

"She zinks you still 'ave zee prophecy," Fleur muttered.

'_Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Harry roared "And he knows!'" said Harry, with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"_

"Don't annoy her, Harry," Ginny scolded.

_"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice._

_"The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?"_

_"LIAR!" she shrieked, but he could hear the terror behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"_

Sirius managed a small chuckle at that.

_Harry laughed again because he knew it would incense her. He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him._

_"Nothing there!" he shouted. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"_

_"No!" she screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED - DO NOT PUNISH ME"_

_"Don't waste your breath!" yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. "He can't hear you from here!"_

_"Can't I, Potter?" said a high, cold voice._

"Crap," everyone muttered but Harry.

"Language, Teddy," Harry said.

"But everyone said it," Teddy said annoyed.

"Doesn't mean you have to," Harry replied frowning while Remus and Dora tried to stop themselves from laughing.

_Harry opened his eyes._

_Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring… Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move._

_"So, you smashed my prophecy?" said Voldemort softly, _

"It's Harry's too," Dudley reasoned.

_staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. "No, Bella, he is not lying… I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind… months of preparation, months of effort… and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again"_

"For such a "great" wizard," Dora said. "He does get out done by a child a lot."

"I'm not a child," Harry disagreed.

"Sure Harry," Dora laughed while Harry huffed.

_"Master, I am sorry I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly nearer_

"Nice name, Padfoot," Remus chuckled.

_. "Master, you should know"_

_"Be quiet, Bella," said Voldemort dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"_

_"But Master - he is here - he is below"_

_Voldemort paid no attention._

_"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," he said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

"No!" Lily, James, Molly and Arthur yelled.

_Harry had not even opened his mouth to resist; his mind was blank, his wand pointing uselessly at the floor._

_But the headless golden statue of the wizard in the fountain had sprung alive, leaping from its plinth to land with a crash on the floor between Harry and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest as the statue flung out its arms to protect Harry._

"Dumbledore," everyone breathed.

_"What -?" cried Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, "Dumbledore!"_

_Harry looked behind him, his heart pounding. Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates._

_Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of green light streaked at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak. Next second, he had reappeared behind Voldemort and waved his wand towards the remnants of the fountain._

"Wicked…" James and Sirius said.

_The other statues sprang to life. The statue of the witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor._

_Meanwhile, the goblin and the house-elf scuttled towards the fireplaces set along the wall and the one-armed centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry backwards, away from the fight, as Dumbledore advanced on Voldemort and the golden centaur cantered around them both._

_"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," said Dumbledore calmly. "The Aurors are on their way"_

"Good," Teddy muttered, having let go of his godfather.

_"By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!" spat Voldemort._

"Yeah right," the twins, Lily, James and Sirius scoffed.

_He sent another killing curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk, which burst into flame._

"His aim's not too great," Remus observed.

_Dumbledore flicked his own wand: the force of the spell that emanated from it was such that Harry, though shielded by his golden guard, felt his hair stand on end as it passed and this time Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver shield out of thin air to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like note reverberated from it - an oddly chilling sound._

_"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort, his scarlet eyes narrowed over the top of the shield. "Above such brutality, are you?"_

"No," Lily said. "But there are things far worse than death."

_"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk towards Voldemort as though he had not a fear in the world, as though nothing had happened to interrupt his stroll up the hall. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit"_

_"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort._

_"You are quite wrong," said Dumbledore, still closing in upon Voldemort and speaking as lightly as though they were discussing the matter over drinks._

"You think a bit like Dumbledore, Lils," James chuckled.

"I'll take that as a complement," she laughed.

_Harry felt scared to see him walking along, undefended, shieldless; he wanted to cry out a warning, but his headless guard kept shunting him backwards towards the wall, blocking his every attempt to get out from behind it._

_"Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness"_

_Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time it was the one-armed centaur, galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had drawn back his wand and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a serpent, which relinquished its hold on Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore._

_Voldemort vanished; the snake reared from the floor, ready to strike._

_There was a burst of flame in midair above Dumbledore just as Voldemort reappeared, standing on the plinth in the middle of the pool where so recently the five statues had stood._

_"Look out!" Harry yelled._

_But even as he shouted, another jet of green light flew at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake had struck._

_Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide and swallowed the jet of green light whole: he burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled and flightless._

"Poor, Fawkes," Ginny said.

"He's a Phoenix!" Ron said.

_At the same moment, Dumbledore brandished his wand in one long, fluid movement - the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; and the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass._

_For a few seconds Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass._

_Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor._

_"MASTER!" screamed Bellatrix._

"Is it over?" Petunia asked.

_Sure it was over, sure Voldemort had decided to flee, Harry made to run out from behind his statue guard, but Dumbledore bellowed: "Stay where you are, Harry!"_

_For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened._

"That's bad," Fabian frowned.

_Harry could not see why: the hall was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped under the witch statue, and the baby phoenix Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor_

_He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature's began: they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape._

"Merlin," Gideon said, his eyes wide.

_And when the creature spoke, it used Harry's mouth, so that in his agony he felt his jaw move "Kill me now, Dumbledore…"_

_Blinded and dying, every part of him screaming for release, Harry felt the creature use him again…_

_"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"_

_Let the pain stop, thought Harry… let him kill us… end it, Dumbledore… death is nothing compared to this…_

"Don't think that," Ginny snapped as she and Teddy – who had not moved from beside his godfather allowing his arm to rest across his shoulders - hit him.

_And I'll see Sirius again…_

_the creature's coils loosened, the pain was gone; Harry was lying face down on the floor, his glasses gone, shivering as though he lay upon ice, not wood…_

"You drove him out," Arthur said in amazement. "How?"

"Aimer," Fleur said softly.

"What?" Molly asked,

"Love," Fleur said in English. "'Arry's love for Sirius, Voldemort couldn't deal wiz it – it drove 'im out."

"Of course," Hermione said. "Voldemort doesn't understand it."

Sirius stared at Harry for a few minutes before breaking out into a fond, proud smile.

_And there were voices echoing through the hall, more voices than there should have been…_

_Harry opened his eyes, saw his glasses lying by the heel of the headless statue that had been guarding him, but which now lay flat on its back, cracked and immobile. He put them on and raised his head a little to find Dumbledore's crooked nose inches from his own._

_"Are you all right, Harry?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, shaking so violently he could not hold his head up properly. "Yeah, I'm - where's Voldemort, where - who are all these - what's –"_

_The Atrium was full of people; the floor was reflecting the emerald green flames that had burst into life in all the fireplaces along one wall; and streams of witches and wizards were emerging from them. As Dumbledore pulled him back to his feet, Harry saw the tiny gold statues of the house-elf and the goblin, leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward._

"Good," James said. "He has to believe now."

"He does," Hermione said. "And we're skipping."

_Harry's feet hit solid ground; his knees buckled a little and the golden wizard's head fell with are sounding dunk to the floor. He looked around and saw that he had arrived in Dumbledore's office._

_Everything seemed to have repaired itself during the Headmaster's absence. The delicate silver instruments stood once more on the spindle-legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely the portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, heads lolling back in armchairs or against the edge of the picture. Harry looked through the window. There was a cool line of pale green along the horizon: dawn was approaching._

"Wow," Lily said. "Has it been that long?"

"No wonder I'm hungry," Sirius groaned.

"Later," Ginny sighed.

_The silence and the stillness, broken only by the occasional grunt or snuffle of a sleeping portrait, was unbearable to him. He walked around the quiet, beautiful office, breathing quickly, trying not to think. But he had to think… there was no escape…_

"Oh, Harry," James sighed

_It was his fault Sirius had died; it was all his fault._

"Not it's not!" Sirius said softly.

_If he, Harry, had not been stupid enough to fall for Voldemort's trick, if he had not been so convinced that what he had seen in his dream was real, if he had only opened his mind to the possibility that Voldemort was, as Hermione had said, banking on Harry's love of playing the hero…_

"That's not what I meant by that," Hermione said, her eyes filling with tears again.

_It was unbearable, he would not think about it, he could not stand it… there was a terrible hollow inside him he did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole where Sirius had been, where Sirius had vanished; he did not want to have to be alone with that great, silent space, he could not stand it -_

_A picture behind him gave a particularly loud grunting snore, and a cool voice said, "Ah… Harry Potter…"_

"Oh him," the twins groaned.

_Phineas Nigellus gave a long yawn, stretching his arms as he surveyed Harry out of shrewd, narrow eyes._

_"And what brings you here in the early hours of the morning?" said Phineas eventually "This office is supposed to be barred to all but the rightful Headmaster. Or has Dumbledore sent you here? Oh, don't tell me…" He gave another shuddering yawn. "Another message for my worthless great-great-grandson?"_

Petunia sucked in a breath at that.

_Harry could not speak. Phineas Nigellus did not know that Sirius was dead, but Harry could not tell him. To say it aloud would be to make it final, absolute, irretrievable._

"Harry, stop thinking," Ginny said, trying not to cry.

_A few more of the portraits had stirred now. Terror of being interrogated made Harry stride across the room and seize the doorknob._

_It would not turn. He was shut in._

"Dumbledore wants to talk to you," Arthur said.

"Then he should wait," Molly said firmly. "He did this after the tournament as well."

'_I hope this means," said the corpulent, red-nosed wizard who hung on the wall behind the Headmaster's desk, "that Dumbledore will soon be back among us?"_

_Harry turned. The wizard was surveying him with great interest. Harry nodded. He tugged again on the doorknob behind his back, but it remained immovable._

"No use, Harry," Dora sighed, she agreed with Molly.

_"Oh good," said the wizard. "It has been very dull without him, very dull indeed."_

_He settled himself on the throne-like chair on which he had been painted and smiled benignly upon Harry_

_"Dumbledore thinks very highly of you, as I am sure you know," he said comfortably. "Oh yes. Holds you in great esteem."_

"As he should," Ron and Hermione said.

_Harry could not stand this, he could not stand being himself any more… he had never felt more trapped inside his own head and body, never wished so intensely that he could be somebody; anybody, else…_

_The empty fireplace burst into emerald green flame, making Harry leap away from the door, staring at the man spinning inside the grate. As Dumbledore's tall form unfolded itself from the fire, the wizards and witches on the surrounding walls jerked awake, many of them giving cries of welcome._

_"Thank you," said Dumbledore softly._

_He did not look at Harry at first, but walked over to the perch beside the door and withdrew, from an inside pocket of his robes, the tiny, ugly, featherless Fawkes, whom he placed gently on the tray of soft ashes beneath the golden post where the full-grown Fawkes usually stood._

_"Well, Harry," said Dumbledore, finally turning away from the baby bird, "you will be pleased to hear that none of your fellow students are going to suffer lasting damage from the night's events.'_

"Good," Dudley said.

_. "Madam Pomfrey is patching everybody up," said Dumbledore. "Nymphadora Tonks may need to spend a little time in St. Mungo's, but it seems she will make a full recovery."_

"What happened?" Teddy asked, turning from his place next to his godfather to face his mother.

"Nothing you need to worry about," she said fondly, they had raised him well – not that she had doubted that.

_Harry contented himself with nodding at the carpet, which was growing lighter as the sky outside grew paler. He was sure all the portraits around the room were listening closely to every word Dumbledore spoke, wondering where Dumbledore and Harry had been, and why there had been injuries._

_"I know how you're feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore very quietly._

_"No, you don't," said Harry, and his voice was suddenly loud and strong._

"Yes, he does," Harry sighed but only Ginny and Teddy heard him.

_"You see, Dumbledore?" said Phineas Nigellus slyly "Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, wallow in self-pity, stew in their own -"_

_"That's enough, Phineas," said Dumbledore._

"Thank you," Sirius said, not wanting his relative to upset Harry any more.

_Harry turned his back on Dumbledore and stared determinedly out of the window. He could see the Quidditch stadium in the distance. Sirius had appeared there once, disguised as the shaggy black dog, so he could watch Harry play… he had probably come to see whether Harry was as good as James had been… Harry had never asked him…_

"You're better," Sirius said, without missing a beat, "and yes" – he chuckled – "that's exactly why I came."

_"There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore's voice. "On the contrary… the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."_

_"My greatest strength, is it?" said Harry, his voice shaking as he stared out at the Quidditch stadium, no longer seeing it. "You haven't got a clue… you don't know…"_

_"What don't I know?" asked Dumbledore calmly._

_. Harry turned around, shaking with rage._

_"I don't want to talk about how I feel, all right?"_

_"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human"_

_"THEN - I - DON'T - WANT - TO - BE - HUMAN!" Harry roared,_

"'Arry," Fleur said, a tear streaming down her face.

Sirius was closing his eyes tightly again. It was his entire fault that Harry was dealing with this pain and it was his fault that Remus would be alone again.

_and he seized the delicate silver instrument from the spindle legged table beside him and flung it across the room; it shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall._

"You threw Dumbledore stuff," Hermione gasped.

"Wow," the twins said as everyone stared at Harry in shock

_Several of the pictures let out yells of anger and fright, and the portrait of Armando Dippet said, "Really!"_

_"I DON'T CARE!" Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANY MORE"_

Everyone stared at Harry.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny shared looks. They had been though a lot with Harry and not once had they heard say he had enough, never said he wanted out, never showed a sign of weakness but Sirius' death caused him to break down.

_He seized the table on which the silver instrument had stood and threw that, too. It broke apart on the floor and the legs rolled in different directions._

_"You do care," said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached. "You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."_

"Don't be so blunt!" Dora shrieked causing some to look at her.

_"I - DON'T!" Harry screamed._

_"Oh, yes, you do," said Dumbledore, still more calmly. "You have now lost your mother, your father, and the closest thing to a parent you have ever known. Of course you care."_

"Stop it!" this time Sirius roared.

_"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL!" Harry roared. "YOU - STANDING THERE – YOU"_

_He turned on his heel and ran to the door, seized the doorknob again and wrenched at it._

_But the door would not open. Harry turned back to Dumbledore. "Let me out," he said. He was shaking from head to foot._

_"No," said Dumbledore, simply. For a few seconds they stared at each other._

_"Let me out," Harry said again._

_"No," Dumbledore repeated._

_"If you don't - if you keep me in here - if you don't let me"_

"Does he want you to go mad?" Hermione asked.

_"By all means continue destroying my possessions," said Dumbledore serenely. "I daresay I have too many."_

_He walked around his desk and sat down. behind it, watching Harry._

_"Let me out," Harry said yet again, in a voice that was cold and almost as calm as Dumbledore's._

Everyone shivered at the cold tone of Harry's voice, he sound so deadly it wasn't right, luckily he didn't use it often, only at work.

_"Not until I have had my say," said Dumbledore._

_"Do you - do you think I want to - do you think I give a - I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO SAY!" Harry roared. "I don't want to hear anything you've got to say!"_

_"You will," said Dumbledore steadily. "Because you are not nearly as angry with me as you ought to be. If you are to attack me, as I know you are close to doing, I would like to have thoroughly earned it."_

"Where you?" Ron asked.

"Kinda," Harry said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

_"What are you talking -?"_

_"It is my fault that Sirius died," said Dumbledore clearly._

"Does he believe that?" Fabian asked.

"Or is he doing a Harry?" Gideon added.

_"Or should I say, almost entirely my fault - I will not be so arrogant as to claim responsibility for the whole. Sirius was a brave, clever and energetic man, and such men are not usually content to sit at home in hiding while they believe others to be in danger. Nevertheless, you should never have believed for an instant that there was any necessity for you to go to the Department of Mysteries tonight. If I had been open with you, Harry, as I should have been, you would have known a long time ago that Voldemort might try and lure you to the Department of Mysteries, and you would never have been tricked into going there tonight. And Sirius would not have had to come after you. That blame lies with me, and with me alone."_

"He shouldn't have made me stay in that house," Sirius muttered.

"Agreed," James said

"Dumbledore's a man," Lily said. "He's allowed to make mistakes.'"

_Harry was still standing with his hand on the doorknob but was unaware of it. He was gazing at Dumbledore, hardly breathing, listening yet barely understanding what he was hearing._

_"Please sit down," said Dumbledore. It was not an order, it was a request._

_Harry hesitated, then walked slowly across the room now littered with silver cogs and fragments of wood, and took the seat facing Dumbledore's desk._

_"Am I to understand," said Phineas Nigellus slowly from Harry's left, "that my great-great-grandson - the last of the Blacks - is dead?"_

_"Yes, Phineas," said Dumbledore._

_"I don't believe it," said Phineas brusquely._

_Harry turned his head in time to see Phineas marching out of his portrait and knew that he had gone to visit his other painting in Grimmauld Place._

"Hmm," Dora said. "Does he care?"

"Considering Sirius is the last of the Blacks …" Dudley trailed off.

_"Harry, I owe you an explanation," said Dumbledore. "An explanation of an old man's mistakes. For I see now that what I have done, and not done, with regard to you, bears all the hallmarks of the failings of age. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young… and I seem to have forgotten, lately…"_

"At least he admits it," Petunia said.

"How old is he anyway?" Harry asked.

"114, I think," Hermione answered.

_The sun was rising properly now; there was a rim of dazzling orange visible over the mountains and the sky above it was colorless and bright. The light fell upon Dumbledore, upon the silver of his eyebrows and beard, upon the lines gouged deeply into his face._

_"I guessed, fifteen years ago," said Dumbledore, "when I saw the scar on your forehead, what it might mean. I guessed that it might be the sign of a connection forged between you and Voldemort."_

_"You've told me this before, Professor," said Harry bluntly. _

"Don't be rude," Molly scolded.

"I didn't particularly care at this point," Harry said, smiling at her.

"And yet you still call him Professor," Ginny laughed.

"Harry can't be fully disrespectful to Dumbledore," Bill laughed.

_Yes," said Dumbledore apologetically. "Yes, but you see - it is necessary to start with your scar. For it became apparent, shortly after you rejoined the magical world, that I was correct, and that your scar was giving you warnings when Voldemort was close to you, or else feeling powerful emotion."_

_"I know," said Harry wearily._

_"And this ability of yours - to detect Voldemort's presence, even when he is disguised, and to know what he is feeling when his emotions are roused - has become more and more pronounced since Voldemort returned to his own body and his full powers."_

_Harry did not bother to nod. He knew all of this already._

_"More recently" said Dumbledore, "I became concerned that Voldemort might realize that this connection between you exists. Sure enough, there came a time when you entered so far into his mind and thoughts that he sensed your presence. I am speaking, of course, of the night when you witnessed the attack on Mr. Weasley"_

_"Yeah, Snape told me," Harry muttered._

_"Professor Snape, Harry" Dumbledore corrected him quietly._

"But he can't be at all respectful to Snape," Ron laughed.

_"But did you not wonder why it was not I who explained this to you? Why I did not teach you Occlumency? Why I had not so much as looked at you for months?"_

"He hadn't looked at you for months?" Teddy asked.

"No, he hadn't," Harry answered.

"Why?"

_Harry looked up. He could see now that Dumbledore looked sad and tired._

_"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "Yeah, I wondered."_

_"You see," Dumbledore continued, "I believed it could not be long before Voldemort attempted toforce his way into your mind, to manipulate and misdirect your thoughts, and I was not eager to give him more incentives to do so. I was sure that if he realized that our relationship was - or had ever been - closer than that of headmaster and pupil, he would seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me. I feared the uses to which he would put you, the possibility that he might try and possess you. Harry, I believe I was right to think that Voldemort would have made use of you in such a way. On those rare occasions when we had close contact, I thought I saw a shadow of him stir behind your eyes…"_

_"Voldemort's aim in possessing you, as he demonstrated tonight, would not have been my destruction. It would have been yours._

"So who does he fear more you or Dumbledore?" Dudley asked.

The golden trio exchanged looks and they all spoke at the same times.

"Harry," Ron and Hermione said.

"Dumbledore," Harry said.

They looked at each other again as everyone laughed; Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes at him.

_He hoped, when he possessed you briefly a short while ago, that I would sacrifice you in the hope of killing him. _

"Does he really think Dumbledore would do that?" Lily asked.

"You heard Hermione," Remus said. "Voldemort doesn't understand love or anything similar."

_So you see, I have been trying, in distancing myself from you, to protect you, Harry. An old man's mistake…"_

_He sighed deeply. Harry was letting the words wash over him. He would have been so interested to know all this a few months ago, but now it was meaningless compared to the gaping chasm inside him that was the loss of Sirius; none of it mattered…_

"Harry, listen," Sirius chastised.

_"Sirius told me you felt Voldemort awake inside you the very night that you had the vision of Arthur Weasley's attack._

"Sorry, Harry," Sirius muttered, hating that he had betrayed Harry' trust like that but it had been necessary.

"Its fine," Harry smiled.

_I knew at once that my worst fears were correct: Voldemort had realized he could use you. In an attempt to arm you against Voldemort's assaults on your mind, I arranged Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape."_

_He paused. Harry watched the sunlight, which was sliding slowly across the polished surface of Dumbledore's desk, illuminate a silver ink pot and a handsome scarlet quill. Harry could tell that the portraits all around them were awake and listening raptly to Dumbledore's explanation; he could hear the occasional rustle of robes, the slight clearing of a throat. Phineas Nigellus had still not returned…_

_"Professor Snape discovered," Dumbledore resumed, " that you had been dreaming about the door to the Department of Mysteries for months. Voldemort, of course, had been obsessed with the possibility of hearing the prophecy ever since he regained his body; and as he dwelled on the door, so did you, though you did not know what it meant._

"Great," Lily muttered.

_"And then you saw Rockwood, who worked in the Department of Mysteries before his arrest, telling Voldemort what we had known all along - that the prophecies held in the Ministry of Magic are heavily protected. Only the people to whom they refer can lift them from the shelves without suffering madness: in this case, either Voldemort himself would have to enter the Ministry ofMagic, and risk revealing himself at last - or else you would have to take it for him. It became a matter of even greater urgency that you should master Occlumency"_

_"But I didn't," muttered Harry. "I didn't practice, I didn't bother, I could've stopped myself having those dreams, Hermione kept telling me to do it, if I had he'd never have been able to show me where to go, and - Sirius wouldn't - Sirius wouldn't"_

"Harry," everyone groaned.

_"I tried to check he'd really taken Sirius, I went to Umbridge's office, I spoke to Kreacher in the fire and he said Sirius wasn't there, he said he'd gone!"_

_"Kreacher lied," said Dumbledore calmly._

"Blasted elf," Sirius muttered

_"You are not his master, he could lie to you without even needing to punish himself. Kreacher intended you to go to the Ministry of Magic."_

_"He - he sent me on purpose?"_

_"Oh yes. Kreacher, I am afraid, has been serving more than one master for months."_

_"How?" said Harry blankly. "He hasn't been out of Grimmauld Place for years."_

_"Kreacher seized his opportunity shortly before Christmas," said Dumbledore, "when Sirius, apparently, shouted at him to 'get out'. He took Sirius at his word, and interpreted this as an order to leave the house. He went to the only Black family member for whom he had any respect left… Black's cousin Narcissa, sister of Bellatrix and wife of Lucius Malfoy"_

Teddy frowned at this wondering how his great aunt felt about this no. He knew she still liked Sirius and felt terrible that she hadn't stopped him being sent to Azkaban but how would she fell now that this had resulted in Sirius death?'

_"How do you know all this?" Harry said. _

_"Kreacher told me last night," said Dumbledore. "You see, when you gave Professor Snape that cryptic warning, he realized that you had had a vision of Sirius trapped in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries._

"He got the message," James said. "Brilliant, Harry."

_He, like you, attempted to contact Sirius at once. I should explain that members of the Order of the Phoenix have more reliable methods of communicating than the fire in Dolores Umbridge's office._

"We should have taught you four that," Remus said frowning. "Fred and George as well."

"It would 'ave been a good idea," Fleur agreed.

_Professor Snape found that Sirius was alive and safe in Grimmauld Place._

_"When, however, you did not return from your trip into the Forest with Dolores Umbridge, Professor Snape grew worried that you still believed Sirius to be a captive of Lord Voldemort's. He alerted certain Order members at once."_

_Dumbledore heaved a great sigh and continued, "Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin were at Headquarters when he made contact. All agreed to go to your aid at once. Professor Snape requested that Sirius remain behind, as he needed somebody to remain at Headquarters to tell me what had happened, for I was due there at any moment. In the meantime he, Professor Snape, intended to search the Forest for you._

_"But Sirius did not wish to remain behind while the others went to search for you. He delegated to Kreacher the task of telling me what had happened. And so it was that when I arrived in Grimmauld Place shortly after they had all left for the Ministry, it was the elf who told me - laughing fit to burst - where Sirius had gone."_

_"He was laughing?" said Harry in a hollow voice._

"How is this elf in your house?" Petunia snarled.

"That'll be explained," Hermione muttered.

_"Oh, yes," said Dumbledore. "You see, Kreacher was not able to betray us totally. He is not Secret Keeper for the Order, he could not give the Malfoys our whereabouts, or tell them any of the Order's confidential plans that he had been forbidden to reveal. He was bound by the enchantments of his kind, which is to say that he could not disobey a direct order from his master, Sirius. But he gave Narcissa information of the sort that is very valuable to Voldemort, yet must have seemed much too trivial for Sirius to think of banning him from repeating it."_

"Like what?" Dudley and Sirius asked.

_"Like what?" said Harry._

_"Like the fact that the person Sirius cared most about in the world was you," said Dumbledore quietly. _

"True," Sirius said, smiling at Harry.

_"Like the fact that you were coming to regard Sirius as a mixture of father and brother._

"Is that true?" Sirius asked causing Remus to roll his eyes and Harry to the same.

"Yeah," Harry said. Sirius grinned at him

Lily and James beamed too and Teddy had a small smile on his face – that was how he felt about Harry.

_Voldemort knew already, of course, that Sirius was in the Order, and that you knew where he was - but Kreacher's information made him realize that the one person for whom you would go to any lengths to rescue was Sirius Black."_

"Damn, that elf," Sirius and James muttered.

"Not the only person," Harry disagreed. "These three."

"Yes but you could check we were there far easier," Hermione said, smiling at him

_Harry's lips were cold and numb._

_"So… when I asked Kreacher if Sirius was there last night…"_

_"The Malfoys - undoubtedly on Voldemort's instructions - had told him he must find a way of keeping Sirius out of the way once you had seen the vision of Sirius being tortured. Then, if you decided to check whether Sirius was at home or not, Kreacher would be able to pretend he was not. Kreacher injured Buckbeak the Hippogriff yesterday, and, at the moment when you made your appearance in the fire, Sirius was upstairs tending to him."_

_"And Kreacher told you all this… and laughed?" he croaked._

_"He did not wish to tell me," said Dumbledore. "But I am a sufficiently accomplished Legilimens myself to know when I am being lied to and I - persuaded him - to tell me the full story, before I left for the Department of Mysteries."_

_"And," whispered Harry, his hands curled in cold fists on his knees, "and Hermione kept telling us to be nice to him"_

"And I was right," Hermione said indignantly. "If Sirius, over there, had been nicer to Kreacher then Kreacher would have shown him more respect and not want him killed."

_"She was quite right, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I warned Sirius when we adopted twelve Grimmauld Place as our Headquarters that Kreacher must be treated with kindness and respect. I also told him that Kreacher could be dangerous to us. I do not think Sinus took me very seriously, or that he ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's" _

"No, I didn't," Sirius sighed. "That elf was a reminder of my miserable childhood."

_"Don't you blame - don't you - talk - about Sirius like -" Harry's breath was constricted "Kreacher's a lying - foul - he deserved –"_

_"Kreacher is what he has been made by wizards, Harry" said Dumbledore. "Yes, he is to be pitied. His existence has been as miserable as your friend Dobby's. He was forced to do Sirius's bidding, because Sirius was the last of the family to which he was enslaved, but he felt no true loyalty to him. And whatever Kreacher's faults, it must be admitted that Sirius did nothing to make Kreacher's lot easier"_

_"DON'T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS LIKE THAT!" Harry yelled._

"Yes, have some compassion, Dumbledore," Lily snapped.

_"What about Snape?" Harry spat. "You're not talking about him, are you? When I told him Voldemort had Sirius he just sneered at me as usual –"_

_"Harry, you know Professor Snape had no choice but to pretend not to take you seriously in front of Dolores Umbridge," said Dumbledore steadily, "but as I have explained, he informed the Order as soon as possible about what you had said. It was he who deduced where you had gone when you did not return from the Forest. It was he, too, who gave Professor Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting to force you to tell her Sirius's whereabouts."_

_"Snape - Snape g - goaded Sirius about staying in the house - he made out Sirius was a coward"_

_"Sirius was much too old_

James waited for Sirius to react as he once would have done to this comment but the pain his death was causing Harry seemed to make him disregard this.

_and clever to have allowed such feeble taunts to hurt him," saidDumbledore._

_"Snape stopped giving me Occlumency lessons!" Harry snarled. "He threw me out of his office!"_

_"I am aware of it," said Dumbledore heavily "I have already said that it was a mistake for me not to teach you myself, though I was sure, at the time, that nothing could have been more dangerous than to open your mind even further to Voldemort while in my presence –"_

_"Snape made it worse, my scar always hurt worse after lessons with him" Harry remembered Ron's thoughts on the subject and plunged on "- how do you know he wasn't trying to soften me up for Voldemort, make it easier for him to get inside my –"_

_"I trust Severus Snape," said Dumbledore simply "But I forgot - another old man's mistake - that some wounds run too deep for the healing. I thought Professor Snape could overcome his feelings about your father - I was wrong."_

"He should have known that third year," Dora muttered.

_"But that's okay, is it?" yelled Harry, ignoring the scandalized faces and disapproving mutterings of the portraits on the walls. "It's okay for Snape to hate my dad, but it's not okay for Sirius to hate Kreacher?"_

_"Sirius did not hate Kreacher," said Dumbledore._

"Yes I/he did," Sirius, Remus and the Trio said.

_"He regarded him as a servant unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike… the fountain we destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward."_

_"SO SIRIUS DESERVED WHAT HE GOT, DID HE?" Harry yelled._

"That's not what he said, Harry," Bill said.

"Zat's why zis conversation should wait until 'Arry is more rational," Fleur said angrily and Lily, as well as Molly, Ginny and Hermione, nodded in agreement

_"I did not say that, nor will you ever hear me say it," Dumbledore replied quietly. "Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated."_

"Now that's true," Remus and Sirius said.

_"Yeah, he did hate it!" said Harry, his voice cracking, turning his back on Dumbledore and walking away. The sun was bright inside the room now and the eyes of all the portraits followed him as he walked, without realizing what he was doing, without seeing the office at all. "You made him stay shut up in that house and he hated it, that's why he wanted to get out last night"_

_"I was trying to keep Sirius alive," said Dumbledore quietly_

_"People don't like being locked up!" Harry said furiously, rounding on him. "You did it to me all last summer"_

"That's a good point," Dudley said.

_Dumbledore closed his eyes and buried his face in his long fingered hands. Harry watched him, but this uncharacteristic sign of exhaustion, or sadness, or whatever it was from Dumbledore, did not soften him. On the contrary, he felt even angrier that Dumbledore was showing signs of weakness. He had no business being weak when Harry wanted to rage and storm at him._

"Harry," Lily reprimanded.

"He's grieving too," Arthur said softly.

_Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses._

_"It is time," he said, "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything. I ask only a little patience. You will have your chance to rage at me - to do whatever you like - when I have finished. I will not stop you."_

"Uncle Harry and patience don't really go together," Teddy muttered to Ginny, who giggled slightly.

_Harry glared at him for a moment, then flung himself back into the chair opposite Dumbledore and waited._

_Dumbledore stared for a moment at the sunlit grounds outside the window, then looked back at Harry and said, "Five years ago you arrived at Hogwarts, Harry, safe and whole, as I had planned and intended. Well - not quite whole. You had suffered. I knew you would when I left you on your aunt and uncle's doorstep. I knew I was condemning you to ten dark and difficult years."_

"Did he know?" Lily seethed sending her sister a dark look.

_He paused. Harry said nothing._

_"You might ask - and with good reason - why it had to be so. Why could some wizarding family not have taken you in? Many would have done so more than gladly, would have been honored and delighted to raise you as a son._

_"My answer is that my priority was to keep you alive. You were in more danger than perhaps anyone but I realized. Voldemort had been vanquished hours before, but his supporters - and many of them are almost as terrible as he - were still at large, angry, desperate and violent._

_And I had to make my decision, too, with regard to the years ahead. Did I believe that Voldemort was gone for ever? No. I knew not whether it would be ten, twenty or fifty years before he returned, but I was sure he would do so, and I was sure, too, knowing him as I have done, that he would not rest until he killed you._

_"I knew that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive. I knew that even my most complex and powerful protective spells and charms were unlikely to be invincible if he ever returned to full power._

Ginny and Hermione's eyes narrowed, they'd prefer him to have a happy childhood with Dumbledore's best charms.

_"But I knew, too, where Voldemort was weak. And so I made my decision. You would be protected by an ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, and which he has always, therefore, underestimated - to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact that your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in your veins to this day. I put my trust, therefore, in your mother's blood. I delivered you to her sister, her only remaining relative."_

_"She doesn't love me," said Harry at once. "She doesn't give a damn -"_

"Not true," Petunia said loudly. "I cared for you very much; I just couldn't show it in front of Vernon. He caught me once being nice to you when you were far too young to remember and I never dared be nice to you again."

_"But she took you," Dumbledore cut across him. "She may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, and in doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you._

_Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you."_

_"I still don't."_

_"While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, while you are there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years."_

"Thank you, Petunia," Remus, James and Sirius said.

_"Wait," said Harry. "Wait a moment."_

_He sat up straighter in his chair, staring at Dumbledore._

_"You sent that Howler. You told her to remember - it was your voice –"_

"Yes, he did," Petunia muttered.

_"I thought," said Dumbledore, inclining his head slightly, "that she might need reminding of the pact she had sealed by taking you. I suspected the Dementor attack might have awoken her to the dangers of having you as a surrogate son."_

_"It did," said Harry quietly. "Well - my uncle more than her. He wanted to chuck me out, but after the Howler came she - she said I had to stay"_

_He stared at the floor for a moment, then said, "But what's this got to do with – "_

_"Five years ago, then," continued Dumbledore, as though he had not paused in his story, "you arrived at Hogwarts, neither as happy nor as well-nourished as I would have liked, perhaps, yet alive and healthy. You were not a pampered little prince, but as normal a boy as I could have hoped under the circumstances. Thus far, my plan was working well._

"Normal is not the right word," two parts of the golden trio said while the other glared at them.

'_And then… well, you will remember the events of your first year at Hogwarts quite as clearly as I do. You rose magnificently to the challenge that faced you and sooner - much sooner - than I had anticipated, you found yourself face to face with Voldemort. _

"What?" Bill snapped, looking at his brother-in-law.

"Later, Bill, Fleur," Ginny said.

_You survived again. You did more. You delayed his return to full power and strength. You fought a man's fight. I was… prouder of you than I can say._

_"Yet there was a flaw in this wonderful plan of mine," said Dumbledore. "An obvious flaw that I knew, even then, might be the undoing of it all. And yet, knowing how important it was that my plan should succeed, I told myself that I would not permit this flaw to ruin it. I alone could prevent this, so I alone must be strong. And here was my first test, as you lay in the hospital wing, weak from your struggle with Voldemort."_

"I'm confused," Ron muttered.

"So am I," Teddy said.

_"I don't understand what you're saying," said Harry._

_"Don't you remember asking me, as you lay in the hospital wing, why Voldemort had tried to kill you when you were a baby?"_

_Harry nodded._

_"Ought I to have told you then?"_

_Harry stared into the blue eyes and said nothing, but his heart was racing again._

_"You do not see the flaw in the plan yet? No… perhaps not. Well, as you know, I decided not to answer you. Eleven, I told myself, was much too young to know. I had never intended to tell you when you were eleven. The knowledge would be too much at such a young age._

_"I should have recognized the danger signs then. I should have asked myself why I did not feel more disturbed that you had already asked me the question to which I knew, one day, I must give a terrible answer. I should have recognized that I was too happy to think that I did not have to do it on that particular day… You were too young, much too young._

"Oh," Lily said, a soft smile settling on her face.

"What?" Remus asked but she shook her head

_"And so we entered your second year at Hogwarts. And once again you met challenges even grown wizards have never faced:_

"Second year?" Fleur asked.

"Ginny," Harry said looking at Bill, who nodded.

"Later, Fleur."

_once again you acquitted yourself beyond my wildest dreams. You did not ask me again, however, why Voldemort had your left that mark on you. We discussed scar, oh yes… we came very, very close to the subject. Why did I not tell you everything?_

_"Well, it seemed to me that twelve was, after all, hardly better than eleven to receive such information. I allowed you to leave my presence, bloodstained, exhausted but exhilarated, and if I felt a twinge of unease that I ought, perhaps, to have told you then, it was swiftly silenced. You were still so young, you see, and I could not find it in myself to spoil that night of triumph…_

"Oh," Teddy said, grinning.

"What?" Remus asked, now getting a bit annoyed.

_"Do you see, Harry? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan now? I had fallen into the trap I had foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid."_

_"I don't –"_

_"I cared about you too much," said Dumbledore simply._

"That's a flaw?" Ginny asked.

"In this case yes," Harry said.

"But its sweet," Dora said, grinning.

_"I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed._

"I'm sure Dumbledore thought of you as a grandson," Hermione said. "The way he looked at you – there was such love in it. Like Minerva"

Lily and James beamed at the fact that Harry had created his very own family from the mismatched people he met.

"Minerva said I'm like a grandson to her?" Harry coughed as Ginny and Ron laughed.

"Yes, she said so," Hermione grinned. "Shut it you two."

_In other words, I acted exactly as Voldemort expects we fools who love to act._

_"Is there a Defense? I defy anyone who has watched you as I have - and I have watched you more closely than you can have imagined - not to want to save you more pain than you had already suffered. What did I care if numbers of nameless and faceless people and creatures were slaughtered in the vague future, if in the here and now you were alive, and well, and happy? Inever dreamed that I would have such a person on my hands._

"It does sound like he thinks of you as Hermione said, Harry," Arthur grinned.

"And highly," Remus added.

"I told you he's not hard to love," Molly said looking at Lily and James as Harry turned red and squeezed his eyes causing Teddy and Ron to burst out laughing.

"Aw, is poor Harry embarrassed," Fabian laughed.

Petunia and Dudley started to laugh on the look on Harry's face as Fleur spoke up.

"Oh, leave zee poor boy alone," she said and as Bill looked at her. e'e's embarrassed."

Harry buried his face in his hands before taking his wand out of his pocket and making the memory continue.

_"We entered your third year. I watched from afar as you struggled to repel Dementors, as you found Sirius, learned what he was and rescued him. Was I to tell you then, at the moment when you had triumphantly snatched your godfather from the jaws of the Ministry?_

"No," Dora said.

_But now, at the age of thirteen, my excuses were running out. Young you might be, but you had proved you were exceptional. My conscience was uneasy, Harry. I knew the time must come soon…_

_"But you came out of the maze last year, having watched Cedric Diggory die, having escaped death so narrowly yourself… and I did not tell you, though I knew, now Voldemort had returned, I must do it soon. And now, tonight, I know you have long been ready for the knowledge I have kept from you for so long, because you have proved that I should have placed the burden upon you before this. My only Defence is this: I have watched you struggling under more burdens than any student who as ever passed through this school _

Everyone's good mood from Harry's embarrassment vanished at that.

_and I could not bring myself to add another - the greatest one of all."_

"Oh god, what's worse?" Dudley questioned.

_Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak._

_"I still don't understand."_

_"Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking so assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you."_

"See Harry he's obviously afraid of you," Hermione said.

'Why else would he spend a whole year finding out how to kill a fifteen year old wizard?" Ron added smirking.

"Shut up, you two," Harry said to his two best friends

_The sun had risen fully now: Dumbledore's office was bathed in it. The glass case in which the sword of Godric Gryffindor resided gleamed white and opaque, the fragments of the instruments Harry had thrown to the floor glistened like raindrops, and behind him, the baby Fawkes made soft chirruping noises in his nest of ashes._

_"The prophecy's smashed," Harry said blankly. "I was pulling Neville up those benches in the - the room where the archway was, and I ripped his robes and it fell…"_

_"The thing that smashed was merely the record of the prophecy kept by the Department of Mysteries. But the prophecy was made to somebody, and that person has the means of recalling it perfectly"_

_"Who heard it?" asked Harry, though he thought he knew the answer already._

"Dumbledore," everyone said.

_"I did," said Dumbledore. "On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog's Head inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher, though it was against my inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all. The applicant, however, was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer and I thought it common politeness to meet her. I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she had not a trace of the gift herself. I told her, courteously I hope, that I did not think she would be suitable for the post. I turned to leave."_

_Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes's perch. He bent down, slid back a catch and took from inside it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges, in which Harry had seen his father tormenting Snape._

_Dumbledore walked back to the desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, gossamer-fine strands of thought clinging to the wand and deposited them into the basin. He sat back down behind his desk and watched his thoughts swirl and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the silvery substance with its tip._

_A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly; her feet in the basin. But when Sibyll Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in the harsh, hoarse tones Harry had heard her use once before:_

_"The one with the power to vanquish the - Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

"Bloody hell," Dudley said.

"That would explain why he fears you," Petunia said.

_The slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished._

_The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Harry nor any of the portraits made a sound. Even Fawkes had fallen silent._

_"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry said very quietly, for Dumbledore, still staring at the Pensieve, seemed completely lost in thought. "It… did that mean… what did that mean?"_

_"It meant," said Dumbledore, "that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly sixteen years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."_

_"It means - me?"_

_Dumbledore surveyed him for a moment through his glasses._

_"The odd thing, Harry," he said softly, "is that it may not have meant you at all. _

"Huh?" Dudley asked.

"Neville," Lily said, her and Alice had spent a lot of time worrying together during the last months of their pregnancy's

_Sibyll's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."_

_"But then… but then, why was it my name on the prophecy and not Neville's?"_

_"The official record was re-labeled after Voldemort's attack on you as a child," said Dumbledore._

_"It seemed plain to the keeper of the Hall of Prophecy that Voldemort could only have tried to kill you because he knew you to be the one to whom Sibyll was referring."_

_"Then - it might not be me?" said Harry_

_"I am afraid," said Dumbledore slowly, looking as though every word cost him a great effort, "that there is no doubt that it is you."_

_"But you said - Neville was born at the end of July, too - and his mum and dad –"_

_"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort… Voldemort himself would mark him as his equal. And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved both blessing and curse."_

_"But he might have chosen wrong!" said Harry. "He might have marked the wrong person!"_

"It's not a matter of right or wrong," Gideon said.

"It's one over the other," Fabian finished

_"He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him," said Dumbledore. "And notice this, Harry: he chose, not the pureblood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing) but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you,_

"Harry's nothing like him," most growled.

_and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you, as he intended, but gave you powers, and a future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but four times so far - something that neither your parents, nor Neville's parents, ever achieved."_

_"Why did he do it, then?" said Harry, who felt numb and cold. "Why did he try and kill me as a baby? He should have waited to see whether Neville or I looked more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then –"_

_"That might, indeed, have been the more practical course," said Dumbledore, "except that Voldemort's information about the prophecy was incomplete. The Hog's Head inn, which Sibyll chose for its cheapness, has long attracted, shall we say, a more interesting clientele than the Three Broomsticks. As you and your friends found out to your cost, and I to mine that night, it is a place where it is never safe to assume you are not being overheard. Of course, I had not dreamed, when I set out to meet Sibyll Trelawney, that I would hear anything worth overhearing. My - our - one stroke of good fortune was that the eavesdropper was detected only a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building."_

_"So he only heard -?"_

_"He heard only the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master that to attack you would be to risk transferring power to you, and marking you as his equal. So Voldemort never knew that there might be danger in attacking you, that it might be wise to wait, to learn more. He did not know that you would have power the Dark Lord knows not–"_

_"But I don't!" said Harry, in a strangled voice. "I haven't any powers he hasn't got, I couldn't fight the way he did tonight, I can't possess people or - or kill them -"_

"Deep breath, Harry," Ginny said, calmingly.

_"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries," interrupted Dumbledore, "that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. That power took you to save Sirius tonight. That power also saved you from possession by Voldemort, because he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests. In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you."_

_Harry closed his eyes. If he had not gone to save Sirius, Sirius would not have died… More to stave off the moment when he would have to think of Sirius again, Harry asked, without caring much about the answer, "The end of the prophecy... it was something about neither... can live..."_

_"…while the other survives," said Dumbledore._

Teddy shuddered

_"So," said Harry, dredging up the words from what felt like a deep well of despair inside him, "so does that mean that… that one of us has got to kill the other one… in the end?"_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore._

_For a long time, neither of them spoke. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, Harry could hear the sound of voices, students heading down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast, perhaps. It seemed impossible that there could be people in the world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew nor cared that Sirius Black was gone forever_

"Oh don't think about this," Dora sighed.

_Sirius seemed a million miles away already; even now a part of Harry still believed that if he had only pulled back that veil, he would have found Sirius looking back at him, greeting him, perhaps, with his laugh like a bark…_

_"I feel I owe you another explanation, Harry," said Dumbledore hesitantly. "You may, perhaps, have wondered why I never chose you as a prefect? I must confess… that I rather thought… you had enough responsibility to be going on with."_

"That's make me feel happy," Ron grumbled while Hary and Hermione laughed.

_Harry looked up at him and saw a tear trickling down Dumbledore's face into his long silver beard._

"That's it," Ginny said as they landed backing the family room.

"No, I've got one more," Hermione said.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief glad not to go to bed after that memory – Teddy was sure he'd have nightmares.

"What?" Harry asked but Hermione just smiled in a sisterly way at him.

"In you come," she said softly to everyone. "I thought I might lighten the mood a bit."

_Hermione was sat up in bed, reading. She had expected to find it frustrating but there had been never ending visits from Ginny, who could lighten the mood with one of her uncanny Umbridge impressions,_

"They were good, weren't they?" Ginny laughed.

_and Neville, who had kindly offered to bring her any book she wanted from the library. He occasionally brought her the wrong book but, after hearing how he had carried her unconscious form around the Department of Mysteries, she decided never to mention it. Occasionally even Luna wandered in and appeared to be shocked to find her there._

_Even when there were no visitors, Ron had always been there to moan at the food and lack of Quidditch. _

Everyone snorted while Ron glared at her.

_It was as she had to stifle a yawn behind her hand that she looked up from the pages of her book to see the other person who had been visiting her, standing in the doorway._

_Harry's visits had been uncomfortable to say the least. _

"Hey!" Harry said, as that was spoken in Hermione's voice – she was obviously more talented at adding memories to pensieves than he was to make them give some background.

_He never came alone, only when Ginny dragged him to the hospital wing, and when he was there he rarely spoke. He'd stay for a short while before leaving abruptly. She had discussed this with Ron at length and for once he didn't tell her drop it because he was worried too. They knew him best and neither of them knew what to do to help him._

"You could do nothing," Dora said she had been similar but not as bad as Harry.

_Harry stared at her for a few seconds before coming to stand by her bed. In the low light of the hospital wing his skin looked a strange shade of yellow and the bags behind the lenses of his glasses stood out clearer than usual. He clearly hadn't slept the night before. Hermione wondered how long he had been there before she noticed him._

"Not long," Harry said, smiling.

_"Hi," Hermione said, slowly closing her book. From this close she could see how dull his usually vibrant eyes were. He seemed unsure of what to do with his hands and buried them in his pockets._

_"How're you feeling?" he asked. Hermione was unsurprised to hear how croaky he sounded._

"Oh Harry," Lily sighed.

_"Better," she answered softly. "You?"_

_Harry coughed and shrugged and Hermione was convinced he would bolt. _

"Why would he bolt?" Teddy asked.

_Harry didn't normally discuss how he was but since they had got back from the ministry he shut down if someone asked him how he was, however innocently._

"Oh," Teddy said rolling his eyes – that was his godfather.

_Instead, with what looked like great effort, he sat down next to her bed and stared at her sheets._

_Hermione was so grateful that he didn't leave that she didn't push him for a better answer._

"Probably for the best," Arthur said.

_"You're here early," she commented, trying to get some kind of conversation going. Talking to Harry at the minute was like walking on the most fragile eggshells known to man. _

"Should I take offense to that?" he asked

_She even found herself wishing for the Harry who would lash out unpredictably._

'NoT that,' the twins said although they were frowning, as was everyone else, at how much Sirius death had affected him.

_Again, however, Harry surprised her by not reacting wildly._

_"Thought you might be bored on your own," he told her in a voice so quiet she barely heard it._

_"Oh," she said. He could've been lying but she touched all the same._

"I wasn't lying," he huffed.

_"Thank you."_

_She waited patiently for Harry to respond but after a while it became clear that he wasn't going to. Hermione repeatedly read the blurb to pass the time. This had been the most responsive she had ever seen Harry, not to mention this was his first solo visit and she didn't want to ruin it. He had come to her and if wanted to sit in silence then she would sit in silence._

"Thanks," Harry then muttered

_After a couple of minutes, Hermione started wondering what it would be like to lose someone close to her. So far, apart from Sirius, the only person she had known to die had been her maternal Grandfather but she had only been four years old and could only remember snippets of him. She guessed her equivalent of Harry losing Sirius would be if one of her parents, Ron or Harry died. If that happened Hermione had no idea how she would react, let alone cope, leaving her with nothing comforting to say to her friend._

"You couldn't have said anything," Molly said, looking at her brothers.

_"I'm sorry."_

_His words shocked her so much that Hermione thought she had imagined them at first but as she looked up from her book, she saw him looking directly at her. She had expected him to look upset or at least awkward but his face was so bereft of emotion he could well have been a corpse._

"Creepy," James muttered while Sirius looked terribly upset.

_"What for?" she asked, not knowing how else to respond._

_Harry frowned a bit as if he didn't understand why she didn't know what he was apologising for._

_"For you being hurt-"_

_"Don't be so-"_

_"-and for not listening to you."_

_Hermione's rebuttal died in her throat. She stared at him as the rest of the sentence that he hadn't said filled the space between them._

For not listening to you when you said it was trap.

You were right but I didn't believe you and you were nearly killed because of it.

If I had just stopped and listened to you Sirius would still be alive.

"Not true," Petunia said, comfortingly.

_Hermione wanted desperately to tell him that he had listened to her, he had checked to see if Sirius was in his house, but couldn't because what he considered to be his worst crimes had only been implied. Acknowledging them would be like declaring that she believed them to be true_.

"How you two can stare at each other and have a conversationis something I will never understand," Ginny said trying to laugh but the reminder of Harry's behavior made her upset.

_So instead she continued staring at Harry, trying to keep the pity that he hated so much off of her face, while he went back to gazing into space, apparently no longer interested in their conversation._

"Polite," Sirius said.

_Harry was always so observant, always spotting things that no one else did. Even when he took the back seat in a conversation, which he did often, he was still alert and listening. Seeing him drift so easily into his own thoughts was unnerving for Hermione to see._

"Sorry," Harry chucked.

"She had a point," everyone there muttered.

_What was promising though was that before every time someone mentioned Sirius or the ministry, Harry had walked out, sometimes with a flimsy excuse, sometimes without a word._

Sirius frowned again.

_This was by far the closest he had ever come to discussing it himself. Maybe he was finally willing to try and drag himself out the depression that had gripped him the past couple of weeks._

"I wasn't in a depression," Harry said, annoyed.

"Yes you were," the other three said.

_"I'm sorry too, Harry," Hermione whispered, unable to look at him so she looked down at her knees. "I-I know words can't solve this but I'm here for you in any way you need me to be."_

_When she had finished talking, Hermione looked up to see Harry still staring into the distance. He hadn't heard her._

"Sorry," Harry said. "Thanks, a few years later."

"Many years late," Hermione said, taking his hand.

_Not wanting to disturb him, Hermione adjusted her position to make herself slightly more comfortable and sat with him in silence._

_It was a good ten minutes before Harry spoke again._

_"How are you?" he asked again, although this time he seemed like he cared about the answer, even if his voice was expressionless. "Ron said something about you being on fewer potions now?"_

_"Yes, it's much better now," Hermione answered as cheerfully as she could. "I might even be allowed out of here in the next couple of days."_

_"That's good," he replied, smiling as though he had forgotten how._

"Good," Remus muttered. "He took Sirius death worse than I did."

_Hermione returned the smile._

_He didn't need to know that up until a few days ago there was talk of her having to stay in the hospital wing over the summer holiday or that the reason she was on so many potions originally was that Madam Pomfrey wasn't entirely sure how to treat her. He didn't need to know how the curse had almost melted her ribs together. _

"What?" Harry snapped.

"Nothing," Hermione said, biting her bottom lip

_He didn't need to know that if the incantation had been spoken aloud her organs would have been also, killing her almost instantly_

Harry's eyes fluttered closed as Hermione squeezed his hand.

_Even as she continued chatting as casually as she could with Harry, familiar shooting pains went through her ribs and she wished she could try and get some more sleep_

Harry opened his mouth but Hermione and Ron beat him too it, "Don't you dare."

_but she didn't because he was hurting more than she could possibly know._

"I thought that was meant to lighten the sprits," Sirius said, frowning.

"It did," Dudley said. "She pulled his out of his depression."

"You really hit the jackpot on friends," James grinned.

"I know," Harry laughed.

"Let's go get something to eat," Ginny said taking Harry's hand and they led everyone to the dining room where Harry, figuring it was a good idea, left the room again to call Kreacher.


	24. Chapter 23 - Horcruxes

The next morning everyone was up far earlier than usual having tossed and turned all night unable to sleep due to what they had learned yesterday. Sirius got the most sleep but he was worried and touched about how much his death had affected Harry

One time during the night on a rare time she actually slept, Ginny had had nightmares about Harry being tortured and jumped into a sitting position so quickly that she'd woken Harry up – not that he minded. He spent most of night calming her down and berating himself about telling her at all.

Everyone ate breakfast in silence all being too tired to have conversation and Harry had been watching Teddy, who looked as though he was going to fall asleep at the table.

"Maybe we shouldn't continue today," Harry suggested as Dora let out a huge yawn but he words jolted everyone awake.

"No, no, no, let's keep going," Lily said, even though she yawned straight after speaking causing Harry to raise an eyebrow.

"We're fine," James said nodding his head firmly – he did look more awake than he had a moment ago.

Harry was outnumbered as everyone else nodded.

"Fine," he said. "But don't blame me if you fall asleep."

Remus rolled is eyes fondly, "let's go."

_Harry jumped up as though he had received an electric shock,_ _knocked over his chair, and started snatching anything and everything within reach from the floor and throwing it into the trunk. Then as he lobbed a set of robes, two spellbooks, and a packet of clasps across the room, the doorbell rang._

"Woah, what's going on?" Sirius asked.

_Downstairs in the living room his Uncle Vernon shouted, "Who the blazes is calling at this time of night?"_

Petunia made a face at her ex-husbands voice.

_Harry froze with a brass telescope in one hand and a pair of trainers in the other._

_He clambered over the trunk and wrenched open his bedroom door in time to hear a deep voice say, "Good evening. You must be Mr. Dursley._

"Dumbledore," Lily and James said in shock.

_I daresay Harry has told you I would be coming for him?"_

_'No he didn't,' Petunia said, that had been a shock._

_Harry ran down the stairs two at a time, coming to an abrupt halt several steps from the bottom._

_There in the doorway stood a tall, thin man with waist-length silver hair and beard. Half-moon spectacles were perched on his crooked nose, and he was wearing a long black traveling cloak and a pointed hat. Vernon Dursley, whose moustache was quite as bushy as Dumbledore's, though black, and who was wearing a puce dressing gown, was staring at the visitor as though he could not believe his tiny eyes._

Everyone sniggered

"Let him in, Dursley," Bill said.

_"Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, Harry did not warn you that I was coming," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "However, let us assume that you have invited me warmly into your house. It is unwise to linger overlong on doorsteps in these troubled times."_

_He stepped smartly over the threshold and closed the front door behind him._

"You've gotta love, Dumbledore," Fabian laughed.

"Yeah, he just does what he wants," Gideon agreed

_"It is a long time since my last visit," said Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Uncle Vernon. "I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing."_

_Vernon Dursley said nothing at all. Harry did not doubt that speech would return to him, and soon — the vein pulsing in his uncles temple was reaching danger point — but something about Dumbledore seemed to have robbed him temporarily of breath. _

_"Ah, good evening Harry," said Dumbledore, looking up at him through his half-moon glasses with a most satisfied expression. "Excellent, excellent."_

_These words seemed to rouse Uncle Vernon. It was clear that as far as he was concerned, any man who could look at Harry and say "excellent" was a man with whom he could never see eye to eye._

"There is nothing wrong with my nephew/son," Lily and Petunia snapped.

_"I don't mean to be rude —" he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable._

_"—yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often," Dumbledore finished the sentence gravely. "Best to say nothing at all, my dear man. Ah, and this must be Petunia."_

"I like this man," Teddy laughed.

_The kitchen door had opened, and there stood Harry's aunt, wearing rubber gloves and a housecoat over her nightdress. Her rather horsey face registered nothing but shock._

"What are you doing?" Dora asked surprised.

"Cleaning, Petunia said.

"At that time?" Ginny asked equally shocked.

_"Albus Dumbledore," said Dumbledore, when Uncle Vernon failed to effect an introduction. "We have corresponded, of course." _

_"And this must be your son, Dudley?"_

_Dudley had that moment peered round the living room door, his large, blond head rising out of the stripy collar of his pyjamas looked oddly disembodied, his mouth gaping in astonishment and fear. Dumbledore waited a moment or two, apparently to see whether any of the Dursleys were going to say anything, but as the silence stretched on he smiled._

_"Shall we assume that you have invited me into your sitting room?"_

"You do that, Albus," Remus chuckled.

_Dudley scrambled out of the way as Dumbledore passed him. Harry, still clutching the telescope and trainers, jumped the last few stairs and followed Dumbledore, who had settled himself in the armchair nearest the fire and was taking in the surroundings with an expression of benign interest. _

"He does look out of place, doesn't he?" Hermione laughed.

"Extremely," Arthur chuckled.

_"Aren't — aren't we leaving, sir?" Harry asked anxiously._

"Yes, please do," Molly said.

"No," Fabian said.

"Torment the Dursleys some more," Gideon laughed.

"Hey!" Petunia and Dudley said.

_"Yes, indeed we are, but there are a few matters we need to discuss first," said Dumbledore. "And I would prefer not to do so in the open. We shall trespass upon your aunt and uncle's hospitality only a little longer."_

_"You will, will you?"_

_Vernon Dursley had entered the room, Petunia at his shoulder, and Dudley skulking behind them both._

_"Yes," said Dumbledore simply, "I shall."_

Everyone was shaking their heads at how 'Dumbledore' that was.

_He drew his wand so rapidly that Harry barely saw it; with a casual flick, the sofa zoomed forward and knocked the knees out from under all three of the Dursleys so that they collapsed upon it in a heap. Another flick of the wand and the sofa zoomed back to its original position._

_"We may as well be comfortable," said Dumbledore pleasantly._

_As he replaced his wand in his pocket, Harry saw that his hand was blackened and shrivelled; it looked as though his flesh had been burned away._

"Is that because he touched -?" Ron asked but Harry nodded before he could finish causing everyone to look at them in confusion.

_"Sir — what happened to your —?"_

_"Later, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Please sit down."_

_Harry took the remaining armchair, choosing not to look at the Dursleys, who seemed stunned into silence._

Lily laughed, "Sorry, Tuney, but this is quite amusing."

_"I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment," Dumbledore said to Uncle Vernon, "but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness."_

"And you want to seem normal," Fleur muttered.

_A third twitch of the wand, and a dusty bottle and five glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tipped and poured a generous measure of honey-colored liquid into each of the glasses, which then floated to each person in the room._

_"Madam Rosmertas finest oak-matured mead," said Dumbledore, raising his glass to Harry, who caught hold of his own and sipped. He had never tasted anything like it before, but enjoyed it immensely. The Dursleys, after quick, scared looks at one another, tried to ignore their glasses completely, a difficult feat, as they were nudging them gently on the sides of their heads._

"Take it or it will get harder," Remus warned – James and Sirius had pulled this trick often in their dormitory when they wanted to get drunk and Remus was being a 'boring sod'

_"Well, Harry," said Dumbledore, turning toward him, "a difficulty has arisen which I hope you will be able to solve for us. By us, I mean the Order of the Phoenix. But first of all I must tell you that Sirius's will was discovered a week ago and that he left you everything he owned."_

"Really, Padfoot?" Lily asked smiling and Sirius nodded.

"And that is why we have so many properties and money," Harry said. "It's Potter and Black."

Teddy let out a low whistle.

"So are you richer than Malfoy," Fabian asked.

"Yep," Ginny saidwith an evil smirk on her face. "We're the richest wizarding family…"

"Wicked," Gideon grinned.

_Over on the sofa, Uncle Vernon's head turned, but Harry did not look at him, nor could he think of anything to say except, "Oh. Right."_

_"This is, in the main, fairly straightforward," Dumbledore went on. "You add a reasonable amount of gold to your account at gringotts, and you inherit all of Sirius's personal possessions. The slightly problematic part of the legacy —"_

_"His godfather's dead?" said Uncle Vernon loudly from the sofa._

Teddy growled.

_Dumbledore and Harry both turned to look at him. The glass of mead was now knocking quite insistently on the side of Vernon's head; he attempted to beat it away. "He's dead? His godfather?"_

"I'm sorry, Harry, he had no compassion," Petunia frowned.

_"Yes," said Dumbledore. He did not ask Harry why he had not confided in the Dursleys. "Our problem," he continued to Harry, as if there had been no interruption, "is that Sirius also left you number twelve, Grimmauld Place."_

"Yeah sorry about that," Sirius muttered, chuckling slightly.

"Its fine," Harry and Ginny said.

_"He's been left a house?" said Uncle Vernon greedily, his small eyes narrowing, but nobody answered him._

"Just stop talking, Dad," Dudley said.

_"You can keep using it as headquarters," said Harry. "I don't care. You can have it, I don't really want it." Harry never wanted to set foot in number twelve, Grimmauld Place again if he could help it. He thought he would be haunted forever by the memory of Sirius prowling its dark musty rooms alone, imprisoned within the place he had wanted so desperately to leave._

"Lovely image, thank you, Harry," Dora muttered.

_"That is generous," said Dumbledore. "We have, however, vacated the building temporarily."_

_"Why?"_

_"Well," said Dumbledore, ignoring the mutterings of Uncle Vernon, who was now being rapped smartly over the head by the persistent glass of mead,_

"Told you to take them," James laughed.

_"Black family tradition decreed that the house was handed down the direct line, to the next male with the name of 'Black.' Sirius was the very last of the line as his younger brother, Regulus, predeceased him and both were childless. While his will makes it perfectly plain that he wants you to have the house, it is nevertheless possible that some spell or enchantment has been set upon the place to ensure that it cannot be owned by anyone other than a pureblood."_

_"I bet there has," he said._

_"Quite," said Dumbledore. "And if such an enchantment exists, then the ownership of the house is most likely to pass to the eldest of Sirius's living relatives, which would mean his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange."_

"Crap," the twins said.

_Without realizing what he was doing, Harry sprang to his feet; the telescope and trainers in his lap rolled across the floor. _

_"No," he said._

_"Well, obviously we would prefer that she didn't get it either," said Dumbledore calmly. "The situation is fraught with complications. We do not know whether the enchantments we ourselves have placed upon it, for example, making it Unplottable, will hold now that ownership has passed from Sirius's hands. It might be that Bellatrix will arrive on the doorstep at any moment. Naturally we had to move out until such time as we have clarified the position."_

"No, stay there and kill her," Sirius muttered. "The order can handle one lone Death Eater."

_"But how are you going to find out if I'm allowed to own it?"_

_"Fortunately," said Dumbledore, "there is a simple test."_

_He placed his empty glass on a small table beside his chair, but before he could do anything else, Uncle Vernon shouted, "Will you get these ruddy things off us?"_

_Harry looked around; all three of the Dursleys were cowering with their arms over their heads as their glasses bounced up and down on their skulls, their contents flying everywhere._

"Brilliant," the two prankster groups in the room laughed.

Arthur, Fleur, Dora and Lily put a hand to their mouths to hide their smiles, even Molly's lips twitched toward a smile as she tried to keep a disapproving expression.

_"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Dumbledore politely, and he raised his wand again. All three glasses vanished. "But it would have been better manners to drink it, you know."_

_It looked as though Uncle Vernon was bursting with any number of unpleasant retorts, but he merely shrank back into the cushions with Aunt Petunia and Dudley and said nothing, keeping his small piggy eyes on Dumbledore's wand._

_"You see," Dumbledore said, turning back to Harry and again speaking as though Uncle Vernon had not uttered, "if you have indeed inherited the house, you have also inherited —"_

_He flicked his wand for a fifth time. There was a loud crack, and a house-elf appeared,_

"Kreacher," Sirius and James hissed.

_with a snout for a nose, giant bat's ears, and enormous bloodshot eyes, crouching on the Dursleys' shag carpet and covered in grimy rags. Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek. Dudley drew his large, bare, pink feet off the floor and sat with them raised almost above his head, as though he thought the creature might run up his pyjama trousers, and Uncle Vernon bellowed, "What the hell is that?"_

"House elf, Dad," Dudley grinned.

_"Kreacher," finished Dumbledore._

_"Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't, Kreacher won't!"croaked the house-elf, quite as loudly as Uncle Vernon, stamping his long, gnarled feet and pulling his ears. "Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, oh yes, Kreacher belongs to the Blacks, Kreacher wants his new mistress, Kreacher won't go to the Potter brat, _

"My son is not a brat," Lily snarled, liking this elf less and less.

_Kreacher won't, won't, won't —"_

"Yes, you will," Teddy laughed.

_"As you can see, Harry," said Dumbledore loudly, over Kreacher's continued croaks of "wont, won't, won't," "Kreacher is showing a certain reluctance to pass into your ownership."_

_"I don't care," said Harry again, looking with disgust at the writhing, stamping house-elf. "I don't want him."_

_"Won't, won't, won't, won't —"_

_"You would prefer him to pass into the ownership of Bellatrix Lestrange? Bearing in mind that he has lived at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the past year?"_

_"Won't, won't, won't, won't —"_

_Harry stared at Dumbledore_

_"Give him an order," said Dumbledore. "If he has passed into your ownership, he will have to obey. If not, then we shall have to think of some other means of keeping him from his rightful mistress."_

_"Won't, won't, won't, WON'T!"_

_Kreacher's voice had risen to a scream. Harry could think of nothing to say, except,_

_"Kreacher, shut up!"_

"Thank you," everyone muttered although Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry.

_It looked for a moment as though Kreacher was going to choke. He grabbed his throat, his mouth still working furiously, his eyes bulging. After a few seconds of frantic gulping, he threw himself face forward onto the carpet (Aunt Petunia whimpered) and beat the floor with his hands and feet, giving himself over to a violent, but entirely silent, tantrum._

"Extremely sorry about that," Sirius said.

"Kreacher's cool," Teddy disagreed.

"Now," Ginny corrected. "He's was terrible as you can see."

_"Well, that simplifies matters," said Dumbledore cheerfully. _

"Yes because you don't have to take the blasted elf," Dora laughed.

_"It means that Sirius knew what he was doing. _

"Yes, I did thank you," Sirius said, indigently.

_You are the rightful owner of number twelve, Grimmauld Place and of Kreacher."_

_"Do I — do I have to keep him with me?" Harry asked, aghast, us Kreacher thrashed around at his feet._

_"Not if you don't want to," said Dumbledore. "If I might make a suggestion, you could send himto Hogwarts to work in the kitchen there. In that way, the other house-elves could keep an eye on him."_

_"Yeah," said Harry in relief, "yeah, I'll do that. Er — Kreacher — I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens there with the other house-elves."_

"Good. Hopefully that's the last we'll see of this Kreacher," Molly muttered

_Kreacher, who was now lying flat on his back with his arms and legs in the air, gave Harry one upside-down look of deepest loathing and, with another loud crack, vanished._

_"Good," said Dumbledore. "There is also the matter of the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Hagrid has been looking after him since Sirius died, but Buckbeak is yours now, so if you would prefer to make different arrangements —"_

_"No," said Harry at once, "he can stay with Hagrid. I think Buckbeak would prefer that."_

"They both did," Arthur grinned.

_"Hagrid will be delighted," said Dumbledore, smiling. "He was thrilled to see Buckbeak again. Incidentally, we have decided, in the interests of Buckbeak's safety, to rechristen him 'Witherwings' for the time being, though I doubt that the Ministry would ever guess he is the hippogriff they once sentenced to death. Now, Harry, is your trunk packed?"_

_"Erm…"_

_"Doubtful that I would turn up?" Dumbledore suggested shrewdly._

"Harry," Lily sighed.

_"I'll just go and — er — finish off," said Harry hastily, hurrying to pick up his fallen telescope and trainers._

_It took him a little over ten minutes to track down everything he needed; at last he had managed to extract his Invisibility Cloak from under the bed, screwed the top back on his jar of color-change ink, and forced the lid of his trunk shut on his cauldron. Then, heaving his trunk in one hand and holding Hedwig's cage in the other, he made his way back downstairs._

_He was disappointed to discover that Dumbledore was not waiting in the hall, which meant that he had to return to the living room._

_Nobody was talking. Dumbledore was humming quietly, apparently quite at his ease, but the atmosphere was thicker than cold custard, and Harry did not dare look at the Dursleys as he said, "Professor — I'm ready now."_

_"Good," said Dumbledore. "Just one last thing, then." And he turned to speak to the Dursleys once more._

_"As you will no doubt be aware, Harry comes of age in a year's time —"_

_"No," said Aunt Petunia, speaking for the first time since Dumbledore's arrival._

"Petunia-" Lily said.

"I forgot," Petunia laughed.

_"I'm sorry?" said Dumbledore politely._

_"No, he doesn't. He's a month younger than Dudley, and Dudders doesn't turn eighteen until the year after next."_

_"Ah," said Dumbledore pleasantly, "but in the Wizarding world, we come of age at seventeen."_

_Uncle Vernon muttered, "Preposterous,"_

"It is not," all the wizards said.

_but Dumbledore ignored him._

_"Now, as you already know, the wizard called Lord Voldemort has returned to this country. The Wizarding community is currently in a state of open warfare. Harry, whom Lord Voldemort has already attempted to kill on a number of occasions, _

"And that was a shock," Petunia murmured.

_is in even greater danger now than the day when I left him upon your doorstep fifteen years ago, with a letter explaining about his parents' murder and expressing the hope that you would care for him as though he were your own."_

_Dumbledore paused, and although his voice remained light and calm, and he gave no obvious sign of anger, Harry felt a kind of chill emanating from him and noticed that the Dursleys drew very slightly closer together._

_"You did not do as I asked. You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. The best that can be said is that he has at least escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you."_

"Hey!" Dudley semi-yelled.

"Sorry, Dudley it's true," Lily sighed.

"I know," Dudley muttered.

_Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked around instinctively, as though expecting to see someone other than Dudley squeezed between them._

_"Us — mistreat Dudders? What d'you —?" began Uncle Vernon furiously, but Dumbledore raised his ringer for silence, a silence which fell as though he had struck Uncle Vernon dumb._

_"The magic I evoked fifteen years ago means that Harry has powerful protection while he can still call this house 'home.' However miserable he has been here, however unwelcome, however badly treated, you have at least, grudgingly, allowed him houseroom. This magic will cease to operate the moment that Harry turns seventeen; in other words, at the moment he becomes a man. I ask only this: that you allow Harry to return, once more, to this house, before his seventeenth birthday, which will ensure that the protection continues until that time."_

"He knew," Hermione breathed.

"Yes, Hermione," Harry said so only she and Ron could her. "Remember I told you that he ordered Snape to kill him – he was dying anyway."

_None of the Dursleys said anything. Dudley was frowning slightly, as though he was still trying to work out when he had ever been mistreated._

_Uncle Vernon looked as though he had something stuck in his throat; Aunt Petunia, however, was oddly flushed._

_"Well, Harry… time for us to be off," said Dumbledore at last, standing up and straightening his long black cloak. "Until we meet again," he said to the Dursleys, who looked as though that moment could wait forever as far as they were concerned, and after doffing his hat, he swept from the room._

_"Bye," said Harry hastily to the Dursleys, and followed Dumbledore, who paused beside Harry's trunk, upon which Hedwig's cage was perched._

_"We do not want to be encumbered by these just now," he said, pulling out his wand again. "I shall send them to the Burrow to await us there. However, I would like you to bring your Invisibility Cloak… just in case."_

"Where are you going?" Lily asked

"You'll see," Harry laughed.

_They turned a corner, passing a telephone box and a bus shelter. Harry looked sideways at Dumbledore again. "Professor?"_

_"Harry?"_

_"Er — where exactly are we?"_

_"This, Harry, is the charming village of Budleigh Babberton."_

_"And what are we doing here?"_

_"Ah yes, of course, I haven't told you," said Dumbledore. "Well, I have lost count of the number of times I have said this in recent years, but we are, once again, one member of staff short. We are here to persuade an old colleague of mine to come out of retirement and return to Hogwarts."_

"Slughorn," Lily cheered – he'd told her at the party the he taught Harry this year.

_How can I help with that, sir?"_

"Slughorn collects," Remus laughed.

_"Oh, I think we'll find a use for you," said Dumbledore vaguely. "Left here, Harry."_

_They proceeded up a steep, narrow street lined with houses. All the windows were dark. _

_"Professor, why couldn't we just Apparate directly into your old colleague's house?"_

"Because it's rude," Dora laughed.

_"Because it would be quite as rude as kicking down the front door," said Dumbledore. "Courtesy dictates that we offer fellow wizards the opportunity of denying us entry. In any case, most Wizarding dwellings are magically protected from unwanted Apparators. At Hogwarts, for instance —"_

_"—you can't Apparate anywhere inside the buildings or grounds," said Harry quickly. "Hermione Granger told me."_

"You remembered," Hermione grinned,

"You said it enough," Ron muttered.

"That's because you didn't listen."

_"And she is quite right. We turn left again."_

_The church clock chimed midnight behind them. _

_"Sir, I saw in the Daily Prophet that Fudge has been sacked…"_

"Thank Merlin," Bill said. "He was terrible."

_"Correct," said Dumbledore, now turning up a steep side street. "He has been replaced, as I am sure you also saw, by Rufus Scrimgeour, who used to be Head of the Auror office."_

_"Is he… Do you think he's good?" asked Harry._

_"An interesting question," said Dumbledore. "He is able, certainly. A more decisive and forceful personality than Cornelius."_

"Is that better?" Petunia asked.

_"Yes, but I meant —"_

_"I know what you meant. Rufus is a man of action and, having fought Dark wizards for most of his working life, does not underestimate Lord Voldemort."_

"That's slightly better, I suppose," Lily said.

_"And… sir… I saw about Madam Bones."_

"Oh dear," Lily said.

_"Yes," said Dumbledore quietly. "A terrible loss. She was a great witch. Just up here, I think — ouch."_

_He had pointed with his injured hand._

_"Professor, what happened to your…?"_

_"I have no time to explain now," said Dumbledore. "It is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice."_

"I disagree," Harry said darkly.

"Cool we hear it!" Sirius said.

_He smiled at Harry, who understood that he was not being snubbed, and that he hadpermission to keep asking questions._

_"Sir — I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about security measures we should all take against the Death Eaters…"_

_"Yes, I received one myself," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "Did you find it useful?"_

_"Not really."_

_"No, I thought not. You have not asked me, for instance, what is my favorite flavor of jam, to check that I am indeed Professor Dumbledore and not an impostor."_

"Merlin," Molly said. "Imagine if he was,"

"Yes but who would be able to get Dumbledore personality, right," James laughed.

_"I didn't…" Harry began, not entirely sure whether he was being reprimanded or not._

_"For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry… although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself."_

_"Er… right," said Harry. "Well, on that leaflet, it said something about Inferi. What exactly are they? The leaflet wasn't very clear." _

"Why must you ask questions like that?"Ginny questioned.

_"They are corpses," said Dumbledore calmly. "Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful… He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course. This is the place, Harry, just here…"_

"That's sick," Dudley said.

_They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. Harry was too busy digesting the horrible idea of Inferi to have much attention left for anything else, but as they reached the front gate, Dumbledore stopped dead and Harry walked into him._

_"Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear."_

_Harry followed his gaze up the carefully tended front path and felt his heart sink. The front door was hanging off its hinges._

"Slughorn!" Lily gasped.

"I'm sure he's fine, Lils," James said.

_Dumbledore glanced up and down the street. It seemed quite deserted._

_"Wand out and follow me, Harry," he said quietly._

_He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up the garden path, Harry at his heels, then pushed the front door very slowly, his wand raised and at the ready._

_"Lumos."_

_Dumbledore's wand tip ignited, casting its light up a narrow hallway. To the left, another door stood open. Holding his illuminated wand aloft, Dumbledore walked into the sitting room with Harry right behind him._

_A scene of total devastation met their eyes. A grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face cracked, its pendulum lying a little farther away like a dropped sword. A piano was on its side, its keys strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen chandelier flittered nearby. Cushions lay deflated, feathers oozing from slashes in their sides; fragments of glass and china lay like powder over everything. Dumbledore raised his wand even higher, so that its light was thrown upon the walls, where something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper. Harry's small intake of breath made Dumbledore look around._

"Oh dear," Petunia breathed.

_"Not pretty, is it?" he said heavily. "Yes, something horrible has happened here."_

_Dumbledore moved carefully into the middle of the room, scrutinizing the wreckage at his feet. Harry followed, gazing around, half-scared of what he might see hidden behind the wreck of the piano or the overturned sofa, but there was no sign of a body._

_"Maybe there was a fight and — and they dragged him off, Professor?" Harry suggested, _

_"I don't think so," said Dumbledore quietly, peering behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side._

_"You mean he's —?"_

_"Still here somewhere? Yes."_

"That's not what he meant," the twins chuckled.

_And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed armchair, which yelled, "Ouch!"_

"An armchair!"Dora laughed.

_"Good evening, Horace," said Dumbledore, straightening up again._

_Harry's jaw dropped. Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was massaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye._

_"There was no need to stick the wand in that hard," he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. "It hurt."_

"That's what you get," Hermione laughed.

"That or sat on," Ron added causing everyone to laugh.

_The wandlight sparkled on his shiny pate, his prominent eyes, his enormous, silver, walruslike mustache, and the highly polished buttons on the maroon velvet jacket he was wearing over a pair of lilac silk pajamas. The top of his head barely reached Dumbledore's chin._

_"What gave it away?" he grunted as he staggered to his feet, still rubbing his lower belly. He seemed remarkably unabashed for a man who had just been discovered pretending to be an armchair._

_"My dear Horace," said Dumbledore, looking amused, "if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house."_

_The wizard clapped a pudgy hand to his vast forehead._

_"The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew there was something… ah well.'_

"'E can produce it?" Fleur asked shocked.

"Maybe he heard it," Bill reasoned.

_Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room."_

_He heaved a great sigh that made the ends of his moustache flutter._

_"Would you like my assistance clearing up?" asked Dumbledore politely._

_"Please," said the other._

_They stood back to back, the tall thin wizard and the short round one, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion._

"Opposites," Dora laughed.

_The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments re-formed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew glittering across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean._

"That'd be handy," Petunia muttered.

_"What kind of blood was that, incidentally?" asked Dumbledore loudly over the chiming of the newly unsmashed grandfather flock._

_"On the walls? Dragon," shouted the wizard called Horace,_

"That's expensive," Ginny said, shocked.

_as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, the chandelier screwed itself back into the ceiling._

_There was a final plunk from the piano, and silence._

_"Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable."_

_He stumped over to a small crystal bottle standing on top of a sideboard and held it up to the light, examining the thick liquid within._

_"Hmm. Bit dusty."_

_He set the bottle back on the sideboard and sighed. It was then that his gaze fell upon Harry._

_"Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. "Oho!"_

"Here we go," Hermione sighed.

_"This," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the introduction, "is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old Friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."_

_Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. "So that's how you thought you'd persuade me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus."_

_He pushed past Harry, his face turned resolutely away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation._

"He won't last long," Lily smiled.

_"I suppose we can have a drink, at least?" asked Dumbledore. "For old time's sake?"_

_Slughorn hesitated._

_"All right then, one drink," he said ungraciously._

_Dumbledore smiled at Harry and directed him toward a chair not unlike the one that Slughorn had so recently impersonated, which stood right beside the newly burning fire and a brightly glowing oil lamp. Harry took the seat with the distinct impression that Dumbledore, for some reason, wanted to keep him as visible as possible. Certainly when Slughorn, who had been busy with decanters and glasses, turned to face the room again, his eyes fell immediately upon Harry._

_"Hmpf," he said, looking away quickly as though frightened of hurting his eyes. "Here —" He gave a drink to Dumbledore, who had sat down without invitation, thrust the tray at Harry, and then sank into the cushions of the repaired sofa and a disgruntled silence. His legs were so short they did not touch the floor._

_"Well, how have you been keeping, Horace?" Dumbledore asked._

_"Not so well," said Slughorn at once. "Weak chest. Wheezy. Rheumatism too. Can't move like I used to. Well, that's to be expected. Old age. Fatigue."_

_"And yet you must have moved fairly quickly to prepare such a welcome for us at such short notice," said Dumbledore. "You can't have had more than three minutes' warning?"_

The twins raised their eyebrows.

"How fast did he move in his youth?"

_Slughorn said, half irritably, half proudly, "Two. Didn't hear my Intruder Charm go off, I was taking a bath. Still," he added sternly, seeming to pull himself back together again, "the fact remains that I'm an old man, Albus. A tired old man who's earned the right to a quiet life and a few creature comforts."_

_He certainly had those, thought Harry, looking around the room. It was stuffy and cluttered, yet nobody could say it was uncomfortable; there were soft chairs and footstools, drinks and books, boxes of chocolates and plump cushions. If Harry had not known who lived there, he would have guessed at a rich, fussy old lady._

"Don't tell Slughorn that," Arthur laughed.

_"You're not yet as old as I am, Horace," said Dumbledore._

_"Well, maybe you ought to think about retirement yourself," said Slughorn bluntly. His pale gooseberry eyes had found Dumbledore's injured hand. "Reactions not what they were, I see."_

_"You're quite right," said Dumbledore serenely, shaking back his sleeve to reveal the tips of those burned and blackened ringers; the sight of them made the back of Harry's neck prickle unpleasantly. "I am undoubtedly slower than I was. But on the other hand…"_

_He shrugged and spread his hands wide, as though to say that age had its compensations, and Harry noticed a ring on his uninjured hand that he had never seen Dumbledore wear before: It was large, rather clumsily made of what looked like gold, and was set with a heavy black stone that had cracked down the middle. Slughorn's eyes lingered for a moment on the ring too, and Harry saw a tiny frown momentarily crease his wide forehead._

_"So, all these precautions against intruders, Horace… are they for the Death Eaters' benefit, or mine?" asked Dumbledore._

_"What would the Death Eaters want with a poor broken-down old buffer like me?" demanded Slughorn._

_"I imagine that they would want you to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder," said Dumbledore. "Are you really telling me that they haven't come recruiting yet?"_

_Slughorn eyed Dumbledore balefully for a moment, then muttered, "I haven't given them the chance. I've been on the move for a year. Never stay in one place more than a week. Move from Muggle house to Muggle house — the owners of this place are on holiday in the Canary Islands — it's been very pleasant, I'll be sorry to leave. It's quite easy once you know how, one simple Freezing Charm on these absurd burglar alarms they use instead of Sneako-scopes and make sure the neighbours don't spot you bringing in the piano."_

"That's the only thing he keeps?" Teddy laughed. "The Piano."

_"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "But it sounds a rather tiring existence for a broken-down old buffer in search of a quiet life. Now, if you were to return to Hogwarts —"_

_"If you're going to tell me my life would be more peaceful at that pestilential school, you can save your breath, Albus! I might have been in hiding, but some funny rumours have reached me since Dolores Umbridge left! If that's how you treat teachers these days —"_

_"Professor Umbridge ran afoul of our centaur herd," said Dumbledore. "I think you, Horace, would have known better than to stride into the forest and call a horde of angry centaurs 'filthy half-breeds.'"_

"Idiot women," the twins laughed.

_"That's what she did, did she?" said Slughorn. "Idiotic woman. Never liked her."_

"Does anybody?" Fleur asked.

"Filch," the golden trio and Ginny laughed.

_Harry chuckled and both Dumbledore and Slughorn looked round at him._

_"Sorry," Harry said hastily. "It's just — I didn't like her either."_

_Dumbledore stood up rather suddenly._

_"Are you leaving?" asked Slughorn at once, looking hopeful._

_"No, I was wondering whether I might use your bathroom," said Dumbledore._

_"Oh," said Slughorn, clearly disappointed. "Second on the left down the hall."_

"And now it's up to you," Remus said.

_Dumbledore strode from the room. Once the door had closed behind him, there was silence. After a few moments, Slughorn got to his feet but seemed uncertain what to do with himself. He shot a furtive look at Harry, then crossed to the fire and turned his back on it, warming his wide behind._

_"Don't think I don't know why he's brought you," he said abruptly._

_Harry merely looked at Slughorn. Slughorn's watery eyes slid over Harry's scar, this time taking in the rest of his face._

_"You look very like your father."_

_"Yeah, I've been told," said Harry._

_"Except for your eyes. You've got — -"_

_"My mother's eyes, yeah." Harry had heard it so often he found it a bit wearing._

"That must get annoying," Lily sighed.

"They should tell you something else," James agreed. "A little fact or something – you know what you, and we, look like!"

_"Hmpf. Yes, well. You shouldn't have favourites as a teacher, of course, but she was one of mine. Your mother," Slughorn added, in answer to Harry's questioning look._

"Why thank you, Professor," Lily beamed.

_"Lily Evans. One of the brightest I ever taught. Vivacious, you know. Charming girl. I used to tell her she ought to have been in my House. Very cheeky answers I used to get back too."_

"Harry get's his cheek from Lily," Molly nodded, not that Harry had ever been cheeky to her.

_"Which was your House?"_

_"I was Head of Slytherin," said Slughorn. "Oh, now," he went on quickly, seeing the expression on Harry's face and wagging a stubby ringer at him, "don't go holding that against me! You'll be Gryffindor like her, I suppose? Yes, it usually goes in families. Not always, though. Ever heard of Sirius Black?_

"He's my best mate!" James yelled, annoyed this man brought him up.

_You must have done — been in the papers for the last couple of years — died a few weeks ago —_

"Professor," Lily sighed.

_"Well, anyway, he was a big pal of your father's at school. The whole Black family had been in my House, but Sirius ended up in Gryffindor! Shame — he was a talented boy. I got his brother, Regulus, when he came along, but I'd have liked the set."_

"That's a reason I wasn't very fond of him," Sirius muttered.

_Apparently lost in memories, he gazed at the opposite wall, turning idly on the spot to ensure an even heat on his backside._

_"Your mother was Muggle-born, of course. Couldn't believe it when I found out. Thought she must have been pure-blood, she was so good."_

Everyone but Harry frowned at this.

_"One of my best friends is Muggle-born," said Harry, "and she's the best in our year."_

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione beamed.

"It's true," Harry shrugged.

"Still," Hermione said.

_"Funny how that sometimes happens, isn't it?" said Slughorn._

"Not really," Teddy said.

_"Not really," said Harry coldly._

"You're far too much like your godfather," Dora chuckled

"Is that good or bad?" Teddy asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Both," Remus said. "Definitely both, Harry's a good man to be like. Why do you think we named him godfather?"

_Slughorn looked down at him in surprise. "You mustn't think I'm prejudiced!" he said. "No, no, no! Haven't I just said your mother was one of my all-time favourite students? And there was Dirk Cresswell in the year after her too — now Head of the Goblin Liaison Office, of course — another Muggle-born, a very gifted student, and still gives me excellent inside information on the goings-on at Gringotts!"_

_He bounced up and down a little, smiling in a self-satisfied way, and pointed at the many glittering photograph frames on the dresser, each peopled with tiny moving occupants._

_"All ex-students, all signed. You'll notice Barnabas Cuffe, editor of the Daily Prophet, he's always interested to hear my take on the day's news.'_

"That's not much of an achievement, now," Arthur muttered.

_And Ambrosius Flume, of Honeydukes — a hamper every birthday, and all because I was able to give him an introduction to Ciceron Harkisss who gave him his first job! And at the back — you'll see her if you just crane your neck — that's Gwenog Jones, who of course captains the Holyhead Harpies…_

Ginny beamed at the mention of her old team and Harry squeezed her waist affectionately.

_People are always astonished to hear I'm on first-name terms with the Harpies, and free tickets whenever I want them!"_

"We got them," Teddy laughed, causing Ginny to roll her eyes.

"Teddy, you were six when I stopped playing," she laughed but Teddy just shrugged.

_This thought seemed to cheer him up enormously._

_"And all these people know where to find you, to send you stuff?" asked Harry._

"No, Harry," Molly said.

_The smile slid from Slughorn's face as quickly as the blood from his walls._

_"Of course not," he said, looking down at Harry. "I have been out of touch with everybody for a year."_

_Harry had the impression that the words shocked Slughorn himself; he looked quite unsettled for a moment. Then he shrugged._

_"Still… the prudent wizard keeps his head down in such times. All very well for Dumbledore to talk, but taking up a post at Hogwarts just now would be tantamount to declaring my public allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix!And while I'm sure they're very admirable and brave and all the rest of it, I don't personally fancy the mortality rate —"_

"Hey!" all the order members said.

"Guys you realized that most of you didn't survive the war," Ron said.

"Well, we did," Bill, Fleur, Molly and Arthur said

_"You don't have to join the Order to teach at Hogwarts," said Harry, who could not quite keep a note of derision out of his voice: "Most of the teachers aren't in it, and none of them has ever been killed — well, unless you count Quirrell, and he got what he deserved seeing as he was working with Voldemort."_

_Harry had been sure Slughorn would be one of those wizards who could not bear to hear Voldemort's name spoken aloud, and was not disappointed: Slughorn gave a shudder and a squawk of protest, which Harry ignored._

"It's just a name," Lily sighed.

_"I reckon the staff are safer than most people while Dumbledore's headmaster; he's supposed to be the only one Voldemort ever feared, isn't he?" Harry went on._

_Slughorn gazed into space for a moment or two: He seemed to be thinking over Harry's words._

"You're good," James said.

"I was just annoyed at him," Harry muttered, causing Ron and Hermione to snort.

"You make good speeches when you're annoyed," Ginny reasoned, laughing when Harry glared at her

_"Well, yes, it is true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has never sought a fight with Dumbledore," he muttered grudgingly. "And I suppose one could argue that as I have not joined the Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named can hardly count me a friend… in which case, I might well be safer a little closer to Albus… I cannot pretend that Amelia Bones's death did not shake me… If she, with all her Ministry contacts and protection…"_

_Dumbledore re-entered the room and Slughorn jumped as though he had forgotten he was in the house._

"You've done it," Remus said.

_Oh, there you are, Albus," he said. "You've been a very long lime. Upset stomach?"_

_"No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines," said Dumbledore. "I do love knitting patterns._

"Okay," Teddy said slowly causing Harry to chuckle.

_Well, Harry, we have trespassed upon Horace's hospitality quite long enough; I think it is time for us to leave."_

_Not at all reluctant to obey, Harry jumped to his feet. Slughorn seemed taken aback._

"Polite," Dudley laughed quietly.

_"You're leaving?"_

_"Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see one."_

"Nice," Dora laughed.

_"Lost…?"_

_Slughorn seemed agitated. He twiddled his fat thumbs and fidgeted as he watched Dumbledore fasten his traveling cloak, and Harry zip up his jacket._

_"Well, I'm sorry you don't want the job, Horace," said Dumbledore, raising his uninjured hand in afarewell salute. "Hogwarts would have been glad to see you back again. Our greatly increased security notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, should you wish to."_

_"Yes… well… very gracious… as I say…"_

_"Good-bye, then."_

_"Bye," said Harry._

_They were at the front door when there was a shout from behind them._

_"All right, all right, I'll do it!"_

"Brilliant," Lily beamed.

_Dumbledore turned to see Slughorn standing breathless in the doorway to the sitting room._

_"You will come out of retirement?"_

_"Yes, yes," said Slughorn impatiently. "I must be mad, but yes."_

"Probably because you are," Petunia said softly.

_"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, beaming. "Then, Horace, we shall see you on the first of September."_

_"Yes, I daresay you will," grunted Slughorn._

_As they set off down the garden path, Slughorn's voice floated after them, "I'll want a pay rise, Dumbledore!"_

"Of course you do," Sirius muttered as the landed in the family room

"You did that really well," Dora agreed with James' earlier statement.

"Do you like him?" Lily asked.

"Erm," Harry said, looking at Hermione. "He's interesting."

Sirius, James, Remus and the twins snorted.

"Let's continue," Dudley chuckled at his cousin's face.

_"If you don't mind, Harry," said Dumbledore, as they passed through the gate, "I'd like a few words with you before we part. In private. Perhaps in here?"_

_Dumbledore pointed toward a run-down stone outhouse where the Weasleys kept their broomsticks._

"In there?" Molly asked.

_A little puzzled, Harry followed Dumbledore through the creaking door into a space a little smaller than the average cupboard. Dumbledore illuminated the tip of his wand, so that it glowed like a torch, and smiled down at Harry._

_"I hope you will forgive me for mentioning it, Harry, but I am pleased and a little proud at how well you seem to be coping after everything that happened at the Ministry._

"True you seem better than I would have expected," James said. "After how you acted last year."

_Permit me to say that I think Sirius would have been proud of you."_

Sirius nodded in agreement with Dumbledore's statement.

_Harry swallowed; his voice seemed to have deserted him. He did not think he could stand to discuss Sirius; it had been painful enough to hear Uncle Vernon say "His godfather's dead?" and even worse to hear Sirius's name thrown out casually by Slughorn._

"Idiot man," Dora hissed.

_"It was cruel," said Dumbledore softly, "that you and Sirius had such a short time together. A brutal ending to what should have been a long and happy relationship."_

Everyone frowned; it was the same with Lily and James – every parent figure Harry had got ripped away unfairly.

_Harry nodded, his eyes fixed resolutely on the spider now climbing Dumbledore's hat._

"There's spiders in there," Ron shuddered.

"Yeah, sorry, mate," Harry chuckled.

_He could tell that Dumbledore understood, that he might even suspect that until his letter arrived, Harry had spent nearly all his time at the Dursleys' lying on his bed, refusing meals, and staring at the misted window, full of the chill emptiness that he had come to associate with Dementors._

"Harry," Hermione said, looking like she was going to cry. "What are you doing to us?"

"Yeah, that kind of scared me," Petunia muttered.

"You scared me by trying to make me eat," Harry said in return.

_"It's just hard," Harry said finally, in a low voice, "to realize he won't write to me again."_

_His eyes burned suddenly and he blinked. He felt stupid for admitting it, but the fact that he had had someone outside Hogwarts who cared what happened to him, almost like a parent, had been one of the best things about discovering his godfather… and now the post owls would never bring him that comfort again…_

"Harry," Ginny sighed as Lily wiped a lone tear.

_"Sirius represented much to you that you had never known before," said Dumbledore gently. "Naturally, the loss is devastating…"_

"Bloody hell, he's blunt," Dudley exclaimed.

_"But while I was at the Dursleys'…" interrupted Harry, his voice growing stronger, "I realized I can't shut myself away or — or crack up. Sirius wouldn't have wanted that, would he?_

"No, I wouldn't," Sirius said. "Or is it don't?"

_And anyway, life's too short… Look at Madam Bones, look at Emmeline Vance… It could be me next, couldn't it? But if it is," he said fiercely, now looking straight into Dumbledore's blue eyes gleaming in the wandlight, "I'll make sure I take as many Death Eaters with me as I can, and Voldemort too if I can manage it."_

Lily, James, Remus and Sirius beamed at him.

_"Spoken both like your mother and father's son and Sirius's true godson!" said Dumbledore, with an approving pat on Harry's back. "I take my hat off to you — or I would, if I were not afraid of showering you in spiders.'_

Everyone chuckled, except Ron, glad that Dumbledore lightened then mood

_"And now, Harry, on a closely related subject… I gather that you have been taking the Daily Prophet over the last two weeks?"_

_"Yes," said Harry._

_"Then you will have seen that there have been not so much leaks as floods concerning your adventure in the Hall of Prophecy?"_

_"Yes," said Harry again. "And now everyone knows that I'm the one —"_

_"No, they do not," interrupted Dumbledore. "There are only two people in the whole world who know the full contents of the prophecy made about you and Lord Voldemort, and they are both standing in this smelly, spidery broom shed._

Everyone laughed again.

"Stop mentioning the damn spiders," Ron muttered.

_It is true, however, that many have guessed, correctly, that Voldemort sent his Death Eaters to steal a prophecy, and that the prophecy concerned you._

_"Now, I think I am correct in saying that you have not told anybody that you know what the prophecy said?"_

_"No," said Harry._

"You should have told us sooner," Hermione grumbled.

_"A wise decision, on the whole," said Dumbledore. "Although I think you ought to relax it in favor of your friends, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger._

"Does 'e really need to say your 'ole names?" Fleur asked, smiling slightly. "I mean what other Ron and 'Ermione does 'Arry know?"

_Yes," he continued, when Harry looked startled, "I think they ought to know. You do them a disservice by not confiding something this important to them."_

_"I didn't want —"_

_"—to worry or frighten them?" said Dumbledore, surveying Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "Or perhaps, to confess that you yourself are worried and frightened? You need your friends, Harry. As you so rightly said, Sirius would not have wanted you to shut yourself away."_

"That came back to bit you, didn't it?" the twins laughed.

_Harry said nothing, but Dumbledore did not seem to require an answer. He continued, "On a different, though related, subject, it is my wish that you take private lessons with me this year."_

"Cool," Teddy said.

_"Private — with you?" said Harry, surprised out of his preoccupied silence._

_"Yes. I think it is time that I took a greater hand in your education."_

"Yes, because the headmaster does that a lot," Dudley said.

_"What will you be teaching me, sir?"_

_"Oh, a little of this, a little of that," said Dumbledore airily._

"Oh just tell us," Fabian grumbled.

_Harry waited hopefully, but Dumbledore did not elaborate, so he asked something else that had been bothering him slightly._

_"If I'm having lessons with you, I won't have to do Occlumency lessons with Snape, will I?"_

"No they were a waste of time," Ginny said.

_''Professor Snape, Harry — and no, you will not."_

_"Good," said Harry in relief, "because they were a —"_

"Disaster," Gideon said.

"Tragedy," Bill suggested.

"Catastrophe," Hermione added.

_He stopped, careful not to say what he really thought._

_"I think the word 'fiasco' would be a good one here," said Dumbledore, nodding._

"Damn," the three said.

_Harry laughed._

_"Well, that means I won't see much of Professor Snape from now on," he said, "because he won't let me carry on Potions unless I get 'Outstanding' in my OWL., which I know I haven't."_

_"Don't count your owls before they are delivered," said Dumbledore gravely._

"Don't worry if Slughorn's teaching Potions you don't have to get an O," Lily said.

_"Which, now I think of it, ought to be some time later today. Now, two more things, Harry, before we part._

_"Firstly, I wish you to keep your Invisibility Cloak with you at all times from this moment onward. Even within Hogwarts itself. Just in case, you understand me?"_

_Harry nodded._

_"And lastly, while you stay here, the Burrow has been given the highest security the Ministry of Magic can provide. These measures have caused a certain amount of inconvenience to Arthur and Molly — all their post, for instance, is being searched at the Ministry before being sent on. They do not mind in the slightest, for their only concern is your safety. However, it would be poor repayment if you risked your neck while staying with them."_

"Zat'll just make 'im feel guilty," Fleur groaned.

_"I understand," said Harry quickly._

_"Very well, then," said Dumbledore, pushing open the broom shed door and stepping out into the yard. "I see a light in the kitchen. Let us not deprive Molly any longer of the chance to deplore how thin you are."_

Everyone chuckled knowing Molly would do exactly that.

"Which you did the moment I walked in," Harry chuckled.

"Well you were," Molly huffed.

"Skipping to later that day," Harry said.

_"At Beauxbatons," said Fleur complacently, "we 'ad a different way of doing things. I think eet was better. We sat our examinations after six years of study, not five, and then…"_

"My nerves wouldn't have been able to stand that," Lily muttered.

"Yeah, too big tests right after each other," Teddy shuddered.

_Fleur's words were drowned in a scream. Hermione was pointing through the kitchen window. Three black specks were clearly visible in the sky, growing larger all the time._

"Calm down," Dudley laughed.

_"They're definitely owls," said Ron hoarsely, jumping up to join Hermione at the window._

_"And there are three of them," said Harry, hastening to her other side._

_"One for each of us," said Hermione in a terrified whisper. "Oh no… oh no… oh no…"_

_She gripped both Harry and Ron tightly around the elbows._

_The owls were flying directly at the Burrow, three handsome tawnies, each of which, it became clear as they flew lower over the path leading up to the house, was carrying a large square envelope._

_"Oh no!" squealed Hermione._

"Good, Hermione," Ginny said. "You're worse than Teddy was."

"Hey, I wasn't that bad," Teddy yelled.

"Teddy, you drove me mad all morning," Harry said, rubbing his eyes. "Pacing, Poking, asking annoying questions. Are they here yet? Are they here yet?"

"Sounds like Remus," James chuckled.

_Mrs. Weasley squeezed past them and opened the kitchen window. One, two, three, the owls soared through it and landed on the table in a neat line. All three of them lifted their right legs._

_Harry moved forward. The letter addressed to him was tied to the leg of the owl in the middle. He untied it with fumbling fingers. To his left, Ron was trying to detach his own results; to his right, Hermione's hands were shaking so much she was making her whole owl tremble._

"The poor owl," Remus said

_Nobody in the kitchen spoke. At last, Harry managed to detach the envelope. He slit it open quickly and unfolded the parchment inside._

_Ordinary Wizarding Level Results_

_Pass Grades:_

_Outstanding (O)_

_Exceeds Expectations (E)_

_Acceptable (A)_

_Fail Grades:_

_Poor (P)_

_Dreadful (D)_

_Troll (T)_

_Harry James Potter has achieved:_

_Astronomy: A_

_Care of Magical Creatures: E_

_Charms: E_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts: O_

_Divination: P_

_Herbology: E_

_History of Magic: D_

_Potions: E_

_Transfiguration: E_

"Well done, Harry," Lily beamed.

"Brilliant," James and Sirius said.

_Harry read the parchment through several times, his breathing becoming easier with each reading. It was all right: He had always known that he would fail Divination, and he had had no chance of passing History of Magic, given that he had collapsed halfway through the examination, but he had passed everything else! He ran his finger down the grades… he had passed well in Transfiguration and Herbology, he had even exceeded expectations at Potions! And best of all, he had achieved "Outstanding" at Defence Against the Dark Arts!_

"Did you really doubt that?" Ron laughed.

_He looked around. Hermione had her back to him and her head bent, but Ron was looking delighted._

_"Only failed Divination and History of Magic, and who cares about them?" he said happily to Harry. "Here… swap…"_

_Harry glanced down Ron's grades._

_"Knew you'd be top at Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Ron, punching Harry on the shoulder. "We've done all right, haven't we?"_

_"Well done!" said Mrs. Weasley proudly, ruffling Ron's hair. "Seven OWLs, that's more than Fred and George got together!"_

_"Hermione?" said Ginny tentatively, for Hermione still hadn't turned around. "How did you do?"_

_"I — not bad," said Hermione in a small voice._

_"Oh, come off it," said Ron, striding over to her and whipping her results out of her hand. "Yep… ten 'Outstandings' and one 'Exceeds Expectations' at Defence Against the Dark Arts."_

"Maybe Harry wasn't as good as we thought," Sirius said.

"No, no, it's because we hadn't memorized anything for the written work," Hermione disagreed.

_He looked down at her, half-amused, half-exasperated. "You're actually disappointed, aren't you?"_

_Hermione shook her head, but Harry laughed._

_"Well, we're N.E.W.T. students now!" grinned Ron. "Mum, are there any more sausages?_

"That's brilliant, you three," Petunia said as they landed in the family room.

"They did fantastically, didn't they?" Molly agreed, she had been so proud of them.

"Can we continue?" Fabian moaned, he never really cared for school.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Sure."

_"Hi, Harry!" said a familiar voice from behind him._

"Neville," Ginny said fondly.

_"Neville!" said Harry in relief, turning to see a round-faced boy struggling toward him._

_"Hello, Harry," said a girl with long hair and large misty eyes, who was just behind Neville._

_"Luna, hi, how are you?"_

_"Very well, thank you," said Luna. She was clutching a magazine to her chest; large letters on the front announced that there was a pair of free Spectrespecs inside._

_"Quibbler still going strong, then?" asked Harry._

_"Oh yes, circulation's well up," said Luna happily._

_"Let's find seats," said Harry, and the three of them set off along the train through hordes of silently staring students. At last they found an empty compartment, and Harry hurried inside gratefully._

_"They're even staring at us?" said Neville, indicating himself and Luna. "Because we're with you!"_

"No, that's not why," James chuckled.

_"They're staring at you because you were at the Ministry too," said Harry, as he hoisted his trunk into the luggage rack. "Our little adventure there was all over the Daily Prophet, you must've seen it."_

_"Yes, I thought Gran would be angry about all the publicity," said Neville, "but she was really pleased. Says I'm starting to live up to my dad at long last. She bought me a new wand, look!"_

"That's good," Arthur said.

"Yeah, his magic got loads better that year," Hermione nodded.

_He pulled it out and showed it to Harry._

_"Cherry and unicorn hair," he said proudly. "We think it was one of the last Ollivander ever sold, he vanished next day… oy, come back here, Trevor!"_

_And he dived under the seat to retrieve his toad as it made one of its frequent bids for freedom._

_"Are we still doing D.A. meetings this year, Harry?" asked Luna, who was detaching a pair of psychedelic spectacles from the middle of The Quibbler._

_"No point now we've got rid of Umbridge, is there?" said Harry, sitting down._

_Neville bumped his head against the seat as he emerged from under it. He looked most disappointed._

_"I liked the D.A.! I learned loads with you!" _

"True," Ron, Ginny and Hermione said, grinning.

_"I enjoyed the meetings too," said Luna serenely. "It was like having friends."_

"You do have friends, Luna," Teddy said.

_This was one of those uncomfortable things Luna often said and which made Harry feel a squirming mixture of pity and embarrassment. Before he could respond, however, there was a disturbance outside their compartment door; a group of fourth-year girls was whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass._

_"You ask him!"_

_"No, you! "_

_"I'll do it!"_

"Harry's got girls after him now," Sirius laughed to Ginny's grimace.

_And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door._

_"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently. _

Ron groaned remembering the incident where he 'fell' for her.

_"Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with them," she added in a stage whisper, indicating Neville's bottom, which was sticking out from under the seat again as he groped around for Trevor, and Luna, who was now wearing her free Spectrespecs, which gave her the look of a demented, multicolored owl._

_"They're friends of mine," said Harry coldly._

"Atta boy," Lily grinned proudly.

_"Oh," said the girl, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay."_

_And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her._

_"People expect you to have cooler friends than us," said Luna, once again displaying her knack for embarrassing honesty._

_"You are cool," said Harry shortly. "None of them was at the Ministry. They didn't fight with me."_

_"That's a very nice thing to say," beamed Luna. Then she pushed her Spectrespecs farther up her nose and settled down to read The Quibbler._

"Skipping," Harry said.

_"I'm supposed to deliver these to Neville Longbottom and Harry P-Potter," she faltered, as her eyes met Harry's and she turned scarlet._

"Slughorn," Ginny groaned

_She was holding out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, Harry and Neville took the scroll addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled back out of the compartment._

_"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his._

_"An invitation," said Harry._

_Harry,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

_"But what does he want me for?" asked Neville nervously, as though he was expecting detention._

"Lunch, Neville," Dora smiled.

"Skipping," Harry said, again.

_"Harry, m'boy!" said Slughorn, jumping up at the sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silvery mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his waistcoat. "Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom!"_

_Neville nodded, looking scared. At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down opposite each other in the only two empty seats, which were nearest the door. Harry glanced around at their fellow guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes; there were also two seventh-year boys Harry did not know and, squashed in the corner beside Slughorn and looking as though she was not entirely sure how she had got there, Ginny._

"You look so confused, dear," Molly said, smiling at her daughter.

"I was."

_"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked Harry and Neville. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course —"_

_Zabini did not make any sign of recognition or greeting, nor did Harry or Neville: Gryffindor and Slytherin students loathed each other on principle._

_"This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other —? No?"_

"Sadly," Hermione and Ron said.

_McLaggen, a large, wiry-haired youth, raised a hand, and Harry and Neville nodded back at him._

_"—and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether —?"_

_Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile._

_"— and this charming young lady tells me she knows you!" Slughorn finished._

_Ginny grimaced at Harry and Neville from behind Slughorn's back._

"No, they don't know each other at all," Teddy laughed, looking at Harry and Ginny who were holding hands.

_"Well now, this is most pleasant," said Slughorn cozily. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things… Pheasant, Belby?"_

_Belby started and accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant._

_"I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles," Slughorn told Harry and Neville, now passing around a basket of rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"_

_Unfortunately, Belby had just taken a large mouthful of pheasant; in his haste to answer Slughorn he swallowed too fast, turned purple, and began to choke._

_"Anapneo," said Slughorn calmly, pointing his wand at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once._

_"Not… not much of him, no," gasped Belby, his eyes streaming._

_"Well, of course, I daresay he's busy," said Slughorn, looking questioningly at Belby._

_"I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"_

_"I suppose…" said Belby, who seemed afraid to take another bite of pheasant until he was sure that Slughorn had finished with him. "Er… he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about…"_

_His voice tailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead._

"So that's why he's there," Sirius muttered. "Although he might not be in the next one."

_"Now, you, Cormac," said Slughorn, "I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he has a rather splendid picture of the two of you hunting nogtails in, I think, Norfolk?"_

_"Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was," said McLaggen. "We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour; this was before he became Minister, obviously —"_

_"Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?" beamed Slughorn, now offering around a small tray of pies; somehow, Belby was missed out. "Now tell me…"_

_Zabini, who was interrogated after McLaggen, turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out, she had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold). It was Neville's turn next: This was a very uncomfortable ten minutes, for Neville's parents, well-known Aurors, had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of Death Eater cronies. At the end of Neville's interview, Harry had the impression that Slughorn was reserving judgment on Neville, yet to see whether he had any of his parents' flair._

_"And now," said Slughorn, shifting massively in his seat with the air of a compare introducing his star act. "Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!" He contemplated Harry for a moment as though he was a particularly large and succulent piece of pheasant, then said, "'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!"_

_Harry said nothing. Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini were all staring at him._

_"Of course," said Slughorn, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumors for years… I remember when… well — after that terrible night — Lily — James — and you survived — and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary —"_

_Zabini gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused scepticism. An angry voice burst out from behind Slughorn._

_"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented… at posing…"_

"Go Ginny," the twins laughed.

_"Oh dear!" chuckled Slughorn comfortably, looking around at Ginny, who was glaring at Zabini around Slughorn's great belly. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvellous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"_

"So that's why you're there," Bill laughed although he looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of that curse.

"And don't you forget it," she laughed.

_Zabini merely looked contemptuous._

_"Anyway," said Slughorn, turning back to Harry. "Such rumours this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes — but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you were there in the thick of it all!"_

_Harry, who could not see any way out of this without flatly lying, nodded but still said nothing. Slughorn beamed at him._

_"So modest, so modest_

"Thank Merlin he's modest," Lily said. "If he was like James –" she didn't finish but shuddered.

_, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond — you were there, then? But the rest of the stories — so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe — this fabled prophecy, for instance —"_

_"We never heard a prophecy," said Neville, turning geranium pink as he said it._

"Thanks for that," Harry muttered.

_"That's right," said Ginny staunchly. "Neville and I were both there too, and all this 'Chosen One' rubbish is just the Prophet making things up as usual."_

"Um, Gin," Harry began.

"I know, I know," she said frowning at him

_"You were both there too, were you?" said Slughorn with great interest, looking from Ginny to Neville, but both of them sat clam-like before his encouraging smile._

"I shouldn't have said that," Ginny mumbled as they landed in the family room.

"That's what you do at those meetings," Ron laughed. "Thank Merlin I didn't go."

Harry and Hermione shared a glance remembering how annoying Ron had been.

"I thought you wanted to go," Ginny laughed causing Ron to shuffle uncomfortable.

"What's next?" Hermione laughed.

"Do you want to see Dumbledore's lesson?" Harry asked and everyone nodded. "Alright."

Harry quickly changed the memory and everyone bent over the pensieve.

_"Acid Pops," said Harry, and the gargoyle leapt aside;_

"Acid pops? Dudley asked.

"Dumbledore liked to use sweets – often Muggle ones - as his password," Bill laughed.

_the wall behind it slid apart, and a moving spiral stone staircase was revealed, onto which Harry stepped, so that he was carried in smooth circles up to the door with the brass knocker that led to Dumbledore's Office._

_Harry knocked._

_"Come in," said Dumbledore s voice._

_"Good evening, sir," said Harry, walking into the headmaster's office._

_"Ah, good evening, Harry. Sit down," said Dumbledore, smiling. "I hope you've had an enjoyable first week back at school?"_

_"Yes, thanks, sir," said Harry._

_"You must have been busy, a detention under your belt already!"_

"Harry!" Lily scolded.

"Sorry, it was Snape," Harry said.

"That makes it so much easier," James agreed. "You just have to open your mouth."

_"Er," began Harry awkwardly, but Dumbledore did not look too stern._

_"I have arranged with Professor Snape that you will do your detention next Saturday instead."_

_"Right," said Harry_

_He looked around surreptitiously for some indication of what Dumbledore was planning to do with him this evening. The circular office looked just as it always did; the delicate silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, puffing smoke and whirring; portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses dozed in their frames, and Dumbledore's magnificent phoenix, Fawkes, stood on his perch behind the door, watching Harry with bright interest. _

_"So, Harry," said Dumbledore, in a businesslike voice. "You have been wondering, I am sure, what I have planned for you during these — for want of a better word — lessons?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Well, I have decided that it is time, now that you know what prompted Lord Voldemort to try and kill you fifteen years ago, for you to be given certain information." There was a pause._

"So they're lessons on how to kill Voldemort?" Teddy asked.

"In a way," Harry sighed.

_"You said, at the end of last term, you were going to tell me everything," said Harry. It was hard to keep a note of accusation from his voice. "Sir," he added._

_"And so I did," said Dumbledore placidly. "I told you everything I know. From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork. From here on in, Harry, I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron."_

"Great," Dudley muttered

_"But you think you're right?" said Harry._

"Of course he does," Hermione said.

_"Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being — forgive me — rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."_

"True," Molly sighed.

_Sir," said Harry tentatively, "does what you're going to tell me have anything to do with the prophecy? Will it help me… survive?"_

"It better," Fabian and Gideon murmured

_"It has a very great deal to do with the prophecy," said Dumbledore, as casually as if Harry had asked him about the next days weather, "and I certainly hope that it will help you to survive."_

_Dumbledore got to his feet and walked around the desk, past Harry, who turned eagerly in his seat to watch Dumbledore bending over the cabinet beside the door. When Dumbledore straightened up, he was holding a familiar shallow stone basin etched with odd markings around its rim. He placed the Pensieve on the desk in front of Harry._

_"You look worried."_

_Harry had indeed been eyeing the Pensieve with some apprehension._

"It won't hurt you," Remus chuckled.

"No, Dad, you don't that," Teddy disagreed. "It could suddenly morph into a three-headed dog and try to eat him."

"Teddy," Dora, Harry and Ginny said while the marauders and twins laughed.

"We don't need reminding of that," Petunia said.

_"This time, you enter the Pensieve with me… and, even more unusually, with permission."_

"But there's no fun in that," Teddy said causing Harry to frown over at him.

_"Where are we going, sir?"_

_"For a trip down Bob Ogden's memory lane," said Dumbledore, pulling from his pocket a crystal bottle containing a swirling silvery-white substance._

_"Who was Bob Ogden?"_

Everyone shrugged.

_"He was employed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," said Dumbledore. "He died some time ago, but not before I had tracked him down and persuaded him to confide these recollections to me. We are about to accompany him on a visit he made in the course of his duties. If you will stand, Harry…"_

_But Dumbledore was having difficulty pulling out the stopper of the crystal bottle: His injured hand seemed stiff and painful._

"What happened?" Lily asked frustrated.

_Dumbledore tipped the silvery contents of the bottle into the Pensieve, where they swirled and shimmered, neither liquid nor gas. "After you," said Dumbledore, gesturing toward the bowl. Harry bent forward, took a deep breath, and plunged his face into the silvery substance. He felt his feet leave the office floor; he was falling, falling through whirling darkness and then, quite suddenly, he was blinking in dazzling sunlight. Before his eyes had adjusted, Dumbledore landed beside him._

_They were standing in a country lane bordered by high, tangled hedgerows, beneath a summer sky as bright and blue as a forget-me-not. Some ten feet in front of them stood a short, plump man wearing enormously thick glasses that reduced his eyes to molelike specks. He was reading a wooden signpost that was sticking out of the brambles on the left-hand side of the road. Harry knew this must be Ogden; he was the only person in sight, and he was also wearing the strange assortment of clothes so often chosen by inexperienced wizards trying to look like Muggles: in this case, a frock coat and spats over a striped one-piece bathing costume._

The Muggles and muggle-borns giggled at that.

_Before Harry had time to do more than register his bizarre appearance, however, Ogden had set off at a brisk walk down the lane._

_Dumbledore and Harry followed. As they passed the wooden sign, Harry looked up at its two arms. The one pointing back the way they had come read: Great Hangleton, 5 miles. The arm pointing after Ogden said Little Hangleton, 1 mile._

"Why does that sound familiar?" Remus asked.

_They walked a short way with nothing to see but the hedgerows, the wide blue sky overhead and the swishing, frock-coated figure ahead. Then the lane curved to the left and fell away, sloping steeply down a hillside, so that they had a sudden, unexpected view of a whole valley laid out in front of them. Harry could see a village, undoubtedly Little Hangleton, nestled between two steep hills, its church and graveyard clearly visible. Across the valley, set on the opposite hillside, was a handsome manor house surrounded by a wide expanse of velvety green lawn._

_Ogden had broken into a reluctant trot due to the steep downward slope. Dumbledore lengthened his stride, and Harry hurried to keep up.. The lane curved to the right and when they rounded the corner, it was to see the very edge of Ogden's frock coat vanishing through a gap in the hedge._

_Dumbledore and Harry followed him onto a narrow dirt track bordered by higher and wilder hedgerows than those they had left behind. The path was crooked, rocky, and potholed, sloping down-hill like the last one, and it seemed to be heading for a patch of dark trees a little below them. Sure enough, the track soon opened up at the copse, and Dumbledore and Harry came to a halt behind Ogden, who had stopped and drawn his wand._

_Despite the cloudless sky, the old trees ahead cast deep, dark, cool shadows, and it was a few seconds before Harry's eyes discerned the building half-hidden amongst the tangle of trunks. It seemed to him a very strange location to choose for a house, or else an odd decision to leave the trees growing nearby, blocking all light and the view of the valley below. He wondered whether it was inhabited; its walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime._

"Lovely," Fleur and Petunia muttered.

_Just as he had concluded that nobody could possibly live there, however, one of the windows was thrown open with a clatter, and a thin trickle of steam or smoke issued from it, as though somebody was cooking._

_Ogden moved forward quietly and, it seemed to Harry, rather cautiously. As the dark shadows of the trees slid over him, he stopped again, staring at the front door, to which somebody had nailed a dead snake._

"Ew," Ginny said, she hated snakes and for good reason.

_Then there was a rustle and a crack, and a man in rags dropped from the nearest tree, landing on his feet right in front of Ogden, who leapt backward so fast he stood on the tails of his frock coat and stumbled._

_"You're not welcome."_

_The man standing before them had thick hair so matted with dirt it could have been any color. Several of his teeth were missing. His eyes were small and dark and stared in opposite directions. He might have looked comical, but he did not; the effect was frightening, and Harry could not blame Ogden for backing away several more paces before he spoke._

_"Er — good morning. I'm from the Ministry of Magic —"_

_"You're not welcome."_

_"Er — I'm sorry — I don't understand you," said Ogden nervously._

"How stupid is he?" Hermione asked.

_Harry thought Ogden was being extremely dim; the stranger was making himself very clear in Harry's opinion, particularly as he was brandishing a wand in one hand and a short and rather bloody knife in the other._

_"You understand him, I'm sure, Harry?" said Dumbledore quietly._

_"Yes, of course," said Harry, slightly nonplussed. "Why can't Ogden —?"_

_But as his eyes found the dead snake on the door again, he suddenly understood._

_"He's speaking Parseltongue?"_

"Then why can we understand it?" Lily asked.

"See if you understand the next thing he says and then I'll tell you my theory," Harry sighed.

_"Very good," said Dumbledore, nodding and smiling._

_The man in rags was now advancing on Ogden, knife in one hand, wand in the other._

_"Now, look —" Ogden began, but too late: There was a bang, and Ogden was on the ground, clutching his nose, while a nasty yellowish goo squirted from between his fingers._

"That's disgusting," Petunia shrieked, looking green.

"Why did he get cursed?" James asked

_"Morfin!" said a loud voice._

_An elderly man had come hurrying out of the cottage, banging the door behind him so that the dead snake swung pathetically. This man was shorter than the first, and oddly proportioned; his shoulders were very broad and his arms overlong, which, with his bright brown eyes, short scrubby hair, and wrinkled face, gave him the look of a powerful, aged monkey._

_He came to a halt beside the man with the knife, who was now cackling with laughter at the sight of Ogden on the ground._

_"Ministry, is it?" said the older man, looking down at Ogden._

_"Correct!" said Ogden angrily, dabbing his face. "And you, I take it, are Mr. Gaunt?"_

_"S'right," said Gaunt. "Got you in the face, did he?"_

_"Yes, he did!" snapped Ogden._

_"Should've made your presence known, shouldn't you?" said Gaunt aggressively. "This is private property. Can't just walk in here and not expect my son to defend himself."_

"Well, that's not the best reason," Remus said.

_"Defend himself against what, man?" said Ogden, clambering back to his feet._

_"Busybodies. Intruders. Muggles and filth." Ogden pointed his wand at his own nose, which was still issuing large amounts of what looked like yellow pus, and the flow stopped at once. Mr. Gaunt spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Morfin._

_"Get in the house. Don't argue."_

_This time, ready for it, Harry recognized Parseltongue; even while he could understand what was being said, he distinguished the weird hissing noise that was all Ogden could hear._

"Was that Parseltongue?" Molly asked.

"You didn't understand it?" Harry asked and everyone shook their heads. "Me neither. So my thinking is at first I didn't realize that they were speaking Parseltongue, I thought it was normal English –"

"But now you are aware of the Parseltongue so we can't hear it?" Hermione asked, frowning. 'I suppose that makes sense, a little."

"So what did he say?' Arthur asked.

"'Get it the house'," Harry said. "And something else, maybe 'don't ask'."

_Morfin seemed to be on the point of disagreeing, but when his father cast him a threatening look he changed his mind, lumbering away to the cottage with an odd rolling gait and slamming the front door behind him, so that the snake swung sadly again._

_"It's your son I'm here to see, Mr. Gaunt," said Ogden, as he mopped the last of the pus from the front of his coat. "That was Morfin, wasn't it?"_

_"Ah, that was Morfin," said the old man indifferently. "Are you pure-blood?" he asked, suddenly aggressive._

"That doesn't matter," Sirius growled.

_"That's neither here nor there," said Ogden coldly, and Harry felt his respect for Ogden rise. Apparently Gaunt felt rather differently. He squinted into Ogden's face and muttered, in what was clearly supposed to be an offensive tone, "Now I come to think about it, I've seen noses like yours down in the village."_

"But he doesn't know how to dress right," Petunia reasoned.

"True, most Half-Blood's and Muggle-Borns know how to dress," Teddy agreed.

_"I don't doubt it, if your son's been let loose on them," said Ogden. "Perhaps we could continue this discussion inside?"_

_"Inside?"_

_"Yes, Mr. Gaunt. I've already told you. I'm here about Morfin. We sent an owl —"_

_"I've no use for owls," said Gaunt. "I don't open letters."_

_"Then you can hardly complain that you get no_ _warning of visitors," said Ogden tartly._

"Good one," the twins chuckled.

"He should be careful," Dora said.

_"I am here following a serious breach of Wizarding law, which occurred here in the early hours of this morning —"_

_"All right, all right, all right!" bellowed Gaunt. "Come in the bleeding house, then, and much good it'll do you!"_

_The house seemed to contain three tiny rooms. Two doors led off the main room, which served as kitchen and living room com-bined. Morfin was sitting in a filthy armchair beside the smoking fire, twisting a live adder between his thick fingers and crooning softly at it in Parseltongue._

"Because that's normal," Dudley said, frowning.

"He said something about being good or he'll nail it too the door," Harry said frowning at well.

"How lovely," Ginny shuddered.

_There was a scuffling noise in the corner beside the open window, and Harry realized that there was somebody else in the room, a girl whose ragged gray dress was the exact color of the dirty stone wall behind her. She was standing beside a steaming pot on a grimy black stove, and was fiddling around with the shelf of squalid-looking pots and pans above it. Her hair was lank and dull and she had a plain, pale, rather heavy face. Her eyes, like her brother's, stared in opposite directions. She looked a little cleaner than the two men, but Harry thought he had never seen a more defeated-looking person._

'The poor girl,' Lily sighed.

_"M'daughter, Merope," said Gaunt grudgingly, as Ogden looked inquiringly toward her._

"Merope Gaunt!" Dora gasped. "She's Voldemorts mother."

"What?!" Teddy yelped.

Dora nodded, looking faintly sick.

"Still poor girl, Lily?" Sirius growled.

"Yes, actually," Lily replied. "She doesn't know what her son's to become, she can't help it. I want to know why she's in that state and why she looks like she does."

_"Good morning," said Ogden._

_She did not answer, but with a frightened glance at her father turned her back on the room and continued shifting the pots on the shelf behind her._

Lily and Hermione frowned.

_"Well, Mr. Gaunt," said Ogden, "to get straight to the point, we have reason to believe that your son, Morfin, performed magic in front of a Muggle late last night."_

_There was a deafening clang. Merope had dropped one of the pots._

_"Pick it up!" Gaunt bellowed at her. "That's it, grub on the floor like some filthy Muggle, what's your wand for, you useless sack of muck?"_

"Why would you use magic to pick it up?" Molly said looking angry. "It would take longer."

"I can't believe 'e spoke to 'is daughter like zat," Fleur muttered.

_"Mr. Gaunt, please!" said Ogden in a shocked voice, as Merope, who had already picked up the pot, flushed blotchily scarlet, lost her grip on the pot again, drew her wand shakily from her pocket, pointed it at the pot, and muttered a hasty, inaudible spell that caused the pot to shoot across the floor away from her, hit the opposite wall, and crack in two._

"The poor girl," Ginny breathed.

"She's obviously not brilliant at magic," Ron observed.

_Morfin let out a mad cackle of laughter. Gaunt screamed, "Mend it, you pointless lump, mend it!"_

_Merope stumbled across the room, but before she had time to raise her wand, Ogden had lifted his own and said firmly, "Reparo." The pot mended itself instantly._

"Good man"' Bill nodded.

_Gaunt looked for a moment as though he was going to shout at Ogden, but seemed to think better of it: Instead, he jeered at his daughter, "Lucky the nice man from the Ministry's here, isn't it? Perhaps he'll take you off my hands, perhaps he doesn't mind dirty Squibs…"_

"She's not a squib," Teddy argued, trying to keep his temper down. "She's just not talented at magic."

_Without looking at anybody or thanking Ogden, Merope picked up the pot and returned it, hands trembling, to its shelf. She then stood quite still, her back against the wall between the filthy window and the stove, as though she wished for nothing more than to sink into the stone and vanish._

"A girl shouldn't be afraid of her father," Petunia sighed.

_"Mr. Gaunt," Ogden began again, "as I've said: the reason for my visit —"_

_"I heard you the first time!" snapped Gaunt. "And so what? Morfin gave a Muggle a bit of what was coming to him — what about it, then?"_

_"Morfin has broken Wizarding law," said Ogden sternly._

_"'Morfin has broken Wizarding law.'" Gaunt imitated Ogden's voice, making it pompous and singsong. Morfin cackled again. "He taught a filthy Muggle a lesson, that's illegal now, is it?"_

"Yes and it always will be," Hermione snarled.

_"Yes," said Ogden. "I'm afraid it is."_

_He pulled from an inside pocket a small scroll of parchment and unrolled it._

_"What's that, then, his sentence?" said Gaunt, his voice rising angrily._

_"It is a summons to the Ministry for a hearing —"_

_"Summons! Summons? Who do you think you are, summoning my son anywhere?"_

_"I'm Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad," said Ogden._

_"And you think we're scum, do you?" screamed Gaunt, advancing on Ogden now, with a dirty yellow-nailed finger pointing at his chest. "Scum who'll come running when the Ministry tells 'em to? Do you know who you're talking to, you filthy little Mudblood, do you?"_

"We've already discussed this, he's not a muggle born," Arthur sighed.

_"I was under the impression that I was speaking to Mr. Gaunt," said Ogden, looking wary, but standing his ground._

"I quite like this man," Gideon said.

"Brave and amusing," Fabian agreed.

_"That's right!" roared Gaunt. For a moment, Harry thought Gaunt was making an obscene hand gesture, but then realized that he was showing Ogden the ugly, black-stoned ring he was wearing on his middle finger, waving it before Ogden's eyes. "See this? See this? Know what it is? Know where it came from? Centuries it's been in our family, that's how far back we go, and pure-blood all the way! Know how much I've been offered for this, with the Peverell coat of arms engraved on the stone?"_

"Urg, we're related to these people," James groaned.

"I know, sickening isn't it," Harry agreed.

"That means you're related to Voldemort," Remus said, trying to annoy James.

"Extremely distantly!" James yelled.

"So you're the third brother," Hermione said to Harry. "And Voldemort the second, while the oldest doesn't have one due to the fact that he was killed."

"It show Harry's the best family," Ron laughed. "They're the only ones alive."

"What are you three on about?" Arthur asked.

"The tale of the three brothers," they said together.

"The children's story?" Teddy asked.

"Wait until next year," Harry said.

_"I've really no idea," said Ogden, blinking as the ring sailed within an inch of his nose, "and it's quite beside the point, Mr. Gaunt. Your son has committed —"_

_With a howl of rage, Gaunt ran toward his daughter. For a split second, Harry thought he was going to throttle her as his hand flew to her throat; next moment, he was dragging her toward Ogden by a gold chain around her neck._

_"See this?" he bellowed at Ogden, shaking a heavy gold locket at him_

"Harry!" Hermione gasped. "That's – that's –"

"I know…" Harry said.

"Woah," Ron breathed, all three of them looking amazed – Harry having forgotten about this.

_while Merope spluttered and gasped for breath._

"Cruel man," Fleur spat.

_"I see it, I see it!" said Ogden hastily._

_"Slytherins!" yelled Gaunt. "Salazar Slytherin's! We're his last living descendants, what do you say to that, eh?"_

"That you're evil," Fabian suggested.

"And gits," Gideon added trying to ignore Molly's glare.

_"Mr. Gaunt, your daughter!" said Ogden in alarm, but Gaunt had already released Merope; she staggered away from him, back to her corner, massaging her neck and gulping for air._

_"So!" said Gaunt triumphantly, as though he had just proved a complicated point beyond all possible dispute. "Don't you go talking to us as if we're dirt on your shoes! Generations of pure-bloods, wizards all — more than you can say, I don't doubt!"_

_And he spat on the floor at Ogdens feet. Morfin cackled again. Merope, huddled beside the window, her head bowed and her face hidden by her lank hair, said nothing._

_"Mr. Gaunt," said Ogden doggedly, "I am afraid that neither your ancestors nor mine have anything to do with the matter in hand. I am here because of Morfin,_

"I like this man," Remus said.

_Morfin and the Muggle he accosted late last night. Our information"— he glanced down at his scroll of parchment — "is that Morfin performed a jinx or hex on the said Muggle, causing him to erupt in highly painful hives."_

_Morfin giggled._

_Gaunt snarled in Parseltongue, and Morfin fell silent again._

"Don't worry, we got," Lily said as Harry opened his mouth.

_"And so what if he did, then?" Gaunt said defiantly to Ogden, "I expect you've wiped the Muggle's filthy face clean for him, and his memory to boot —"_

_"That's hardly the point, is it, Mr. Gaunt?" said Ogden. "This was an unprovoked attack on a defenseless —"_

_"Ar, I had you marked out as a Muggle-lover the moment I saw you," sneered Gaunt, and he spat on the floor again._

_"This discussion is getting us nowhere," said Ogden firmly. "It is clear from your son's attitude that he feels no remorse for his actions." He glanced down at his scroll of parchment again. "Morfin will attend a hearing on the fourteenth of September to answer the charges of using magic in front of a Muggle and causing harm and distress to that same Mugg —"_

_Ogden broke off. The jingling, clopping sounds of horses and loud, laughing voices were drifting in through the open window. Apparently the winding lane to the village passed very close to the copse where the house stood. Gaunt froze, listening, his eyes wide. Morfin hissed and turned his face toward the sounds, his expression hungry. Merope raised her head. Her face, Harry saw, was starkly white._

"What's wrong?" Petunia asked.

_"My God, what an eyesore!" rang out a girl's voice, as clearly audible through the open window as if she had stood in the room beside them. "Couldn't your father have that hovel cleared away, Tom?"_

"Tom?" Dora asked and Harry nodded.

_"It's not ours," said a young man's voice. "Everything on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that cottage belongs to an old tramp called Gaunt, and his children. The son's quite mad, you should hear some of the stories they tell in the village —"_

"Oops," Molly said, hoping nothing would happen to those Muggles.

_The girl laughed. The jingling, clopping noises were growing louder and louder. Morfin made to get out of his armchair._

_"Keep your seat," said his father warningly, in Parseltongue._

_"Tom," said the girl's voice again, now so close they were clearly right beside the house,"I might be wrong — but has somebody nailed a snake to that door?"_

_"Good lord, you're right!" said the man's voice. "That'll be the son, I told you he's not right in the head. Don't look at it, Cecilia, darling."_

_The jingling and clopping sounds were now growing faint again._

"Hermione is there a way to make us understand what they're saying?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, yeah, um," Hermione said before flicking her wand.

_"'Darling,'" whispered Morfin in Parseltongue, looking at his sister. "'Darling, he called her. So he wouldn't have you anyway."_

"Yes!" everyone said, glad to be able to understand.

_Merope was so white Harry felt sure she was going to faint._

_"What's that?" said Gaunt sharply, also in Parseltongue, looking from his son to his daughter. "What did you say, Morfin?"_

_"She likes looking at that Muggle," said Morfin, a vicious expression on his face as he stared at his sister, who now looked terrified. _

"'E's going to get 'er 'urt," Fleur whispered.

_"Always in the garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at him, isn't she? And last night —"Merope shook her head jerkily, imploringly, but Morfin went on ruthlessly, "Hanging out of the window waiting for him to ride home, wasn't she?"_

_"Hanging out of the window to look at a Muggle?" said Gaunt quietly._

_All three of the Gaunts seemed to have forgotten Ogden, who was looking both bewildered and irritated at this renewed outbreak of incomprehensible hissing and rasping._

_"Is it true?" said Gaunt in a deadly voice, advancing a step or two toward the terrified girl. "My daughter — pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin — hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?"_

_Merope shook her head frantically, pressing herself into the wall, apparently unable to speak._

_"But I got him, Father!" cackled Morfin. "I got him as he went by and he didn't look so pretty with hives all over him, did he, Merope?"_

"That foul boy," the twins growled.

_"You disgusting little Squib, you filthy little blood traitor!" roared Gaunt,_

"You should be proud, Merope!" Ginny and Ron said.

_losing control, and his hands closed around his daughter's throat._

"No!" everyone yelled.

_Both Harry and Ogden yelled "No!" at the same time; Ogden raised his wand and cried, "Relashio!"_

"Oh, thank Merlin," Molly breathed.

_Gaunt was thrown backward, away from his daughter; he tripped over a chair and fell flat on his back. With a roar of rage, Morfin leapt out of his chair and ran at Ogden, brandishing his bloody knife and firing hexes indiscriminately from his wand._

_Ogden ran for his life._

_Dumbledore indicated that they ought to follow and Harry obeyed, Merope's screams echoing in his ears._

"The poor, poor girl," Petunia said.

_Ogden hurtled up the path and erupted onto the main lane, his arms over his head, where he collided with the glossy chestnut horse ridden by a very handsome, dark-haired young man._

_Both he and the pretty girl riding beside him on a gray horse roared with laughter at the sight of Ogden, who bounced off the horse's flank and set off again, his frock coat flying, covered from head to foot in dust, running pell-mell up the lane._

_"I think that will do, Harry," said Dumbledore. He took Harry by the elbow and tugged. Next moment, they were both soaring weightlessly through darkness, until they landed squarely on their feet, back in Dumbledore's now twilit office._

_"What happened to the girl in the cottage?" said Harry at once, as Dumbledore lit extra lamps with a flick of his wand. "Merope, or whatever her name was?"_

"Oh, she survived," said Dumbledore, reseating himself behind his desk and indicating that Harry should sit down too.

"Yes, we know," James said, although he looked gald.

_"Ogden Apparated back to the Ministry and returned with reinforcements within fifteen minutes. Morfin and his_ _father attempted to fight, but both were overpowered, removed from the cottage, and subsequently convicted by the Wizengamot. Morfin, who already had a record of Muggle attacks, was sentenced to three years in Azkaban. Marvolo, who had injured several Ministry employees in addition to Ogden, received six months."_

_"Marvolo?" Harry repeated wonderingly._

_"That's right," said Dumbledore, smiling in approval. "I am glad to see you're keeping up."_

_"That old man was —?"_

_"Voldemort's_ _grandfather, yes," said Dumbledore. _

"Caught on have you, Harry?" Dora laughed.

_"Marvolo, his son, Morfin, and his daughter, Merope, were the last of the Gaunts, a very ancient Wizarding family noted for a vein of instability and violence that flourished through the generations due to their habit of marrying their own cousins._

"Sorry to all the purebloods but that's disgusting," Lily, Petunia and Dudley all said in varying ways.

_Lack of sense coupled with a great liking for grandeur meant that the family gold was squandered several generations before Marvolo was born. He, as you saw, was left in squalor and poverty, with a very nasty temper, a fantastic amount of arrogance and pride, and a couple of family heirlooms that he treasured just as much as his son, and rather more than his daughter."_

_"So Merope," said Harry, leaning forward in his chair and staring at Dumbledore, "so Merope was… Sir, does that mean she was… Voldemort's mother?"_

_"It does," said Dumbledore. "And it so happens that we also had a glimpse of Voldemort's father. I wonder whether you noticed?"_

_"The Muggle Morfin attacked? The man on the horse?"_

"Very good, Harry," James said.

_"Very good indeed," said Dumbledore, beaming. "Yes, that was Tom Riddle senior, the handsome Muggle who used to go riding past the Gaunt cottage and for whom Merope Gaunt cherished a secret, burning passion."_

_"And they ended up married?" Harry said in disbelief, _

_"I think you are forgetting," said Dumbledore, "that Merope was a witch. I do not believe that her magical powers appeared to their best advantage when she was being terrorized by her father. Once Marvolo and Morfin were safely in Azkaban, once she was alone and free for the first time in her life, then, I am sure, she was able to give full rein to her abilities and to plot her escape from the desperate life she had led for eighteen years._

"So she was good at magic?" Teddy asked.

"So it seems," Remus said.

_"Can you not think of any measure Merope could have taken to make Tom Riddle forget his Muggle companion, and fall in love with her instead?"_

_"The Imperius Curse?" Harry suggested. "Or a love potion?"_

"Probably a love potion," Sirius said.

_"Very good. Personally, I am inclined to think that she used a love potion. I am sure it would have seemed more romantic to her, and I do not think it would have been very difficult, some hot day, when Riddle was riding alone, to persuade him to take a drink of water._

"Just so easy," Dudley muttered

_In any case, within a few months of the scene we have just witnessed, the village of Little Hangleton enjoyed a tremendous scandal. You can imagine the gossip it caused when the squire's son ran off with the tramp's daughter, Merope._

_"But the villagers' shock was nothing to Marvolo's. He returned from Azkaban, expecting to find his daughter dutifully awaiting his return with a hot meal ready on his table. Instead, he found a clear inch of dust and her note of farewell, explaining what she had done._

The twins let out a low whistle.

"Serves him right."

"For the way he treated her."

_"From all that I have been able to discover, he never mentioned her name or existence from that time forth. The shock of her desertion may have contributed to his early death — or perhaps he had simply never learned to feed himself. Azkaban had greatly weakened Marvolo, and he did not live to see Morfin return to the cottage."_

'_And Merope? She… she died, didn't she? Wasn't Voldemort brought up in an orphanage?"_

"You really are quick," Bill said, amazed.

"Well, he could have gone to any house, Bill?" Hermione told him.

"Even Slytherin," Fleur asked.

"He's cunning isn't he?" Ron said. "And he'll do anything to get what he needs."

_"Yes, indeed," said Dumbledore. "We must do a certain amount of guessing here, although I do not think it is difficult to deduce what happened. You see, within a few months of their runaway marriage, Tom Riddle reappeared at the manor house in Little Hangleton without his wife. The rumor flew around the neighborhood that he was talking of being 'hoodwinked' and 'taken in.' What he meant, I am sure, is that he had been under an enchantment that had now lifted, though I daresay he did not dare use those precise words for fear of being thought insane. When they heard what he was saying, however, the villagers guessed that Merope had lied to Tom Riddle, pretending that she was going to have his baby, and that he had married her for this reason."_

"But she did," Lily frowned.

_"But she did have his baby."_

_"But not until a year after they were married. Tom Riddle left her while she was still pregnant."_

"Git," most the women said.

_"What went wrong?" asked Harry. "Why did the love potion stop working?"_

_"Again, this is guesswork," said Dumbledore, "but I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion. Perhaps, besotted as she was, she had convinced herself that he would by now have fallen in love with her in return. Perhaps she thought he would stay for the baby's sake. If so, she was wrong on both counts. He left her, never saw her again, and never troubled to discover what became of his son."_

"That's just cruel," Dudley said.

_The sky outside was inky black and the lamps in Dumbledore's office seemed to glow more brightly than before._

_"I think that will do for tonight, Harry," said Dumbledore after a moment or two._

_"Yes, sir," said Harry._

_He got to his feet, but did not leave._

_"Sir… is it important to know all this about Voldemort's past?"_

_"Very important, I think," said Dumbledore._

"Know thy enemy, Harry," Dora said. "And you might be able to guess their future."

_"And it… it's got something to do with the prophecy?"_

_"It has everything to do with the prophecy."_

_"Right," said Harry, a little confused, but reassured all the same._

_He turned to go, then another question occurred to him, and he turned back again. "Sir, am I allowed to tell Ron and Hermione everything you've told me?"_

"I can't believe you asked him," Sirius laughed. "What if he said no?"

Harry shrugged.

_Dumbledore considered him for a moment, then said, "Yes, I think Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger have proved themselves trust-worthy. But Harry, I am going to ask you to ask them not to repeat any of this to anybody else. It would not be a good idea if word got around how much I know, or suspect, about Lord Voldemort's secrets."_

_"No, sir, I'll make sure it's just Ron and Hermione. Good night."_

_He turned away again, and was almost at the door when he saw it. Sitting on one of the little spindle-legged tables that supported so many frail-looking silver instruments, was an ugly gold ring set with a large, cracked, black stone._

"Oh," Hermione said. "The ring."

_"Sir," said Harry, staring at it. "That ring —"_

_"Yes?" said Dumbledore._

_"You were wearing it when we visited Professor Slughorn that night."_

_"So I was," Dumbledore agreed._

_"But isn't it… sir, isn't it the same ring Marvolo Gaunt showed Ogden?"_

_Dumbledore bowed his head. "The very same."_

_"But how come —? Have you always had it?"_

_"No, I acquired it very recently," said Dumbledore. "A few days before I came to fetch you from your aunt and uncle's, in fact."_

_"That would be around the time you injured your hand, then, sir?"_

"How did you get to that?" Teddy asked.

_"Around that time, yes, Harry."_

_Harry hesitated. Dumbledore was smiling._

_"Sir, how exactly —?"_

_"Too late, Harry! You shall hear the story another time. Good night."_

_"Good night, sir."_

"Urg, just tell us already!" the twins and marauders groaned as they landed in the family room.

"I don't remember if he told me out right," Harry said. "I think I just found out bit by bit."

"Arg, now that's annoying," Dora moaned.

"These lessons are going to become very handy," Lily said, changing the subject.

"Yeah," the Trio said. "They did."

"How?" Dudley asked.

"It helped on our mission that Harry'll show tomorrow or the day after," Hermione said, "and as Dora said it gave an idea of how he thought."

"Right," Petunia said, although she was still confused – Harry had never gone it to detail about where he went that year and what he did.

"Next memory, please," Molly said, smiling at Harry.

_The moment Harry drained the last drops in his bottle she said, "Shall we call it a day and go back to school, then?"_

_The other two nodded; it had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed. Once again they drew their cloaks tightly around them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their gloves, then followed Katie Bell and a friend out of the pub and back up the High Street. Scowling, he bowed his head against the swirling sleet and trudged on._

"What were you thinking about?" Ron asked but Harry shrugged.

"Probably Ginny," Hermione said slyly.

"I didn't like Ginny yet!" Harry disagreed.

"You didn't know," Hermione said, shocked. "Typical boy, you fall in love with a girl and don't even know it. Please, Ginny, tell me you knew he was falling for you."

"Nope," Ginny said, smiling.

"Oh my Merlin," Hermione groaned. "Oh well, at least that shows how well I know my brother."

"I can't believe you knew before us," Harry muttered annoyed.

_It was a little while before Harry became aware that the voices of Katie Bell and her friend, which were being carried back to him on the wind, had become shriller and louder. Harry squinted at their indistinct figures. The two girls were having an argument about something Katie was holding in her hand. "It's nothing to do with you, Leanne!" Harry heard Katie say._

_They rounded a corner in the lane, sleet coming thick and fast, blurring Harry's glasses. Just as he raised a gloved hand to wipe them, Leanne made to grab hold of the package Katie was holding; Katie tugged it back and the package fell to the ground._

_At once, Katie rose into the air, not as Ron had done, suspended comically by the ankle, but gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she was about to fly._

_Yet there was something wrong, something eerie… Her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was quite empty of expression. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne had all halted in their tracks, watching._

_Then, six feet above the ground, Katie let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling, was clearly causing her terrible anguish._

"She's been cursed," Sirius said.

_She screamed and screamed; Leanne started to scream too and seized Katie's ankles, trying to tug her back to the ground. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward to help, but even as they grabbed Katie's legs, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron managed to catch her but she was writhing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed, apparently unable to recognize any of them._

"Oh my god," Petunia breathed.

_Harry looked around; the landscape seemed deserted._

_"Stay there!" he shouted at the others over the howling wind. "I'm going for help!"_

"Hurry, Harry," Dora moaned.

_He began to sprint toward the school; he hurtled around a bend in the lane and collided with what seemed to be an enormous bear on its hind legs._

_"Hagrid!" he panted, disentangling himself from the hedgerow into which he had fallen._

"Perfect," Remus said, Hagrid would be able to hold her and get to the school fast.

_"Harry!" said Hagrid, who had sleet trapped in his eyebrows and beard, and was wearing his great, shaggy beaverskin coat. "Jus' bin visitin' Grawp, he's comin' on so well yeh wouldn' —"_

"Not now," Hermione sighed.

_"Hagrid, someone's hurt back there, or cursed, or something —"_

_"Wha?" said Hagrid, bending lower to hear what Harry was saying over the raging wind._

_"Someone's been cursed!" bellowed Harry._

_"Cursed? Who's bin cursed — not Ron? Hermione?"_

_"No, it's not them, it's Katie Bell — this way…"_

_Together they ran back along the lane. It took them no time to find the little group of people around Katie, who was still writhing and screaming on the ground; Ron, Hermione, and Leanne were all trying to quiet her._

_"Get back!" shouted Hagrid. "Lemme see her!"_

_"Something's happened to her!" sobbed Leanne. "I don't know what —"_

_Hagrid stared at Katie for a second, then without a word, bent down, scooped her into his arms, and ran off toward the castle with her. Within seconds, Katie's piercing screams had died away and the only sound was the roar of the wind._

"Thank God/Merlin," everyone except the trio breathed having already known she was fine.

_Hermione hurried over to Katie's wailing friend and put an arm around her._

_"It's Leanne, isn't it?"_

_The girl nodded._

_"Did it just happen all of a sudden, or —?"_

_"It was when that package tore," sobbed Leanne, pointing at the now sodden brown-paper package on the ground, which had split open to reveal a greenish glitter. Ron bent down, his hand out-stretched_

"Don't touch it," Arthur warned.

_, but Harry seized his arm and pulled him back._

"Well done, Harry," James said. "We don't need someone's cursed."

_"Don't touch it!"_

_He crouched down. An ornate opal necklace was visible, poking out of the paper._

_"I've seen that before," said Harry, staring at the thing. "It was on display in Borgin and Burkes ages ago. The label said it was cursed. Katie must have touched it." He looked up at Leanne, whohad started to shake uncontrollably. "How did Katie get hold of this?"_

_"Well, that's why we were arguing. She came back from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks holding it, said it was a surprise for somebody at Hogwarts and she had to deliver it. She looked all funny when she said it… Oh no, oh no, I bet she'd been Imperiused and I didn't realize!"_

"Deep breath, dear," Molly said.

_Leanne shook with renewed sobs. Hermione patted her shoulder gently._

_"She didn't say who'd given it to her, Leanne?"_

"Please say she did," Dora said, having not heard about this.

_"No… she wouldn't tell me… and I said she was being stupid and not to take it up to school, but she just wouldn't listen and… and then I tried to grab it from her… and — and —"_

_Leanne let out a wail of despair._

"Poor girl," Dudley said.

_"We'd better get up to school," said Hermione, her arm still around Leanne. "We'll be able to find out how she is. Come on…"_

_Harry hesitated for a moment, then pulled his scarf from around his face and, ignoring Ron's gasp, carefully covered the necklace in it and picked it up._

_"We'll need to show this to Madam Pomfrey," he said._

"Good job, Harry," Sirius said. "She might be able to stop whatever it is quicker if she knows the cause."

"Just don't touch it," Petunia fretted.

_As they followed Hermione and Leanne up the road. They had just entered the grounds._

_"Malfoy knows about this necklace. It was in a case at Borgin and Burkes four years ago, I saw him having a good look at it while I was hiding from him and his dad. This is what he was buying that day when we followed him! He remembered it and he went back for it!"_

"I doubt it," Lily said.

"It was Malfoy though," Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione,

"Sorry, mate," Ron said so only they could hear.

"Yeah, Harry, sorry," Hermione agreed. "We should learn to trust your instincts."

"I don't know, Lily," Remus said. "Harry's instincts are nearly always correct and so are his most far fetched theories."

_"I — I dunno, Harry," said Ron hesitantly. "Loads of people go to Borgin and Burkes… and didn't that girl say Katie got it in the girls' bathroom?"_

_"She said she came back from the bathroom with it, she didn't necessarily get it in the bathroom itself —"_

_"McGonagall!" said Ron warningly._

_Harry looked up. Sure enough, Professor McGonagall was hurrying down the stone steps through swirling sleet to meet them._

_"Hagrid says you four saw what happened to Katie Bell — upstairs to my office at once, please!What's that you're holding, Potter?"_

_"It's the thing she touched," said Harry._

_"Good lord," said Professor McGonagall, looking alarmed as she took the necklace from Harry._

_"No, no, Filch, they're with me!" she added hastily, as Filch came shuffling eagerly across the entrance hall holding his Secrecy Sensor aloft. "Take this necklace to Professor Snape at once,_

"Perfect,'"Arthur said, Sirius however didn't look so sure.

"You may not like him, but he cares about his students," Ginny frowned.

_but be sure not to touch it, keep it wrapped in the scarf!"_

"Good advice," Gideon said, as they appear back in the family room.

"Did you really think it was Malfoy?" Fabian asked.

"Yes," Harry said.

"But you two didn't," Teddy guessed.

"No, we didn't" Hermione said trying not to give who was right away.

"Okay," he nodded. "Who's right?"

"We aren't telling you," they laughed.

"What's next?" the twins growled.

"Another lesson," Harry said and everyone perked up.

_There sat Dumbledore looking unusually tired; his hand was as black and burned as ever, but he smiled when he gestured to Harry to sit down. The Pensieve was sitting on the desk again, casting silvery specks of light over the ceiling._

_"You have had a busy time while I have been away," Dumbledore said. "I believe you witnessed Katie's accident."_

_"Yes, sir. How is she?"_

_"Still very unwell, although she was relatively lucky. She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin; there was a tiny hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even held it in her ungloved hand, she would have died, perhaps instantly._

"Who would want to do that?" Petunia gasped.

"They're a war, Tuney," Lily said. "If it was a Death Eater, they wouldn't care if someone innocent got hurt."

_Luckily Professor Snape was able to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse —"_

_"Why him?" asked Harry quickly. "Why not Madam Pomfrey?"_

_"Impertinent," said a soft voice from one of the portraits on the wall, and Phineas Nigellus Black, Sirius's great-great-grandfather, raised his head from his arms where he had appeared to be sleeping. "I would not have permitted a student to question the way Hogwarts operated in my day."_

_"Yes, thank you, Phineas," said Dumbledore quellingly. "Professor Snape knows much more about the Dark Arts than Madam Pomfrey, Harry._

"That's because he's a Death Eater," Sirius said, obviously forgetting what Harry had told them about Snape not being a Death Eater in the second war.

"Would you care to remember my son's name?" Ginny snarled.

"Sorry," Sirius said to Harry and Ginny.

"What does that have to do with Snape?" Gideon asked.

"Oh, please tell me, one of their middle names is Severus?" Fabian groaned.

"And what's wrong with that?" Molly snapped.

"Snape was a brave man," Arthur said.

"Sorry," the twins then said to the four of them.

_Anyway, the St. Mungo's staff are sending me hourly reports, and I am hopeful that Katie will make a full recovery in time."_

"Good," Lily sighed.

_"Where were you this weekend, sir?" Harry asked, disregarding a strong feeling that he might be pushing his luck, a feeling apparently shared by Phineas Nigellus, who hissed softly._

_"I would rather not say just now," said Dumbledore. "However, I shall tell you in due course."_

"Can't he just answer you questions when you ask?" Dudley groaned.

"I'll tell you later," Harry said.

_"You will?" said Harry, startled._

_"Yes, I expect so," said Dumbledore, withdrawing a fresh bottle of silver memories from inside his robes and uncorking it with a prod of his wand._

_"Sir," said Harry tentatively, "I met Mundungus in Hogsmeade."_

_"Ah yes, I am already aware that Mundungus has been treating your inheritance with light-fingered contempt," said Dumbledore, frowning a little. "He has gone to ground since you accosted him outside the Three Broomsticks; I rather think he dreads facing me. However, rest assured that he will not be making away with any more of Sirius's old possessions."_

_"That mangy old half-blood has been stealing Black heirlooms?" said Phineas Nigellus, incensed; and he stalked out of his frame, undoubtedly to visit his portrait in number twelve, Grimmauld Place._

They all chuckled.

_"Professor," said Harry, after a short pause, "did Professor McGonagall tell you what I told her after Katie got hurt? About Draco Malfoy?"_

_"She told me of your suspicions, yes," said Dumbledore._

_"And do you —?"_

_"I shall take all appropriate measures to investigate anyone who might have had a hand in Katie's accident," said Dumbledore. "But what concerns me now, Harry, is our lesson."_

_Harry watched as Dumbledore poured the fresh memories into the Pensieve and began swirling the stone basin once more between his long-fingered hands._

_"You will remember, I am sure, that we left the tale of Lord Voldemort's beginnings at the point where the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."_

_"How do you know she was in London, sir?"_

_"Because of the evidence of one Caractacus Burke," said Dumbledore, "who, by an odd coincidence, helped found the very shop whence came the necklace we have just been discussing."_

"He's probably not the friendliest person then," Arthur observed.

_He swilled the contents of the Pensieve as Harry had seen him swill them before, much as a gold prospector sifts for gold. Up out of the swirling, silvery mass rose a little old man revolving slowly in the Pensieve, silver as a ghost but much more solid, with a thatch of hair that completely covered his eyes._

_"Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances. It was brought in by a young witch just before Christmas, oh, many years ago now. She said she needed the gold badly, well, that much was obvious. Covered in rags and pretty far along… Going to have a baby, see. She said the locket had been Slytherin's. Well, we hear that sort of story all the time, 'Oh, this was Merlin's, this was, his favorite teapot,' but when I looked at it, it had his mark all right, and a few simple spells were enough to tell me the truth. Of course, that made it near enough priceless. She didn't seem to have any idea how much it was worth. Happy to get ten Galleons for it. Best bargain we ever made!"_

"He should have given her more if she looked so bad," Dora hissed.

_Dumbledore gave the Pensieve an extra-vigorous shake and Caractacus Burke descended back into the swirling mass of memory from whence he had come._

_"He only gave her ten Galleons?" said Harry indignantly._

_"Caractacus Burke was not famed for his generosity," said Dumbledore. "So we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession, the locket that was one of Marvolo's treasured family heirlooms."_

_"But she could do magic!" said Harry impatiently. "She could have got food and everything for herself by magic, couldn't she?"_

"Good point," Remus frowned.

_"Ah," said Dumbledore, "perhaps she could. But it is my belief — I am guessing again, but I am sure I am right — that when her husband abandoned her, Merope stopped using magic. I do not think that she wanted to be a witch any longer. Of course, it is also possible that her unrequited love and the attendant despair sapped her of her powers; that can happen. In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused to raise her wand even to save her own life."_

_"She wouldn't even stay alive for her son?"_

_Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?"_

"Just a little," Harry grumbled, hating that fact. "I feel sorry for him."

"So do I," Hermione said. "He never love or friendship and that makes him weak."

"Good, glad I'm not the only one," Harry grinned at, although no one else really looked like they agreed with them.

_"No," said Harry quickly, "but she had a choice, didn't she, not like my mother —"_

_"Your mother had a choice too," said Dumbledore gently._

"No, I didn't," Lily said plainly.

"Of course you did," Petunia said." "Your life or your sons."

"That's not a choice, is it?" Lily asked smiling.

"No, I suppose not."

_"Yes, Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a son who needed her, but do not judge her too harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and she never had your mother's courage. And now, if you will stand…"_

_"Where are we going?" Harry asked, as Dumbledore joined him at the front of the desk._

_"This time," said Dumbledore, "we are going to enter my memory. I think you will find it both rich in detail and satisfyingly accurate. After you, Harry…"_

_Harry bent over the Pensieve; his face broke the cool surface of the memory and then he was falling through darkness again… Seconds later, his feet hit firm ground; he opened his eyes and found that he and Dumbledore were standing in a bustling, old-fashioned London street._

_"There I am," said Dumbledore brightly, pointing ahead of them to a tall figure crossing the road in front of a horse-drawn milk cart._

_This younger Albus Dumbledore's long hair and beard were auburn. Having reached their side of the street, he strode off along the pavement, drawing many curious glances due to the flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet that he was wearing._

"Nice," Dudley laughed.

_"Nice suit, sir," said Harry, before he could stop himself,_

"Merlin, Harry," Ginny laughed. "I love your relationship with him, not many people would dare say that."

"He was kind of like a grandfather," Harry agreed.

_but Dumbledore merely chuckled as they followed his younger self a short distance,_

"And he just laughs," Hermione said in awe, that was one relationship she was always amazed by.

_finally passing through a set of iron gates into a bare courtyard that fronted a rather grim, square building surrounded by high railings. He mounted the few steps leading to the front door and knocked once. After a moment or two, the door was opened by a scruffy girl wearing an apron._

_"Good afternoon. I have an appointment with a Mrs. Cole, who, I believe, is the matron here?"_

_"Oh," said the bewildered-looking girl, taking in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance. "Um… just a mo'… MRS. COLE!" she bellowed over her shoulder._

"Polite," Molly muttered.

_Harry heard a distant voice shouting something in response. The girl turned back to Dumbledore. "Come in, she's on 'er way."_

_Dumbledore stepped into a hallway tiled in black and white; the whole place was shabby but spotlessly clean. Harry and the older Dumbledore followed. Before the front door had closed behind them, a skinny, harassed-looking woman came scurrying toward them. She had a sharp-featured face that appeared more anxious than unkind, and she was talking over her shoulder to another aproned helper as she walked toward Dumbledore._

_"… and take the iodine upstairs to Martha, Billy Stubbs has been picking his scabs and Eric Whalley's oozing all over his sheets — chicken pox on top of everything else," she said to nobody in particular, and then her eyes fell upon Dumbledore and she stopped dead in her tracks, looking as astonished as if a giraffe had just crossed her threshold._

"He does look ridiculous," Petunia said.

_"Good afternoon," said Dumbledore, holding out his hand. Mrs. Cole simply gaped._

"I don't blame her," Lily laughed.

_"My name is Albus Dumbledore. I sent you a letter requesting an appointment and you very kindly invited me here today."_

_Mrs. Cole blinked. Apparently deciding that Dumbledore was not a hallucination, she said feebly, "Oh yes. Well — well then — you'd better come into my room. Yes."_

_She led Dumbledore into a small room that seemed part sitting room, part office. It was as shabby as the hallway and the furniture was old and mismatched. She invited Dumbledore to sit on a rickety chair and seated herself behind a cluttered desk, eyeing him nervously._

_"I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom Riddle and arrangements for his future," said Dumbledore._

_"Are you family?" asked Mrs. Cole._

_"No, I am a teacher," said Dumbledore. "I have come to offer Tom a place at my school."_

_"What school's this, then?"_

_"It is called Hogwarts," said Dumbledore._

_"And how come you're interested in Tom?"_

_"We believe he has qualities we are looking for."_

_"You mean he's won a scholarship? How can he have done? He's never been entered for one."_

_"Well, his name has been down for our school since birth —"_

_"Who registered him? His parents?"_

"This is bad," Remus sighed.

_There was no doubt that Mrs. Cole was an inconveniently sharp woman. Apparently Dumbledore thought so too, for Harry now saw him slip his wand out of the pocket of his velvet suit, at the same time picking up a piece of perfectly blank paper from Mrs. Cole's desktop._

_"Here," said Dumbledore, waving his wand once as he passed her the piece of paper, "I think this will make everything clear."_

_Mrs. Cole's eyes slid out of focus and back again as she gazed intently at the blank paper for a moment._

"What did he do?" Dora ask warily.

_"That seems perfectly in order," she said placidly, handing it back. Then her eyes fell upon a bottle of gin and two glasses that had certainly not been present a few seconds before._

_"Er — may I offer you a glass of gin?" she said in an extra-refined voice._

_"Thank you very much," said Dumbledore, beaming._

_It soon became clear that Mrs. Cole was no novice when it came to gin drinking. Pouring both of them a generous measure, she drained her own glass in one gulp. Smacking her lips frankly, she smiled at Dumbledore for the first time, and he didn't hesitate to press his advantage._

_"I was wondering whether you could tell me anything of Tom Riddle's history? I think he was born here in the orphanage?"_

"Get 'er drunk to losen 'er tongue?" Fleur asked skeptically. "'O ees she? 'Argrid?"

_"That's right," said Mrs. Cole, helping herself to more gin. "I remember it clear as anything, because I'd just started here myself. New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. Nasty night. And this girl, not much older than I was myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in, and she had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour."_

_Mrs. Cole nodded impressively and took another generous gulp of gin._

_"Did she say anything before she died?" asked Dumbledore. "Anything about the boy's father, for instance?"_

"Why is he interested in that?" Bill asked.

_"Now, as it happens, she did," said Mrs. Cole, who seemed to be rather enjoying herself now, with the gin in her hand and an eager audience for her story._

_"I remember she said to me, 'I hope he looks like his papa,' and I won't lie, she was right to hope it, because she was no beauty — and then she told me he was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, for her father —_

"Why Marvolo?" Molly asked. "He was dreadful to her?"

"To know where he came from?" Arthur suggested.

"Plus it's better than Morphin," Fabian sniggered.

_yes, I know, funny name, isn't it? We wondered whether she came from a circus — and she said the boy's surname was to be Riddle. And she died soon after that without another word._

_"Well, we named him just as she'd said, it seemed so important to the poor girl, but no Tom nor Marvolo nor any kind of Riddle ever came looking for him, nor any family at all, so he stayed in the orphanage and he's been here ever since."_

_Mrs. Cole helped herself, almost absentmindedly, to another healthy measure of gin. Two pink spots had appeared high on her cheekbones. Then she said, "He's a funny boy."_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I thought he might be."_

"He's a wizard," Dudley agreed. "They are odd."

"Hey," the wizards said, although they knew Dudley was joking.

_"He was a funny baby too. He hardly ever cried, you know. And then, when he got a little older, he was… odd."_

_"Odd in what way?" asked Dumbledore gently._

_"Well, he —"_

_But Mrs. Cole pulled up short, and there was nothing blurry or vague about the inquisitorial glance she shot Dumbledore over her gin glass._

_"He's definitely got a place at your school, you say?"_

_"Definitely," said Dumbledore._

_"And nothing I say can change that?"_

_"Nothing," said Dumbledore._

_"You'll be taking him away, whatever?"_

_"Whatever," repeated Dumbledore gravely._

_She squinted at him as though deciding whether or not to trust him. Apparently she decided she could, because she said in a sudden rush, "He scares the other children."_

_"You mean he is a bully?" asked Dumbledore._

_"I think he must be," said Mrs. Cole, frowning slightly, "but it's very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents… Nasty things…"_

"So he was bad already?" Remus said.

_Dumbledore did not press her, though Harry could tell that he was interested. She took yet another gulp of gin and her rosy cheeks grew rosier still._

_"Billy Stubbs's rabbit… well, Tom said he didn't do it and I don't see how he could have done, but even so, it didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?"_

"That poor rabbit," Ginny sighed.

_"I shouldn't think so, no," said Dumbledore quietly._

_"But I'm jiggered if I know how he got up there to do it. All I know is he and Billy had argued the day before. And then"—_

"That's a bit unfair," Teddy said.

_well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they'd gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they'd just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I'm sure of it. And, well, there have been a lot of things, funny things…"_

_She looked around at Dumbledore again, and though her cheeks were flushed, her gaze was steady. "I don't think many people will be sorry to see the back of him."_

_"You understand, I'm sure, that we will not be keeping him permanently?" said Dumbledore. "He will have to return here, at the very least, every summer."_

"That sounds similar to you," Dudley said.

"I know," Harry muttered.

"_Oh, well, that's better than a whack on the nose with a rusty poker," said Mrs. Cole with a slight hiccup. She got to her feet, and Harry was impressed to see that she was quite steady, even though two-thirds of the gin was now gone._

_"I suppose you'd like to see him?"_

_"Very much," said Dumbledore, rising too._

"I wonder what he looks like at eleven," Dora pondered.

_She led him out of her office and up the stone stairs, calling out instructions and admonitions to helpers and children as she passed. The orphans, Harry saw, were all wearing the same kind of grayish tunic._

_They looked reasonably well-cared for, but there was no denying that this was a grim place in which to grow up._

_"Here we are," said Mrs. Cole, as they turned off the second landing and stopped outside the first door in a long corridor. She knocked twice and entered._

_"Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr. Dumberton — sorry, Dunderbore .He's come to tell you — well, I'll let him do it."_

_Harry and the two Dumbledore's entered the room, and Mrs. Cole closed the door on them. It was a small bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe and an iron bedstead. A boy was sitting on top of the gray blankets, his legs stretched out in front of him, holding a book._

_There was no trace of the Gaunts in Tom Riddle's face. Merope had got her dying wish: He was his handsome father in miniature, tall for eleven years old, dark-haired, and pale._

_His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance. There was a moment's silence._

_"How do you do, Tom?" said Dumbledore, walking forward and holding out his hand._

_The boy hesitated, then took it, and they shook hands. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle, so that the pair of them looked rather like a hospital patient and visitor._

_"I am Professor Dumbledore."_

_"'Professor'?" repeated Riddle. He looked wary. "Is that like 'doctor'? What are you here for? Did she get you in to have a look at me?"_

'Suspicious,' Fabian said.

_He was pointing at the door through which Mrs. Cole had just left._

_"No, no," said Dumbledore, smiling._

_"I don't believe you," said Riddle. "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!"_

_He spoke the last three words with a ringing force that was almost shocking. It was a command, and it sounded as though he had given it many times before._

"Bloody hell," Gideon muttered.

_His eyes had widened and he was glaring at Dumbledore, who made no response except to continue smiling pleasantly. After a few seconds Riddle stopped glaring, though he looked, if anything, warier still._

_"Who are you?"_

_"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school — your new school, if you would like to come."_

_Riddle's reaction to this was most surprising. He leapt from the bed and backed away from Dumbledore, looking furious._

_"You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? 'Professor,' yes, of course — well, I'm not going, see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!"_

"They should take him there,'"Teddy said.

_"I am not from the asylum," said Dumbledore patiently. "I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you —"_

_"I'd like to see them try," sneered Riddle._

_"Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, as though he had not heard Riddle's last words, "is a school for people with special abilities —"_

_"I'm not mad!"_

"I beg to differ," Bill snorted.

_"I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic."_

_There was silence. Riddle had frozen, his face expressionless, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore's, as though trying to catch one of them lying._

_"Magic?" he repeated in a whisper._

_"That's right," said Dumbledore._

_"It's… it's magic, what I can do?"_

_"What is it that you can do?"_

_"All sorts," breathed Riddle. A flush of excitement was rising up his neck into his hollow cheeks; he looked fevered. "I can make filings move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to."_

"That's not good," Lily muttered.

_His legs were trembling. He stumbled forward and sat down on the bed again, staring at his hands, his head bowed as though in prayer._

_"I knew I was different," he whispered to his own quivering fingers. "I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something."_

_"Well, you were quite right," said Dumbledore, who was no longer smiling, but watching Riddle intently. "You are a wizard."_

_Riddle lifted his head. His face was transfigured: There was a wild happiness upon it, yet for some reason it did not make him better looking; on the contrary, his finely carved features seemed somehow rougher, his expression almost bestial._

_"Are you a wizard too?"_

_"Yes, I am."_

_"Prove it," said Riddle at once, in the same commanding tone he had used when he had said, "Tell the truth."_

_Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "If, as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts —"_

_"Of course I am!"_

_"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'sir.'"_

_Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unrecognizably polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir. I meant — please, Professor, could you show me —?"_

"They're both kid of creepy," Remus observed.

_Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in the corner, and gave the wand a casual flick._

_The wardrobe burst into flames._

"He won't like that," Hermione breathed.

_Riddle jumped to his feet; howling in shock and rage. But as Riddle rounded on Dumbledore, the flames vanished, leaving the wardrobe completely undamaged._

_Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore; then, his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand. "Where can I get one of them?"_

Everyone grimaced.

_"All in good time," said Dumbledore. "I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."_

_And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. For the first time, Riddle looked frightened._

_"Open the door," said Dumbledore._

_Riddle hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the topmost shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was shaking and rattling as though there were several frantic mice trapped inside it._

_"Take it out," said Dumbledore._

_Riddle took down the quaking box. He looked unnerved._

_"Is there anything in that box that you ought not to have?" asked Dumbledore._

_Riddle threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look. "Yes, I suppose so, sir," he said finally, in an expressionless voice._

_"Open it," said Dumbledore._

_Riddle took off the lid and tipped the contents onto his bed without looking at them. Harry, , saw a mess of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo, a silver thimble, and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Once free of the box, they stopped quivering and lay quite still upon the thin blankets._

"Are they his or did he take them?" Dudley asked.

_"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," said Dumbledore calmly, putting his wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: Thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."_

"Took them," Petunia told her son who rolled his eyes – he knew that now.

_Riddle did not look remotely abashed; he was still staring coldly and appraisingly at Dumbledore. At last he said in a colourless voice, "Yes, sir."_

_"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have — inadvertently, I am sure — been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic — yes, there is a Ministry — will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."_

_"Yes, sir," said Riddle again._

_It was impossible to tell what he was thinking; his face remained quite blank as he put the little cache of stolen objects back into the cardboard box. When he had finished, he turned to Dumbledore and said baldly, "I haven't got any money."_

_"That is easily remedied," said Dumbledore, drawing a leather money-pouch from his pocket. "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on secondhand, but —"_

_"Where do you buy spellbooks?" interrupted Riddle, who had taken the heavy money bag without thanking Dumbledore, and was now examining a fat gold Galleon._

"Greedy git," Sirius muttered.

"And no manners," Lily scolded.

_"In Diagon Alley," said Dumbledore. "I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything —"_

_"You're coming with me?" asked Riddle, looking up._

_"Certainly, if you —"_

_"I don't need you," said Riddle. "I'm used to doing things for myself; I go round London on my own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley — sir?" he added, catching Dumbledore's eye._

_Dumbledore handed Riddle the envelope containing his list of equipment, and after telling Riddle exactly how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from the orphanage, he said, "You will be able to see it, although Muggles around you — non-magical people, that is — will not. Ask for Tom the barman — easy enough to remember, as he shares your name —"_

_Riddle gave an irritable twitch, as though trying to displace an irksome fly._

"How ironic," Remus laughed, darkly.

_"You dislike the name 'Tom'?"_

_"There are a lot of Toms," muttered Riddle. Then, as though he could not suppress the question, as though it burst from him in spite of himself, he asked, "Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me."_

_"I'm afraid I don't know," said Dumbledore, his voice gentle._

_"My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died," said Riddle, more to himself than Dumbledore. "It must've been him. So — when I've got all my stuff — when do I come to this Hogwarts?"_

_"All the details are on the second piece of parchment in your envelope," said Dumbledore. "You will leave from King's Cross Station on the first of September. There is a train ticket in there too."_

_Riddle nodded. Dumbledore got to his feet and held out his hand again. Taking it, Riddle said, "I can speak to snakes. I found out when we've been to the country on trips — they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?"_

"Not normal, no," Dora said.

"Just rare," James added.

_Harry could tell that he had withheld mention of this strangest power until that moment, determined to impress._

_"It is unusual," said Dumbledore, after a moment's hesitation, "but not unheard of."_

_His tone was casual but his eyes moved curiously over Riddle's face. They stood for a moment, man and boy, staring at each other. Then the handshake was broken; Dumbledore was at the door._

_"Good-bye, Tom. I shall see you at Hogwarts."_

_"I think that will do," said the white-haired Dumbledore at Harry's side, and seconds later, they were soaring weightlessly through darkness once more, before landing squarely in the present-day office._

_"Sit down," said Dumbledore, landing beside Harry._

_Harry obeyed _

_"He believed it much quicker than I did — I mean, when you told him he was a wizard," said Harry. "I didn't believe Hagrid at first, when he told me."_

"Not many people do," Hermione reasoned.

_"Yes, Riddle was perfectly ready to believe that he was — to use his word — 'special,'" said Dumbledore._

_"Did you know — then?" asked Harry._

_"Did I know that I had just met the most dangerous Dark wizard of all time?" said Dumbledore. "No, I had no idea that he was to grow up to be what he is. However, I was certainly intrigued by him. I returned to Hogwarts intending to keep an eye upon him, something I should have done in any case, given that he was alone and friendless, but which, already, I felt I ought to do for others' sake as much as his._

_"His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard and — most interestingly and ominously of all — he had already discovered that he had some measure of control over them, and begun to use them consciously. _

"So had Lily," Petunia said. "You had much more control over your accidental magic than Harry."

"Don't compare me to Voldemort," Lily snapped before saying softly. "Sorry."

_And as you saw, they were not the random experiments typical of young wizards: He was already using magic against other people, to frighten, to punish, to control. The little stories of the strangled rabbit and the young boy and girl he lured into a cave were most suggestive… 'I can make them hurt if I want to… '"_

_"And he was a Parselmouth," interjected Harry._

_"Yes, indeed; a rare ability, and one supposedly connected with the Dark Arts, although as we know, there are Parselmouths among the great and the good too. In fact, his ability to speak to serpents did not make me nearly as uneasy as his obvious instincts for cruelty, secrecy, and domination._

"That was odd," Teddy nodded.

_"Time is making fools of us again," said Dumbledore, indicating the dark sky beyond the windows. "But before we part, I want to draw your attention to certain features of the scene we have just witnessed, for they have a great bearing on the matters we shall be discussing in future meetings._

_"Firstly, I hope you noticed Riddle's reaction when I mentioned that another shared his first name, 'Tom'?"_

_Harry nodded._

_"There he showed his contempt for anything that tied him to other people, anything that made him ordinary. Even then, he wished to be different, separate, notorious. He shed his name, as you know, within a few short years of that conversation and created the mask of 'Lord Voldemort' behind which he has been hidden for so long._

_"I trust that you also noticed that Tom Riddle was already highly self-sufficient, secretive, and, apparently, friendless? He did not want help or companionship on his trip to Diagon Alley. He preferred to operate alone. The adult Voldemort is the same. You will hear many of his Death Eaters claiming that they are in his confidence, that they alone are close to him, even understand him. They are deluded. Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I believe that he has ever wanted one._

"That's lonely," Ginny muttered.

_"And lastly — I hope you are not too sleepy to pay attention to this, Harry — the young Tom Riddle liked to collect trophies. You saw the box of stolen articles he had hidden in his room. These were taken from victims of his bullying behavior, souvenirs, if you will, of particularly unpleasant bits of magic. Bear in mind this magpie-like tendency, for this, particularly, will be important later._

_"And now, it really is time for bed."_

_Harry got to his feet. As he walked across the room, his eyes fell I upon the little table on which Marvolo Gaunt's ring had rested last I time, but the ring was no longer there._

_"Yes, Harry?" said Dumbledore, for Harry had come to a halt._

_"The ring's gone," said Harry, looking around. "But I thought I you might have the mouth organ or something."_

_Dumbledore beamed at him, peering over the top of his half moon spectacles._

"You're impressed him," Dora observed.

_"Very astute, Harry, but the mouth organ was only ever a mouth organ."_

_And on that enigmatic note he waved to Harry, who understood himself to be dismissed._

"What?" Remus asked as they landed back in family room, both to what Dumbledore said and the look the trio exchanged.

"Nothing," they said, looking away from each other.

"You three are getting really annoying today," James frowned.

"Is this to do with the mission you three went on?" Dora asked.

"Of course it does," Remus sighed. "He's telling about Voldemort, dear."

"Now what are you on about!" the twins asked Remus.

"Next year," Arthur said, waving a hand.

"Lets have lunch and then we can continue," Ginny suggested as Ron's stomach rumbled.

"Yeah, good idea," Sirius yelled.

20 minutes later they were back in the family room waiting for Harry to change the pensieve. When he did they all bent over it and entered the memory.

_"Arthur!"_

_"What?"_

'_Percy!'_

_Mr. Weasley looked around. Everybody looked quickly at the window; Ginny stood up for a better look. There, sure enough, was Percy Weasley, striding across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight._

"Is he still being a prat?" Fabian growled.

"Though I don't like your choice of words," Arthur sighed. "The answer to your question is yes."

"But he knows you're right," Gideon now snarled, knowing how much what Percy was doing hurt Molly.

"Yes but its hard to admit your wrong," Molly said softly.

_He was not, however, alone._

_"Arthur, he's — he's with the Minister!"_

"Urg, brilliant," Dudley groaned, he didn't like the ministry in this time after everything they'd done.

_And sure enough, the man Harry had seen in the Daily Prophet was following along in Percy's wake, limping slightly, his mane of graying hair and his black cloak flecked with snow. Before any of, them could say anything, before Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could do more than exchange stunned looks, the back door opened and there stood Percy._

_There was a moment's painful silence. Then Percy said rather stiffly, "Happy Christmas, Mother."_

"Yes, she was the only one that cared," Ginny said.

"The rest of us were two angry at him," Ron agreed.

_"__Oh, Percy!" said Mrs. Weasley, and she threw herself into his arms._

_Rufus Scrimgeour paused in the doorway, leaning on his walking stick and smiling as he observed this affecting scene._

_"You must forgive this intrusion," he said, when Mrs. Weasley looked around at him, beaming and wiping her eyes. "Percy and I were in the vicinity — working, you know — and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."_

"Sure," Arthur muttered.

_But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of the rest of the family. He stood, poker-straight and awkward-looking, and stared over everybody else's heads. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were all observing him, stony-faced._

_"Please, come in, sit down, Minister!" fluttered Mrs. Weasley, straightening her hat. "Have a little purkey, or some tooding… I mean —"_

_"No, no, my dear Molly," said Scrimgeour. "I don't want to intrude, wouldn't be here at all if Percy hadn't wanted to see you all so badly…"_

_"Oh, Perce!" said Mrs. Weasley tearfully, reaching up to kiss him._

"Foul man," Bill growled, how dare he play on his, Bill's, mum's emotions?

_"… We've only looked in for five minutes, so I'll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy. No, no, I assure you I don't want to butt in! Well, if anybody cared to show me your charming garden… Ah, that young man's finished, why doesn't he take a stroll with me?"_

_The atmosphere around the table changed perceptibly. Everybody looked from Scrimgeour to Harry. Nobody seemed to find Scrimgeour's pretense that he did not know Harry's name convincing, or find it natural that he should be chosen to accompany the Minister around the garden when Ginny, Fleur, and George also had clean plates._

"Oh what fun," Fleur said sarcastically but saying normally.. £I 'ave been curious about what 'e said though."

_"Yeah, all right," said Harry into the silence._

_"It's fine," he said quietly, as he passed Lupin, who had half risen from his chair. "Fine," he added, as Mr. Weasley opened his mouth to speak._

"I can't believe you listen to him," Teddy said, shocked.

"It seemed … for the best," Remus said. "Plus if he was anything like Lily and James it would do no good to argue."

_"Wonderful!" said Scrimgeour, standing back to let Harry pass through the door ahead of him. "We'll just take a turn around the garden, and Percy and I'll be off. Carry on, everyone!"_

_Harry walked across the yard toward the Weasleys' overgrown, snow-covered garden, Scrimgeour limping slightly at his side. _

_"Charming," said Scrimgeour, stopping at the garden fence and looking out over the snowy lawn and the indistinguishable plants. "Charming."_

_Harry said nothing. He could tell that Scrimgeour was watching him._

_"I've wanted to meet you for a very long time," said Scrimgeour, after a few moments. "Did you know that?"_

"Of course he doesn't," Lily scoffed.

_"No," said Harry truthfully._

_"Oh yes, for a very long time. But Dumbledore has been very protective of you," said Scrimgeour._

"As he should be," Molly nodded.

_"Natural, of course, natural, after what you've been through… Especially what happened at the Ministry…"_

_He waited for Harry to say something, but Harry did not oblige, so he went on, "I have been hoping for an occasion to talk to you ever since I gained office, but Dumbledore has — most understandably, as I say — prevented this."_

_Still, Harry said nothing, waiting._

_"The rumors that have flown around!" said Scrimgeour. "Well, of course, we both know how these stories get distorted… all these whispers of a prophecy… of you being 'the Chosen One'…"_

"Here we are," Petunia said.

_"I assume that Dumbledore has discussed these matters with you?"_

_He looked at the little gnome prints all around the flowerbeds, and the scuffed-up patch that marked the spot where Fred had caught the gnome now wearing the tutu at the top of the Christmas tree. _

_"Yeah, we've discussed it."_

_"Have you, have you…" said Scrimgeour. Harry could see, out of the corner of his eye, Scrimgeour squinting at him, so he pretended to be very interested in a gnome that had just poked its head out from underneath a frozen rhododendron. "And what has Dumbledore told you, Harry?"_

_"Sorry, but that's between us," said Harry. _

"You're just going to annoy him," Ron laughed.

"We'll he does have a habit of that," Hermione agreed, thinking of another time Harry had seen him.

_He kept his voice as pleasant as he could, and Scrimgeour's tone, too, was light and friendly as he said, "Oh, of course, if it's a question of confidences, I wouldn't want you to divulge… no, no… and in any case, does it really matter whether you are 'the Chosen One' or not?"_

_Harry had to mull that one over for a few seconds before responding. "I don't really know what you mean, Minister."_

_"Well, of course, to you it will matter enormously," said Scrimgeour with a laugh. "But to the Wizarding community at large… it's all perception, isn't it? It's what people believe that's important."_

"Idiot," Dora muttered

_Harry said nothing.. The gnome under the rhododendron was now digging for worms at its roots, and Harry kept his eyes fixed upon it._

_"People believe you are 'the Chosen One,' you see," said Scrimgeour. "They think you quite the hero — which, of course, you are, Harry, chosen or not! How many times have you faced He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named now? Well, anyway," he pressed on, without waiting for a reply, "the point is, you are a symbol of hope for many, Harry._

Everyone who had been alive in Harry's seventh year shuffled – he had been to them.

_The idea that there is somebody out there who might be able, who might even be destined, to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named — well, naturally, it gives people a lift. And I can't help but feel that, once you realize this, you might consider it, well, almost a duty, to stand alongside the Ministry, and give everyone a boost."_

"I'm surprised he doesn't know how much you disliked the ministry," Ginny said, shaking her head at this man's stupidity.

_The gnome had just managed to get hold of a worm. It was now tugging very hard on it, trying to get it out of the frozen ground. Harry was silent so long that Scrimgeour said, looking from Harry to the gnome, "Funny little chaps, aren't they? But what say you, Harry?"_

_"I don't exactly understand what you want," said Harry slowly. "'Stand alongside the Ministry'… What does that mean?"_

_"Oh, well, nothing at all onerous, I assure you," said Scrimgeour. "If you were to be seen popping in and out of the Ministry from time to time, for instance, that would give the right impression. And of course, while you were there, you would have ample opportunity to speak to Gawain Robards, my successor as Head of the Auror office. Dolores Umbridge has told me that you cherish an ambition to become an Auror. Well, that could be arranged very easily…"_

"He shouldn't have bought her up," Dudley said, smirking.

_"So basically," he said, as though he just wanted to clarify a few points, "you'd like to give the impression that I'm working for the Ministry?"_

_"It would give everyone a lift to think you were more involved, Harry," said Scrimgeour, sounding relieved that Harry had cottoned on so quickly. "'The Chosen One,' you know… It's all about giving people hope, the feeling that exciting things are happening…"_

_"But if I keep running in and out of the Ministry," said Harry, still endeavoring to keep his voice friendly, "won't that seem as though I approve of what the Ministry's up to?"_

_"Well," said Scrimgeour, frowning slightly, "well, yes, that's partly why we'd like —"_

"Well, then, you're out of luck," Gideon laughed

"Yeah he doesn't agree," Fabian said.

_"No, I don't think that'll work," said Harry pleasantly. "You see, I don't like some of the things the Ministry's doing. Locking up Stan Shunpike, for instance."_

"The night bus conductor," Sirius asked shocked.

_Scrimgeour did not speak for a moment but his expression hardened instantly. "I would not expect you to understand," he said, and he was not as successful at keeping anger out of his voice as Harry had been. "These are dangerous times, and certain measures need to be taken. You are sixteen years old —"_

_"Dumbledore's a lot older than sixteen,_

"Yes, Harry," Hermione agreed. "About a hundred years older,"

_and he doesn't think Stan should be in Azkaban either," said Harry. "You're making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want to make me a mascot."_

_They looked at each other, long and hard. Finally Scrimgeour said, with no pretense at warmth, "I see. You prefer — like your hero, Dumbledore — to disassociate yourself from the Ministry?"_

"Good drop the mask," James said, annoyed. "It's so fake."

_"I don't want to be used," said Harry._

_"Some would say it's your duty to be used by the Ministry!"_

_"Yeah, and others might say it's your duty to check that people really are Death Eaters before you chuck them in prison," said Harry, his temper rising now._

"Nice one," Remus smiled.

_"You're doing what Barty Crouch did. You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we've got Fudge, pretending everything's lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we've got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you've got 'the Chosen One' working for you!" '_

_"So you're not 'the Chosen One'?" said Scrimgeour._

_"I thought you said it didn't matter either way?" said Harry, with a bitter laugh. "Not to you anyway."_

"Told you were good at making speeches and arguments when you're angry," Ginny, Ron and Hermione said.

_"I shouldn't have said that," said Scrimgeour quickly. "It was tactless —"_

_"No, it was honest," said Harry. "One of the only honest things you've said to me._

"Do I need to remind you that you're talking to the minister?" Lily sighed.

"Like you wouldn't be doing the same," the marauders chuckled.

"That's beside the point," Lily said.

_You don't care whether I live or die_

Everyone's eyes narrows at that.

_, but you do care that I help you convince everyone you're winning the war against Voldemort. I haven't forgotten, Minister…"_

_He raised his right fist. There, shining white on the back of his cold hand, were the scars which Dolores Umbridge had forced him to carve into his own flesh: I must not tell lies. _

_"I don't remember you rushing to my defense when I was trying to tell everyone Voldemort was back. The Ministry wasn't so keen to be pals last year."_

_They stood in silence as icy as the ground beneath their feet. The gnome had finally managed to extricate his worm and was now sucking on it happily, leaning against the bottommost branches of the rhododendron bush._

_"What is Dumbledore up to?" said Scrimgeour brusquely. "Where does he go when he is absent from Hogwarts?"_

"Oui, because 'e'll tell you," Fleur scoffed

_"No idea," said Harry._

_"And you wouldn't tell me if you knew," said Scrimgeour, "would you?"_

_"No, I wouldn't," said Harry._

"He really is an idiot if he thought you would say anything else," Dora smiled.

_"Well, then, I shall have to see whether I can't find out by other means."_

_"You can try," said Harry indifferently. "But you seem cleverer than Fudge, so I'd have thought you'd have learned from his mistakes. He tried interfering at Hogwarts. You might have noticed he's not Minister anymore, but Dumbledore's still headmaster. I'd leave Dumbledore alone, if I were you."_

Everyone beamed.

"It's no wonder Fawkes liked you so much," Ginny said, shaking her head.

_There was a long pause._

_"Well, it is clear to me that he has done a very good job on you," said Scrimgeour, his eyes cold and hard behind his wire-rimmed glasses, "Dumbledore's man through and through, aren't you, Potter?"_

_"Yeah, I am," said Harry. "Glad we straightened that out."_

_And turning his back on the Minister of Magic, he strode back toward the house._

"You are brilliant," the twins laughed

"At least now he knows he can't boss you around," Dora laughed.

"I don't like him," Sirius said.

"Big surprised," Remus muttered to Dora. "Come on let's continue."

_The lamps in Dumbledore's office were lit, the portraits of previous headmasters were snoring gently in their frames, and the Pensieve was ready upon the desk once more. Dumbledore's hands lay on either side of it, the right one as blackened and burnt-looking as ever. It did not seem to have healed at all _

_"I hear that you met the Minister of Magic over Christmas?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. "He's not very happy with me."_

_"No," sighed Dumbledore. "He is not very happy with me either. We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on."_

_Harry grinned._

So did everyone else.

_"He wanted me to tell the Wizarding community that the Ministry's doing a wonderful job."_

_Dumbledore smiled._

_"It was Fudge's idea originally, you know. During his last days in office, when he was trying desperately to cling to his post, he sought a meeting with you, hoping that you would give him your support —"_

_"After everything Fudge did last year?" said Harry angrily. "After Umbridge?"_

_"I told Cornelius there was no chance of it, but the idea did not die when he left office. Within hours of Scrimgeour's appointment we met and he demanded that I arrange a meeting with you —"_

_"So that's why you argued!" Harry blurted out. "It was in the Daily Prophet"_

_"The Prophet is bound to report the truth occasionally," said Dumbledore, "if only accidentally._

"Merlin, even Dumbledore said it's inaccurate," Lily muttered.

_Yes, that was why we argued. Well, it appears that Rufus found a way to corner you at last."_

_"He accused me of being 'Dumbledore's man through and through.'"_

_"How very rude of him."_

Everyone chuckled, Dumbledore's personality was coming out in this year and it was quite amusing.

_"I told him I was."_

_Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Behind Harry, Fawkes the phoenix let out a low, soft, musical cry. Dumbledore's bright blue eyes looked rather watery,_

"Oh my Merlin," Ginny breathed, while everyone looked at Dumbledore.

"He really cares for you," James said, wide-eyed.

_and Harry stared hastily at his own knees. When Dumbledore spoke, however, his voice was quite steady._

_"I am very touched, Harry."_

_"Scrimgeour wanted to know where you go when you're not at Hogwarts," said Harry, still looking fixedly at his knees._

_"Yes, he is very nosy about that," said Dumbledore, now sounding cheerful, and Harry looked up again._

_"He has even attempted to have me followed. Amusing, really. He set Dawlish to tail me. It wasn't kind. I have already been forced to jinx Dawlish once; I did it again with the greatest regret."_

"Poor Dawlish," Sirius said, grinning.

_"So they still don't know where you go?" asked Harry, but Dumbledore merely smiled over the top of his half-moon spectacles._

_"No, they don't, and the time is not quite right for you to know either. Now, I suggest we press on, unless there's anything else —?"_

_"There is, actually, sir," said Harry. "It's about Malfoy and Snape."_

"You really don't trust them," Fabian frowned.

"Who does?" Gideon chuckled.

"Dumbledore trusts Snape," Arthur said.

_"Professor Snape, Harry."_

_"Yes, sir. I overheard them during Professor Slughorns party… well, I followed them, actually…"_

_Dumbledore listened to Harry's story with an impassive face. When Harry had finished he did not speak for a few moments, then said, "Thank you for telling me this, Harry, but I suggest that you put it out of your mind. I do not think that it is of great importance."_

"Huh?" Sirius snapped.

_"Not of great importance?" repeated Harry incredulously. "Professor, did you understand —?"_

''_Yes, Harry, blessed as I am with extraordinary brainpower, I understood everything you told me," said Dumbledore, a little sharply. "I think you might even consider the possibility that I understood more than you did. Again, I am glad that you have confided in me, but let me reassure you that you have not told me anything that causes me disquiet."_

_Harry sat, glaring at Dumbledore._

_"So, sir," said Harry, in what he hoped was a polite, calm voice, "you definitely still trust —?"_

_"I have been tolerant enough to answer that question already," said Dumbledore, but he did not sound very tolerant anymore. "My answer has not changed."_

_"I should think not," said a snide voice; Phineas Nigellus was evidently only pretending to be asleep. Dumbledore ignored him _

_."And now, Harry, I must insist that we press on. I have more important things to discuss with you this evening."_

_Dumbledore shook his head._

"What now?" Dudley asked, frowning.

_"Ah, Harry, how often this happens, even between the best of friends! Each of us believes that what he has to say is much more important than anything the other might have to contribute!"_

_"I don't think what you've got to say is unimportant, sir," said Harry stiffly._

_"Well, you are quite right, because it is not," said Dumbledore briskly._

_"I have two more memories to show you this evening, both obtained with enormous difficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the most important I have collected."_

_Harry did not say anything to this._

_"So," said Dumbledore, in a ringing voice, "we meet this evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, whom we left last lesson poised on the threshold of his years at Hogwarts. You will remember how excited he was to hear that he was a wizard, that he refused my company on a trip to Diagon Alley, and that I, in turn, warned him against continued thievery when he arrived at school._

Some nodded wondering where they were going next.

_"Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand robes, who lined up with the other first years to be sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the moment that the Sorting Hat touched his head," continued Dumbledore, waving his blackened hand toward the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hat sat, ancient and unmoving._

"Well, he is Slytherin's descendant," Dora reasoned.

_"How soon Riddle learned that the famous founder of the House could talk to snakes, I do not know — perhaps that very evening. The knowledge can only have excited him and increased his sense of self-importance._

Many rolled their eyes – so Voldemort was arrogant from a young age.

_"However, if he was frightening or impressing fellow Slytherins with displays of Parseltongue in their common room, no hint of it reached the staff. He showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at all. _

"That doesn't sound like Voldemort," Bill observed

_As an unusually talented and very good-looking orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy from the staff almost from the moment of his arrival. He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him."_

_"Didn't you tell them, sir, what he'd been like when you met him at the orphanage?" asked Harry._

_"No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before and was resolved to turn over a fresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance."_

"Fair enough," Petunia agreed.

_Dumbledore paused and looked inquiringly at Harry, who had opened his mouth to speak. _

_"But you didn't really trust him, sir, did you? He told me… the Riddle who came out of that diary said, 'Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did.'"_

"That's the exact words?" Hermione said. "Wasn't it?"

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed, Hermione," Harry replied cheerful. "Event's like that are kind of burned into your brain – you're not likely to forget them."

_"Let us say that I did not take it for granted that he was trustworthy," said Dumbledore. "I had, as I have already indicated, resolved to keep a close eye upon him, and so I did. I cannot pretend that I gleaned a great deal from my observations at first. He was very guarded with me; he felt, I am sure, that in the thrill of discovering his true identity he had told me a little too much. He was careful never to reveal as much again, but he could not take back what he had let slip in his excitement, nor what Mrs. Cole had confided in me. However, he had the sense never to try and charm me as he charmed so many of my colleagues._

"Sounds like the snakes you get with dance when the music's played," Dudley chuckled, causing some of the purebloods to look at him in confusion. "Never mind."

_"As he moved up the school, he gathered about him a group of dedicated friends; I call them that, for want of a better term, although as I have already indicated, Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them. This group had a kind of dark glamour within the castle. They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty. In other words, they were the forerunners of the Death Eaters, and indeed some of them became the first Death Eaters after leaving Hogwarts._

"How lovely," Molly said.

_"Rigidly controlled by Riddle, they were never detected in open wrongdoing, although their seven years at Hogwarts were marked by a number of nasty incidents to which they were never satisfactorily linked, the most serious of which was, of course, the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, which resulted in the death of a girl. As you know, Hagrid was wrongly accused of that crime._

"Foul git," Ginny growled.

_"I have not been able to find many memories of Riddle at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, placing his withered hand on the Pensieve. "Few who knew him then are prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified. What I know, I found out after he had left Hogwarts, after much painstaking effort, after tracing those few who could be tricked into speaking, after searching old records and questioning Muggle and wizard witnesses alike._

_"Those whom I could persuade to talk told me that Riddle was obsessed with his parentage. This is understandable, of course; he had grown up in an orphanage and naturally wished to know how he came to be there. It seems that he searched in vain for some trace of Tom Riddle senior on the shields in the trophy room, on the lists of prefects in the old school records, even in the books of Wizarding history. Finally he was forced to accept that his father had never set foot in Hogwarts. I believe that it was then that he dropped the name forever, assumed the identity of Lord Voldemort, and began his investigations into his previously despised mother's family — the woman whom, you will remember, he had thought could not be a witch if she had succumbed to the shameful human weakness of death._

_"All he had to go upon was the single name 'Marvolo,' which he knew from those who ran the orphanage had been his mother's father's name. Finally, after painstaking research, through old books of Wizarding families, he discovered the existence of Slytherin's surviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth year, he left the orphanage to which he returned annually and set off to find his Gaunt relatives. And now, Harry, if you will stand…"_

_Dumbledore rose, and Harry saw that he was again holding a small crystal bottle filled with swirling, pearly memory._

_"I was very lucky to collect this," he said, as he poured the gleaming mass into the Pensieve. "As you will understand when we have experienced it. Shall we?"_

_Harry stepped up to the stone basin and bowed obediently until his face sank through the surface of the memory; then landed upon a dirty stone floor in almost total darkness._

_It took him several seconds to recognize the place, by which time Dumbledore had landed beside him. The Gaunts' house was now more indescribably filthy than anywhere Harry had ever seen. The ceiling was thick with cobwebs, the floor coated in grime; moldy and rotting food lay upon the table amidst a mass of crusted pots._

"Wow, that's disgusting," Teddy said causing Harry to chuckle slightly at the bluntness.

_The only light came from a single guttering candle placed at the feet of a man with hair and beard so overgrown Harry could see neither eyes nor mouth. He was slumped in an armchair by the fire,. But then there came a loud knock on the door and the man jerked awake, raising a wand in his right hand and a short knife in his left._

_The door creaked open. There on the threshold, holding an old-fashioned lamp, stood a boy Harry recognized at once: tall, pale, dark-haired, and handsome — the teenage Voldemort._

_Voldemort's eyes moved slowly around the hovel and then found the man in the armchair. For a few seconds they looked at each other, then the man staggered upright, the many empty bottles at his feet clattering and tinkling across the floor._

_"YOU!" he bellowed. "YOU!"_

_And he hurtled drunkenly at Riddle, wand and knife held aloft._

_Riddle spoke in Parseltongue._

"Hermione," Harry muttered, she looked at him before waving her wand in a complicated motion.

_The man skidded into the table, sending moldy pots crashing to the floor. He stared at Riddle. There was a long silence while they contemplated each other. The man broke it._

_"You speak it?"_

_"Yes, I speak it," said Riddle. He moved forward into the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind him. His race merely expressed disgust and, perhaps, disappointment._

_"Where is Marvolo?" he asked._

_"Dead," said the other. "Died years ago, didn't he?"_

_Riddle frowned._

_"Who are you, then?"_

_"I'm Morfin, ain't I?"_

_"Marvolo's son?"_

_"'Course I am, then…"_

_Morfin pushed the hair out of his dirty face, the better to see Riddle, and Harry saw that he wore Marvolo's black-stoned ring on his right hand._

_"I thought you was that Muggle," whispered Morfin. "You look mighty like that Muggle."_

_"What Muggle?" said Riddle sharply._

"Here we go," Fabian said.

"Time to find out the truth," Gideon agreed

_"That Muggle what my sister took a fancy to, that Muggle what lives in the big house over the way," said Morfin, and he spat unexpectedly upon the floor between them. "You look right like him. Riddle. But he's older now, in 'e? He's older'n you, now I think on it…"_

_Morfin looked slightly dazed and swayed a little, still clutching the edge of the table for support. "He come back, see," he added stupidly._

_Voldemort was gazing at Morfin as though appraising his possibilities. Now he moved a little closer and said, "Riddle came back?"_

_"Ar, he left her, and serve her right, marrying filth!" said Morfin, spitting on the floor again. "Robbed us, mind, before she ran off., where's the locket, eh, where's Slytherin's locket?"_

_Voldemort did not answer. Morfin was working himself into a rage again; he brandished his knife and shouted, "Dishonored us, she did, that little slut! And who're you, coming here and asking questions about all that? It's over, innit… It's over…"_

_He looked away, staggering slightly, and Voldemort moved forward. As he did so, an unnatural darkness fell, extinguishing Voldemort's lamp and Morfin's candle, extinguishing everything…_

_Dumbledore's fingers closed tightly around Harry's arm and they were soaring back into the present again. _

_"Is that all?" said Harry at once. "Why did it go dark, what happened?"_

_"Because Morfin could not remember anything from that point onward," said Dumbledore, gesturing Harry back into his seat._

"What did he do?" Arthur asked, looking slightly revolted by this whole thing.

_"When he awoke next morning, he was lying on the floor, quite alone. Marvolo's ring had gone._

_"Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid was running along the High Street, screaming that there were three bodies lying in the drawing room of the big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother and father._

"He killed them," Lily gasped.

_"The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I am aware, they do not know to this day how the Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does not usually leave any sign of damage… The exception sits before me," Dumbledore added, with a nod to Harry's scar. _

"Yes, no need to remind me, sir," Harry muttered. "I'm not likely to forget one day."

_"The Ministry, on the other hand, knew at once that this was a wizard's murder. They also knew that a convicted Muggle-hater lived across the valley from the Riddle house, a Muggle-hater who had already been imprisoned once for attacking one of the murdered people._

_"So the Ministry called upon Morfin. They did not need to question him, to use Veritaserum or Legilimency. He admitted to the murder on the spot, giving details only the murderer could know. He was proud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had been awaiting his chance all these years. He handed over his wand, which was proved at once to have been used to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself to be led off to Azkaban without a fight. All that disturbed him was the fact that his fathers ring had disappeared. 'He'll kill me for losing it,' he told his captors over and over again. 'He'll kill me for losing his ring.' And that, apparently, was all he ever said again. He lived out the remainder of his life in Azkaban, lamenting the loss of Marvolo's last heirloom, and is buried beside the prison, alongside the other poor souls who have expired within its walls."_

_"So Voldemort stole Morfin's wand and used it?" said Harry, sitting up straight._

"He'll do anything,' James murmured.

"That's what Slytherin is, isn't it, James," Remus said. "Cunning and willing to do anything to achieve their ends."

_"That's right," said Dumbledore. "We have no memories to show us this, but I think we can be fairly sure what happened. Voldemort Stupefied his uncle, took his wand, and proceeded across the valley to 'the big house over the way.' There he murdered the Muggle man who had abandoned his witch mother, and, for good measure, his Muggle grandparents, thus obliterating the last of the unworthy Riddle line and revenging himself upon the father who never wanted him. Then he returned to the Gaunt hovel, performed the complex bit of magic that would implant a false memory in his uncle's mind, laid Morfin's wand beside its unconscious owner, pocketed the ancient ring he wore, and departed."_

_"And Morfin never realized he hadn't done it?"_

_"Never," said Dumbledore. "He gave, as I say, a full and boastful confession."_

_"But he had this real memory in him all the time!"_

_"Yes, but it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency to coax it out of him," said Dumbledore, "and why should anybody delve further into Morfin's mind when he had already confessed to the crime? However, I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in the last weeks of his life, by which time I was attempting to discover as much as I could about Voldemort's past. I extracted this memory with difficulty. When I saw what it contained, I attempted to use it to secure Morfin's release from Azkaban. Before the Ministry reached their decision, however, Morfin had died."_

"How unfair," Dudley muttered.

_"But how come the Ministry didn't realize that Voldemort had done all that to Morfin?" Harry asked angrily "He was underage at the time, wasn't he? I thought they could detect underage magic!"_

_"You are quite right — they can detect magic, but not the perpetrator: You will remember that you were blamed by the Ministry for the Hover Charm that was, in fact, cast by —"_

_"Dobby," growled Harry; this injustice still rankled. "So if you're underage and you do magic inside an adult witch or wizard's house, the Ministry won't know?"_

"Yep," Ron said, then dropped his voice. "But your mum knows and, well, you know, that's far worse."

Molly was looking at him suspiciously since he started talking.

_"They will certainly be unable to tell who performed the magic," said Dumbledore, smiling slightly at the look of great indignation on Harrys face. "They rely on witch and wizard parents to enforce their offspring's obedience while within their walls."_

_"Well, that's rubbish," snapped Harry. "Look what happened here, look what happened to Morfin!"_

"You're really annoyed about this," Arthur said.

"I don't like people going to Azkaban when they're innocent," Harry said, with a glance at Sirius.

"Yes, of course," Arthur nodded.

_"I agree," said Dumbledore. "Whatever Morfin was, he did not deserve to die as he did, blamed for murders he had not committed. But it is getting late, and I want you to see this other memory before we part…"_

_Dumbledore took from an inside pocket another crystal phial and Harry fell silent at once, remembering that Dumbledore had said it was the most important one he had collected. Harry noticed that the contents proved difficult to empty into the Pensieve, as though they had congealed slightly; did memories go bad?_

_"This will not take long," said Dumbledore, when he had finally emptied the phial. "We shall be back before you know it. Once more into the Pensieve, then…"_

_And Harry fell again through the silver surface, landing this time right in front of a man he recognized at once._

"Slughorn," Lily said fondly.

_It was a much younger Horace Slughorn. Harry was so used to him bald that he found the sight of Slughorn with thick, shiny, straw-colored hair quite disconcerting; it looked as though he had had his head thatched, though there was already a shiny Galleon-sized bald patch on his crown. His mustache, less massive than it was these days, was gingery-blond. He was not quite as round as the Slughorn Harry knew, though the golden buttons on his richly embroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount of strain._

"That's really weird," everyone who met Slughorn muttered.

_His little feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, he was sitting well back in a comfortable winged armchair, one hand grasping a small glass of wine, the other searching through a box of crystallized pineapple._

_Harry looked around as Dumbledore appeared beside him and saw that they were standing in Slughorn's office. Half a dozen boys were sitting around Slughorn, all on harder or lower seats than his, and all in their mid-teens. Harry recognized Voldemort at once. His was the most handsome face and he looked the most relaxed of all the boys. His right hand lay negligently upon the arm of his chair; with a jolt, Harry saw that he was wearing Marvolo's gold-and-black ring_

"So this is after the last memory," James said.

"They are in order," Teddy replied, looking at him strangely.

_"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?" he asked._

_"Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn't tell you," said Slughorn, wagging a reproving, sugar-covered finger at Riddle, though ruining the effect slightly by winking. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are."_

_Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks._

_"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite —"_

_As several of the boys tittered, something very odd happened. The whole room was suddenly filled with a thick white fog, so that Harry could see nothing but the face of Dumbledore, who was standing beside him. Then Slughorn's voice rang out through the mist, unnaturally loudly, "You'll go wrong, boy, mark my words."_

"It's been tampered with," Hermione realized.

_The fog cleared as suddenly as it had appeared and yet nobody made any allusion to it, nor did anybody look as though anything unusual had just happened. Bewildered, Harry looked around as a small golden clock standing upon Slughorn's desk chimed eleven o'clock._

_"Good gracious, is it that time already?" said Slughorn. "You'd better get going, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."_

"Death Eaters," Dora snarled.

_Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk as the boys filed out. Voldemort, however, stayed behind. Harry could tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to be last in the room with Slughorn._

_"Look sharp, Tom," said Slughorn, turning around and finding him still present. "You don't want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect…"_

_"Sir, I wanted to ask you something."_

_"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away…"_

_"Sir, I wondered what you know about… about Horcruxes?"_

"Horcruxes?" Remus asked.

"What are they?" Teddy asked.

"Nothing you need to know," Harry said and then sighed. "But sadly you will."

_And it happened all over again: The dense fog filled the room so that Harry could not see Slughorn or Voldemort at all; only Dumbledore, smiling serenely beside him. Then Slughorn's voice boomed out again, just as it had done before._

_"I don't know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn't tell you if I did! Now get out of here at once and don't let me catch you mentioning them again!"_

_"Well, that's that," said Dumbledore placidly beside Harry. "Time to go."_

_And Harry's feet left the floor to fall, seconds later, back onto the rug in front of Dumbledore's desk._

_"That's all there is?" said Harry blankly._

_"As you might have noticed," said Dumbledore, reseating himself behind his desk, "that memory has been tampered with."_

_"Tampered with?" repeated Harry, sitting back down too._

_"Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Professor Slughorn has meddled with his own recollections."_

_"But why would he do that?"_

_"Because, I think, he is ashamed of what he remembers," said Dumbledore._

"He told him something about them," Molly groaned.

_"He has tried to rework the memory to show himself in a better light, obliterating those parts which he does not wish me to see. It is, as you will have noticed, very crudely done, and that is all to the good, for it shows that the true memory is still there beneath the alterations._

_"And so, for the first time, I am giving you homework, Harry. It will be your job to persuade Professor Slughorn to divulge the real memory, which will undoubtedly be our most crucial piece of information of all."_

_Harry stared at him._

_"But surely, sir," he said, keeping his voice as respectful as possible, "you don't need me — you could use Legilimency… or Veritaserum…"_

_"Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who will be expecting both," said Dumbledore. "He is much more accomplished at Occlumency than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I coerced him into giving me this travesty of a recollection._

_"No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the truth from Professor Slughorn by force, and might do much more harm than good; I do not wish him to leave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses like the rest of us, and I believe that you are the one person who might be able to penetrate his defences._

"Lily," James said, wisely.

_It is most important that we secure the true memory, Harry… How important, we will only know when we have seen the real thing. So, good luck… and good night."_

"That was abrupt," Dudley said.

_Harry got to his feet quickly. "Good night, sir."_

_As he closed the study door behind him, he distinctly heard Phineas Nigellus say, "I can't see why the boy should be able to do it better than you, Dumbledore."_

_"I wouldn't expect you to, Phineas," replied Dumbledore, and Fawkes gave another low, musical cry._

"That's because he doesn't know anything," Sirius said.

"Would you care to tell us what Horcrux's are, Harry?" Arthur asked, pleasantly.

"Nope," Harry frowned. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Very well," he replied, hoping it was soon.

"What's next?" Ron asked, not liking the look on Harry's face as he turned toward him.

"I think you'll like it, Ron," he said earnestly as he changed the memory before gesturing everyone in.

_"Happy birthday, Ron," said Harry, when they were woken on the first of March by Seamus and Dean leaving noisily for breakfast._

"Arg, no," Ron said. "I hate you, Harry."

"Look on the bright side," Harry chuckled. "I'm showing Hermione's bird attack."

_"Have a present."_

_He threw the package across on to Ron's bed, where it joined a small pile of them._

_"Cheers," said Ron drowsily, and as he ripped off the paper Harry got out of bed, opened his own trunk and began rummaging in it for the Marauder's Map, which he hid after every use._

_He turned out half the contents of his trunk before he found it hiding beneath the rolled-up socks in which he was still keeping his bottle of lucky potion, Felix Felicis._

_"Right," he murmured, taking it back to bed with him, tapping it quietly and murmuring, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," so that Neville, who was passing the foot of his bed at the time, would not hear._

_"Nice one, Harry!" said Ron enthusiastically, waving the new pair of Quidditch Keeper's gloves Harry had given him._

"Handy," James and Sirius grinned.

_"No problem," said Harry absent-mindedly, as he searched the Slytherin dormitory closely for Malfoy. "Hey… I don't think he's in his bed…"_

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"Malfoy," Harry said causing those who thought he was wrong to roll their eyes.

_Ron did not answer; he was too busy unwrapping presents, every now and then letting out an exclamation of pleasure._

_"Seriously good haul this year!" he announced, holding up a heavy gold watch with odd symbols around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of hands._

_"See what Mum and Dad got me? Blimey, I think I'll come of age next year too…"_

"Go live in the Muggle world then," Hermione smiled.

_"Cool," muttered Harry, sparing the watch a glance before peering more closely at the map. _

_"Want one?" said Ron thickly, holding out a box of Chocolate Cauldrons._

_"No thanks," said Harry, looking up. "Malfoy's gone again!"_

_"Can't have done," said Ron, stuffing a second Cauldron into his mouth as he slid out of bed to get dressed. "Come on if you don't hurry up you'll have to Apparate on an empty-stomach… might make it easier, I suppose…"_

_Ron looked thoughtfully at the box of Chocolate Cauldrons, then shrugged and helped himself to a third._

_Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered, "Mischief managed," though it hadn't been, and got dressed. _

_"Ready?" he said to Ron._

_He was halfway to the dormitory door when he realized that Ron had not moved, but was leaning on his bedpost, staring out of the rain-washed window with a strangely un-focused look on his face._

_"Ron? Breakfast."_

_"I'm not hungry."_

"Bu…" Ginny said.

_Harry stared at him._

_"I thought you just said —?"_

_"Well, all right, I'll come down with you," sighed Ron, "but I don't want to eat."_

"What's going on?" Lily asked warily.

_Harry scrutinized him suspiciously._

_"You've just eaten half a box of Chocolate Cauldrons, haven't you?"_

_"It's not that," Ron sighed again. "You… you wouldn't understand."_

_"Fair enough," said Harry, albeit puzzled, as he turned to open the door._

_"Harry!" said Ron suddenly._

_"What?"_

_"Harry, I can't stand it!"_

_"You can't stand what?" asked Harry, now starling to feel definitely alarmed. Ron was rather pale and looked as though he was about to be sick._

"Ron?" James asked, looking at the grown man who had red ears.

_"I can't stop thinking about her!" said Ron hoarsely._

_Harry gaped at him. _

_"Why does that stop you having breakfast?" Harry asked, trying to inject a note of common sense into the proceedings._

_"I don't think she knows I exist," said Ron with a desperate gesture._

_"She definitely knows you exist," said Harry, bewildered. "She keeps snogging you, doesn't she?"_

"Urg, Lavender," Ginny said, looking sick.

_Ron blinked._

_"Who are you talking about?"_

_"Who are you talking about?" said Harry, with an increasing sense that all reason had dropped out of the conversation._

_"Romilda Vane," said Ron softly, and his whole face seemed to illuminate as he said it, as though hit by a ray of purest sunlight._

"Oh, Harry, he didn't," Hermione laughed.

_They stared at each other for almost a whole minute, before Harry said, "This is a joke, right? You're joking."_

_"I think… Harry, I think I love her," said Ron in a strangled voice._

_"Okay," said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a better look at the glazed eyes and the pallid complexion, "Okay… say that again with a straight face."_

_"I love her," repeated Ron breathlessly. "Have you seen her hair, it's all black and shiny and silky… and her eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her "_

_"This is really funny and everything," said Harry impatiently, "but joke's over, all right? Drop it."_

_He turned to leave; he had got two steps towards the door when a crashing blow hit him on the right ear. Staggering, he looked round. Ron's fist was drawn right back, his face was contorted with rage; he was about to strike again._

"Ron!" Molly yelped.

_Harry reacted instinctively; his wand was out of his pocket _

_Ron yelled as his heel was wrenched upwards once more; he dangled helplessly, upside down, his robes hanging off him._

"Brilliant," the twin laughed, while the marauders exchanged looks.

_"What was that for?" Harry bellowed._

_"You insulted her, Harry! You said it was a joke!" shouted Ron, who was slowly turning purple in the face as all the blood rushed to his head._

_"This is insane!" said Harry. "What's got into —?"_

_And then he saw the box lying open on Ron's bed and the truth hit him with the force of a stampeding troll._

_"Where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?"_

_"They were a birthday present!" shouted Ron, revolving slowly in midair as he struggled to get free. "I offered you one, didn't I?"_

_"You just picked them up off the floor, didn't you?"_

_"They'd fallen off my bed, all right? Let me go!"_

_"They didn't fall off your bed, you prat, don't you understand? They were mine, I chucked them out of my trunk when I was looking for the map. They're the Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me before Christmas and they're all spiked with love potion!"_

"Oh god," Petunia laughed.

"That's just great," James agreed.

_But only one word of this seemed to have registered with Ron._

_"Romilda?" he repeated. "Did you say Romilda? Harry - do you know her? Can you introduce me?"_

_Harry stared at the dangling Ron, whose face now looked tremendously hopeful, _

_"Yeah, I'll introduce you," said Harry, thinking fast. "I'm going to let you down now, okay?"_

_He sent Ron crashing back to the floor, but Ron simply bounded to his feet again, grinning._

_"She'll be in Slughorn's office," said Harry confidently, leading the way to the door._

"Good, Harry, take Lovey to Slughorn," Ginny giggled.

_"Why will she be in there?" asked Ron anxiously, hurrying to keep up._

_"Oh, she has extra Potions lessons with him," said Harry, inventing wildly._

_"Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her?" said Ron eagerly._

_"Great idea," said Harry. Lavender was waiting beside the portrait hole._

"Oh dear," Bill smirked.

"What?" James asked.

"It's Ron's snogging buddy," Ginny said.

_"You're late, Won-Won!" she pouted. "I've got you a birthday —"_

_"Leave me alone," said Ron impatiently, "Harry's going to introduce me to Romilda Vane."_

_And without another word to her, he pushed his way out of the portrait hole. Harry tried to make an apologetic face to Lavender, but it might have turned out simply amused, because she looked more offended than ever as the Fat Lady swung shut behind them._

"Nice, Harry," Remus chuckled.

_Slughorn answered his office door at the first knock, wearing a green velvet dressing-gown and matching nightcap and looking rather bleary-eyed._

_"Harry," he mumbled. "This is very early for a call… I generally sleep late on a Saturday…"_

_"Professor, I'm really sorry to disturb you," said Harry as quietly as possible, while Ron stood on tiptoe, attempting to see past Slughorn into his room, "but my friend Ron's swallowed a love potion by mistake. You couldn't make him an antidote, could you? I'd take him to Madam Pomfrey, but we're not supposed to have anything from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and, you know… awkward questions…"_

_"I'd have thought you could have whipped him up a remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?" asked Slughorn._

"Really?" Lily asked excitedly.

"No," Harry said, smiling slightly. "Luck and an old potion book from the half-blood prince."

"What – oh!" Lily laughed. "I bet you loved that."

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Lily giggled.

_"Er," said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact that Ron was now elbowing him in the ribs in an attempt to force his way into the room, "well, I've never mixed an antidote for a love potion, sir, and by the time I get it right Ron might've done something serious "_

_Helpfully, Ron chose this moment to moan, "I can't see her. Harry — is he hiding her?"_

_"Was this potion within date?" asked Slughorn, now eyeing Ron with professional interest. "They can strengthen, you know, the longer they're kept."_

"That would explain a lot," Dora laughed.

_"That would explain a lot," panted Harry, now positively wrestling with Ron to keep him from knocking Slughorn over. "It's his birthday, Professor," he added imploringly._

_"Oh, all right, come in, then, come in," said Slughorn, relenting. "I've got the necessary here in my bag, it's not a difficult antidote…"_

_Ron burst through the door into Slughorn's overheated, crowded study, tripped over a tasselled footstool, regained his balance by seizing Harry around the neck and muttered, "She didn't see that, did she?"_

"You know," Remus said, glancing at his friend. "This a bit like how James acted around Lily third year."

"Tell me about it," Lily groaned.

_"She's not here yet," said Harry, watching Slughorn opening his potion kit and adding a fewpinches of this and that to a small crystal bottle._

_"That's good," said Ron fervently. "How do I look?"_

_"Very handsome," said Slughorn smoothly, handing Ron a glass of clear liquid. "Now drink that up, it's a tonic for the nerves, keep you calm when she arrives, you know,"_

_"Brilliant," said Ron eagerly, and he gulped the antidote down noisily._

_Harry and Slughorn watched him. For a moment, Ron beamed at them. Then, very slowly, his grin sagged and vanished, to be replaced by an expression of utmost horror._

_"Back to normal, then?" said Harry, grinning. Slughorn chuckled. "Thanks a lot, Professor."_

_"Don't mention it, m'boy, don't mention it," said Slughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair, looking devastated. "Pick-me-up, that's what he needs," Slughorn continued, now-bustling over to a table loaded with drinks. "I've got butterbeer, I've got wine, I've got one last bottle of this oak-matured mead… hmm… meant to give that to Dumbledore for Christmas… ah well…" he shrugged "… he can't miss what he's never had! Why don't we open it now and celebrate Mr. Weasley's birthday? Nothing like a fine spirit to chase away the pangs of disappointed love…"_

_He chortled again and Harry joined in._

_"There you are, then," said Slughorn, handing Harry and Ron a glass of mead each, before raising his own. "Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph —"_

_"— Ron —" whispered Harry._

_But Ron, who did not appear to be listening to the toast, had already thrown the mead into his mouth and swallowed it._

_"—and may you have many more —"_

_"Ron!"_

_Ron had dropped his glass; he half-rose from his chair and then crumpled, his extremities jerking uncontrollably. Foam was dribbling from his mouth and his eyes were bulging from their sockets._

"Oh my Merlin!" Ginny and Hermione yelled.

_"Professor!" Harry bellowed. "Do something!"_

_But Slughorn seemed paralysed by shock. Ron twitched and choked: his skin was turning blue._

_"What — but —" spluttered Slughorn._

_Harry leapt over a low table and sprinted towards Slughorn's open potion kit, pulling out jars and pouches, while the terrible sound of Ron's gargling breath filled the room. Then he found it - the shrivelled kidney-like stone._

"Bezoar," Lily said.

_He hurtled back to Ron's side, wrenched open his jaw and thrust the bezoar into his mouth. Ron gave a great shudder, a rattling gasp and his body became limp and still._

"Skipping," Harry said, looking a bit sick along with everyone else.

_"So, all in all, not one of Ron's better birthdays?" said Fred._

"I doubt know," Fabian said. "It was quite eventful."

"Indeed and not one he's likely to forget," Gideon chuckled.

"Shut up," Ron grumbled.

_It was evening; the hospital wing was quiet, the windows curtained, the lamps lit. Ron's was the only occupied bed. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting around him_

_"This isn't how we imagined handing over our present," said George grimly, putting down a large wrapped gift on Ron's bedside cabinet and sitting beside Ginny._

_"Yeah, when we pictured the scene, he was conscious," said Fred._

_"There we were in Hogsmeade, waiting to surprise him —" said George._

_"You were in Hogsmeade?" asked Ginny, looking up._

_"We were thinking of buying Zonko's," said Fred gloomily._

_"A Hogsmeade branch, you know, but a fat lot of good it'll do us if you lot aren't allowed out at weekends to buy our stuff anymore… But never mind that now."_

_He drew up a chair beside Harry and looked at Ron's pale face._

_"How exactly did it happen, Harry?"_

_Harry retold the story,_

_"…and then I got the bezoar down his throat and his breathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up, and they brought Ron up here. They reckon he'll be all right. Madam Pomfrey says he'll have to stay here a week or so… keep taking essence of rue…"_

_"Blimey, it was lucky you thought of a bezoar," said George in a low voice._

_"Lucky there was one in the room," said Harry, _

_Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff._

"I was still a bit annoyed at you for giving Slughorn a Bezoar instead of actually mixing an antidote," Hermione said, smiling slightly.

"You didn't," Remus chuckled.

"That's such a Lily thing to do," James grinned.

"_Do Mum and Dad know?" Fred asked Ginny._

_"They've already seen him, they arrived an hour ago — they're in Dumbledore's office now, but they'll be back soon…"_

_There was a pause while they all watched Ron mumble a little in his sleep._

_"So the poison was in the drink?" said Fred quietly._

_"Yes," said Harry at once; he could think of nothing else and was glad for the opportunity to start discussing it again. "Slughorn poured it out —"_

_"Would he have been able to slip something into Ron's glass without you seeing?"_

_"Probably," said Harry, "but why would Slughorn want to poison Ron?"_

"He wouldn't," Dudley said.

_"No idea," said Fred, frowning. "You don't think he could have mixed up the glasses by mistake? Meaning to get you?"_

_"Why would Slughorn want to poison Harry?" asked Ginny._

"Again, he wouldn't," Petunia said.

_"I dunno," said Fred, "but there must be loads of people who'd like to poison Harry, mustn't there? 'The Chosen One' and all that?"_

_"So you think Slughorn's a Death Eater?" said Ginny._

_"Anything's possible," said Fred darkly._

_"He could be under the Imperius Curse," said George._

_"Or he could be innocent," said Ginny. "The poison could have been in the bottle, in which case it was probably meant for Slughorn himself."_

_"Who'd want to kill Slughorn?"_

_"Dumbledore reckons Voldemort wanted Slughorn on his side," said Harry. "Slughorn was in hiding for a year before he came to Hogwarts. And…And maybe Voldemort wants him out of the way, maybe he thinks he could be valuable to Dumbledore."_

_"But you said Slughorn had been planning to give that bottle to Dumbledore for Christmas," Ginny reminded him. "So the poisoner could just as easily have been after Dumbledore."_

"Now that's more reasonable," Dora said.

_"Then the poisoner didn't know Slughorn very well," said Hermione, speaking for the first time and sounding as though she had a bad head cold. "Anyone who knew Slughorn would have known there was a good chance he'd keep something that tasty for himself."_

_"Er-my-nee," croaked Ron unexpectedly from between them._

Everyone smiled softly at that.

_They all fell silent, watching him anxiously, but after muttering incomprehensibly for a moment he merely started snoring._

_The dormitory doors flew open, making them all jump: Hagrid came striding toward them, his hair rain-flecked, his bearskin coat flapping behind him, a crossbow in his hand, leaving a trail of muddy dolphin-sized footprints all over the floor._

_"Bin in the forest all day!" he panted. "Aragog's worse, I bin readin' to him — didn' get up ter dinner till jus' now an' then Professor Sprout told me abou' Ron! How is he?"_

_"Not bad," said Harry. "They say he'll be okay."_

_"No more than six visitors at a time!" said Madam Pomfrey, hurrying out of her office._

_"Hagrid makes six," George pointed out._

_"Oh… yes…" said Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have been counting Hagrid as several people due to his vastness. To cover her confusion, she hurried off to clear up his muddy foot prints with her wand._

_"I don' believe this," said Hagrid hoarsely, shaking his great shaggy head as he stared down at Ron. "Jus' don' believe it… Look at him lyin' there… Who'd want ter hurt him, eh?"_

_"That's just what we were discussing," said Harry. "We don't know."_

_"Someone couldn' have a grudge against the Gryfinndor Quidditch team, could they?" said Hagrid anxiously. "Firs' Katie, now Ron…"_

"Now that's a good point," James nodded.

_"I can't see anyone trying to bump off a Quidditch team," said George._

_"Wood might've done the Slytherins if he could've got away with it," said Fred fairly._

"True," Bill nodded.

_"Well, I don't think it's Quidditch, but I think there's a connection between the attacks," said Hermione quietly_

_"How d'you work that out?" asked Fred._

_"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison nor the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course," she added broodingly, "that makes the person behind this even more dangerous in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."_

"Insightful," Fleur said.

_Before anybody could respond to this ominous pronouncement, the dormitory doors opened again and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hurried up the ward. Mrs. Weasley seized hold of Harry and hugged him very tightly._

_"Dumbledore's told us how you saved him with the bezoar," she sobbed. "Oh, Harry, what can we say? You saved Ginny… you saved Arthur… now you've saved Ron."_

"You can never mention it again," Harry told the memory causing people to chuckle.

_"Don't be… I didn't…" muttered Harry awkwardly._

_"Half our family does seems to owe you their lives, now I stop and think about it," Mr. Weasley said in a constricted voice._

"And so do I now," Molly said smiling fondly at him as he shuffled.

_"Well, all I can say is that it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit in your compartment on the Hogwarts Express Harry."_

"I think it was more lucky for me," Harry murmured to Ron who grinned at him.

_Harry could not think of any reply to this and was almost glad when Madam Pomfrey reminded them that there were only supposed to be six visitors around Ron's bed; he and Hermione rose at once to leave and Hagrid decided to go with them, leaving Ron with his family._

"Eventful birthday, Ron," Teddy chuckled at Ron's red ears.

"That's extremely embarrassing," Ron groaned. "Sorry about your ear."

Harry snorted, "don't worry about it."

"Right, young Potter," Fabian said.

"Onto the next memory," Gideon said.

_"Enter," called Dumbledore,_

"Ah, good another lesson," Remus said.

"Does this mean we'll find out what Horcruxes are?" Arthur asked but Harry shock his head.

_but as Harry put out a hand to push the door, it was wrenched open from inside. There stood Professor Trelawney._

"Oh good," Ginny groaned.

_"Aha!" she cried, pointing dramatically at Harry as she blinked at him through her magnifying spectacles. "So this is the reason I am to be thrown unceremoniously from your office, Dumbledore!"_

_"My dear Sybill," said Dumbledore in a slightly exasperated voice, "there is no question of throwing you unceremoniously from anywhere, but Harry does have an appointment, and I really don't think there is any more to be said —"_

_"Very well," said Professor Trelawney, in a deeply wounded voice. "If you will not banish the usurping nag, so be it… Perhaps I shall find a school where my talents are better appreciated…"_

_She pushed past Harry and disappeared down the spiral staircase; they heard her stumble halfway down,._

_"Please close the door and sit down, Harry," said Dumbledore, sounding rather tired._

"She is tiring to deal with," Remus sighed.

_Harry obeyed, noticing as he took his usual seat in front of Dumbledore's desk that the Pensieve lay between them once more, as did two more tiny crystal bottles full of swirling memory._

_"Professor Trelawney still isn't happy Firenze is teaching, then?" Harry asked._

_"No," said Dumbledore, "Divination is turning out to be much more trouble than I could have foreseen, never having studied the subject myself. I cannot ask Firenze to return to the forest, where he is now an outcast, nor can I ask Sybill Trelawney to leave. Between ourselves, she has no idea of the danger she would be in outside the castle. She does not know — and I think it would be unwise to enlighten her — that she made the prophecy about you and Voldemort, you see."_

"I wonder if Voldemort knew," Fleur wondered

_Dumbledore heaved a deep sigh, then said, "But never mind my staffing problems. We have much more important matters to discuss. Firstly — have you managed the task I set you at the end of our previous lesson?"_

"_Ah," said Harry "Well, I asked Professor Slughorn about it at the end of Potions, sir, but, er, he wouldn't give it to me." _

_There was a little silence._

_"I see," said Dumbledore eventually, peering at Harry over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "And you feel that you have exerted your very best efforts in this matter, do you? That you have exercised all of your considerable ingenuity? That you have left no depth of cunning unplumbed in your quest to retrieve the memory?"_

_"Well," Harry stalled, at a loss for what to say next.. "Well… the day Ron swallowed love potion by mistake I took him to Professor Slughorn. I thought maybe if I got Professor Slughorn in a good enough mood —"_

_"And did that work?" asked Dumbledore._

_"Well, no, sir, because Ron got poisoned —"_

_"—which, naturally, made you forget all about trying to retrieve the memory; I would have expected nothing else, while your best friend was in danger. Once it became clear that Mr. Weasley was going to make a full recovery, however, I would have hoped that you returned to the task I set you. I thought I made it clear to you how very important that memory is. Indeed, I did my best to impress upon you that it is the most crucial memory of all and that we will be wasting our time without it."_

_"Sir," he said, a little desperately, "it isn't that I wasn't bothered or anything, I've just had other — other things…"_

_"Other things on your mind," Dumbledore finished the sentence for him. "I see."_

_Silence fell between them again._

"This is extremely awkward," Petunia muttered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

_When he could stand it no longer he said, "Professor Dumbledore, I'm really sorry. I should have done more… I should have realized you wouldn't have asked me to do it if it wasn't really important."_

_"Thank you for saying that, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "May I hope, then, that you will give this matter higher priority from now on? There will be little point in our meeting after tonight unless we have that memory."_

_"I'll do it, sir, I'll get it from him," he said earnestly._

_"Then we shall say no more about it just now," said Dumbledore more kindly, "but continue with our story where we left off. You remember where that was?"_

_"Yes, sir," said Harry quickly. "Voldemort killed his father and his grandparents and made it look as though his Uncle Morfin did it. Then he went back to Hogwarts and he asked… he asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes," he mumbled shamefacedly._

_"Very good," said Dumbledore. "Now, you will remember, I hope, that I told you at the very outset of these meetings of ours that we would be entering the realms of guesswork and speculation?"_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Thus far, as I hope you agree, I have shown you reasonably firm sources of fact for my deductions as to what Voldemort did until the age of seventeen?"_

_Harry nodded._

_"But now, Harry," said Dumbledore, "now things become murkier and stranger. If it was difficult to find evidence about the boy Riddle, it has been almost impossible to find anyone prepared to reminisce about the man Voldemort._

"I'm not surprised," Dora said.

_In fact, I doubt whether there is a soul alive, apart from himself, who could give us a full account of his life since he left Hogwarts. However, I have two last memories that I would like to share with you." Dumbledore indicated the two little crystal bottles gleaming beside the Pensieve. "I shall then be glad of your opinion as to whether the conclusions I have drawn from them seem likely."_

"That made you feel worse, didn't it?" Hermione asked Harry.

"What?" Ginny asked. "Why?"

"Dumbledore is valuing his opinion on something very important," Hermione explained. "And that'll make Harry fell ashamed that he didn't try harder to get Slughorn's memory."

Everyone stared at Hermione in shock.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

"I know you," Hermione smiled fondly.

Harry shook his head and half hugged her, still looking slightly amazed.

_Dumbledore raised the first of the two bottles to the light and examined it._

_"I hope you are not tired of diving into other people's memories, for they are curious recollections, these two," he said. "This first one came from a very old house-elf by the name of Hokey. Before we see what Hokey witnessed, I must quickly recount how Lord Voldemort left Hogwarts._

_"He reached the seventh year of his schooling with, as you might have expected, top grades in every examination he had taken. All around him, his classmates were deciding which jobs they were to pursue once they had left Hogwarts. Nearly everybody expected spectacular things from Tom Riddle, prefect, Head Boy, winner of the Award for Special Services to the School__._

"That he shouldn't have had," Molly growled.

_I know that several teachers, Professor Slughorn amongst them, suggested that he join the Ministry of Magic, offered to set up appointments, put him in touch with useful contacts. He refused all offers. The next thing the staff knew, Voldemort was working at Borgin and Burkes."_

"What?" everyone except the trio gasped.

_"At Borgin and Burkes?" Harry repeated, stunned._

_"At Borgin and Burkes," repeated Dumbledore calmly. "I think you will see what attractions the place held for him when we have entered Hokey's memory. But this was not Voldemort's first choice of job. Hardly anyone knew of it at the time — I was one of the few in whom the then headmaster confided — but Voldemort first approached Professor Dippet and asked whether he could remain at Hogwarts as a teacher."_

"Voldemort. A teacher," Dora muttered disgusted.

_"He wanted to stay here? Why?" asked Harry, more amazed still._

_"I believe he had several reasons, though he confided none of them to Professor Dippet," said Dumbledore. "Firstly, and very importantly, Voldemort was, I believe, more attached to this school than he has ever been to a person. Hogwarts was where he had been happiest; the first and only place he had felt at home."_

Everyone frowned, that did sound similar to Harry.

_"Secondly, the castle is a stronghold of ancient magic. Undoubtedly Voldemort had penetrated many more of its secrets than most of the students who pass through the place, but he may have felt that there were still mysteries to unravel, stores of magic to tap._

_"And thirdly, as a teacher, he would have had great power and influence over young witches and wizards. Perhaps he had gained the idea from Professor Slughorn, the teacher with whom he was on best terms, who had demonstrated how influential a role a teacher can play. I do not imagine for an instant that Voldemort envisaged spending the rest of his life at Hogwarts, but I do think that he saw it as a useful recruiting ground, and a place where he might begin to build himself an army."_

_"But he didn't get the job, sir?"_

_"No, he did not. Professor Dippet told him that he was too young at eighteen, but invited him toreapply in a few years, if he still wished to teach."_

_"How did you feel about that, sir?" asked Harry hesitantly._

_"Deeply uneasy," said Dumbledore. "I had advised Armando against the appointment — I did not give the reasons I have given you, for Professor Dippet was very fond of Voldemort and convinced of his honesty. But I did not want Lord Voldemort back at this school, and especially not in a position of power."_

_"Which job did he want, sir? What subject did he want to teach?"_

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Sirius said.

_"Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was being taught at the time by an old Professor by the name of Galatea Merrythought, who had been at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years._

"So Voldemort cursed the job," Lily guessed.

_"So Voldemort went off to Borgin and Burkes, and all the staff who had admired him said what a waste it was, a brilliant young wizard like that, working in a shop. However, Voldemort was no mere assistant. Polite and handsome and clever, he was soon given particular jobs of the type that only exist in a place like Borgin and Burkes, which specializes, as you know, Harry, in objects with unusual and powerful properties. Voldemort was sent to persuade people to part with their treasures for sale by the partners, and he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this."_

"I bet he was," James growled. "He was good at getting what he wanted."

_"I'll bet he was," said Harry, unable to contain himself._

_"Well, quite," said Dumbledore, with a faint smile. "And now it is time to hear from Hokey the house-elf, who worked for a very old, very rich witch by the name of Hepzibah Smith."_

_Dumbledore tapped a bottle with his wand, the cork flew out, and he tipped the swirling memory into the Pensieve, saying as he did so, "After you, Harry."_

_Harry got to his feet and bent once more over the rippling silver contents of the stone basin until his face touched them. He tumbled through dark nothingness and landed in a sitting room in front of an immensely fat old lady wearing an elaborate ginger wig and a brilliant pink set of robes that flowed all around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. She was looking into a small jewelled mirror and dabbing rouge onto her already scarlet cheeks with a large powder puff, while the tiniest and oldest house-elf Harry had ever seen laced her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers._

_"Hurry up, Hokey!" said Hepzibah imperiously. "He said he'd come at four, it's only a couple of minutes to and he's never been late yet!"_

_She tucked away her powder puff as the house-elf straightened up. The top of the elf's head barely reached the seat of Hepzibah's chair, and her papery skin hung off her frame just like the crisp linen sheet she wore draped like a toga._

_"How do I look?" said Hepzibah, turning her head to admire the various angles of her face in the mirror._

_"Lovely, madam," squeaked Hokey._

_A tinkling doorbell rang and both mistress and elf jumped._

_"Quick, quick, he's here, Hokey!" cried Hepzibah and the elf scurried out of the room, which was so crammed with objects that it was difficult to see how anybody could navigate their way across it without knocking over at least a dozen things: There were cabinets full of little lacquered boxes, cases full of gold-embossed books, shelves of orbs and celestial globes, and many flourishing potted plants in brass containers. In fact, the room looked like a cross between a magical antique shop and a conservatory._

"I couldn't live there," Petunia muttered.

_The house-elf returned within minutes, followed by a tall young man Harry had no difficulty whatsoever in recognizing as Voldemort. He was plainly dressed in a black suit; his hair was a little longer than it had been at school and his cheeks were hollowed, but all of this suited him; he looked more handsome than ever._

_He picked his way through the cramped room with an air that showed he had visited many times before and bowed low over Hepzibah's fat little hand, brushing it with his lips._

_"I brought you flowers," he said quietly, producing a bunch of roses from nowhere._

_"You naughty boy, you shouldn't have!" squealed old Hepzibah, though Harry noticed that she had an empty vase standing ready on the nearest little table._

_"You do spoil this old lady, Tom… Sit down, sit down… Where's Hokey? Ah…"_

_The house-elf had come dashing back into the room carrying a tray of little cakes, which she set at her mistress's elbow._

_"Help yourself, Tom," said Hepzibah, "I know how you love my cakes. Now, how are you? You look pale. They overwork you at that shop, I've said it a hundred times…"_

_Voldemort smiled mechanically and Hepzibah simpered._

_"Well, what's your excuse for visiting this time?" she asked, batering her lashes._

_"Mr. Burke would like to make an improved offer for the goblin-made armor," said Voldemort. "Five hundred Galleons, he feels it is a more than fair —"_

_"Now, now, not so fast, or I'll think you're only here for my trinkets!" pouted Hepzibah._

_"I am ordered here because of them," said Voldemort quietly. "I am only a poor assistant, madam, who must do as he is told. Mr. Burke wishes me to inquire —"_

_"Oh, Mr. Burke, phooey!" said Hepzibah, waving a little hand. "I've something to show you that I've never shown Mr. Burke! Can you keep a secret, Tom? Will you promise you won't tell Mr. Burke I've got it? He'd never let me rest if he knew I'd shown it to you, and I'm not selling, not to Burke, not to anyone! But you, Tom, you'll appreciate it for its history, not how many Galleons you can get for it."_

_"I'd be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me," said Voldemort quietly, and Hepzibah gave another girlish giggle._

_"I had Hokey bring it out for me… Hokey, where are you? I want to show Mr. Riddle our finest treasure… In fact, bring both, while you're at it…"_

_"Here, madam," squeaked the house-elf, and Harry saw two leather boxes, one on top of the other, moving across the room as if of their own volition, though he knew the tiny elf was holding them over her head as she wended her way between tables, pouffes, and footstools._

_"Now," said Hepzibah happily, taking the boxes from the elf, laying them in her lap, and preparing to open the topmost one, "I think you'll like this, Tom… Oh, if my family knew I was showing you… They can't wait to get their hands on this!"_

_She opened the lid. Harry edged forward a little to get a better view and saw what looked like a small golden cup with two finely wrought handles._

Hermione gasped causing everyone to look at her, then to Ron who eyes were wide and then to Harry who muttered, "there it is."

"You're not going to tell are you?" Teddy asked but all three shook their heads, with a look in their eyes that said they were only half in the room, half in memories.

_"I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it up, have a good look!" whispered Hepzibah, and Voldemort stretched out a long-fingered hand and lifted the cup by one handle out of its snug silken wrappings. Harry thought he saw a red gleam in his dark eyes. His greedy expression was curiously mirrored on Hepzibah's face, except that her tiny eyes were fixed upon Voldemort's handsome features._

"_A badger," murmured Voldemort, examining the engraving upon the cup. "Then this was…?"_

_"Helga Hufflepuff's, as you very well know, you clever boy!" said Hepzibah, leaning forward with a loud creaking of corsets and actually pinching his hollow cheek._

"Wow, Hufflepuff's cup," Lily breathed.

_"Didn't I tell you I was distantly descended? This has been handed down in the family for years and years. Lovely, isn't it? And all sorts of powers it's supposed to possess too, but I haven't tested them thoroughly, I just keep it nice and safe in here…"_

_She hooked the cup back off Voldemort's long forefinger and restored it gently to its box, too intent upon settling it carefully back into position to notice the shadow that crossed Voldemort's face as the cup was taken away_

_"Now then," said Hepzibah happily, "where's Hokey? Oh yes, there you are — take that away now, Hokey."_

_The elf obediently took the boxed cup, and Hepzibah turned her attention to the much flatter box in her lap._

_"I think you'll like this even more, Tom," she whispered. "Lean in a little, dear boy, so you can see… Of course, Burke knows I've got this one, I bought it from him, and I daresay he'd love to get it back when I'm gone…"_

_She slid back the fine filigree clasp and flipped open the box. There upon the smooth crimson velvet lay a heavy golden locket._

_Voldemort reached out his hand, without invitation this time, and held it up to the light, staring at it._

_"Slytherin's mark," he said quietly, as the light played upon an ornate, serpentine S._

Ron turned a faint green while Harry and Hermione looked at each other causing most to frown at them.

_"That's right!" said Hepzibah, delighted, apparently, at the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. "I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn't let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value —"_

_There was no mistaking it this time: Voldemort's eyes flashed scarlet at the words, and Harry saw his knuckles whiten on the locket's chain._

_"— I daresay Burke paid her a pittance but there you are… Pretty, isn't it? And again, all kinds of powers attributed to it, though I just keep it nice and safe…"_

_She reached out to take the locket back. For a moment, Harry thought Voldemort was not going to let go of it, but then it had slid through his fingers and was back in its red velvet cushion._

_"So there you are, Tom, clear, and I hope you enjoyed that!"_

_She looked him full in the face and for the first time, Harry saw her foolish smile falter._

_"Are you all right, dear?"_

_"Oh yes," said Voldemort quietly. "Yes, I'm very well…"_

_"I thought — but a trick of the light, I suppose —" said Hepzibah, looking unnerved, and Harry guessed that she too had seen the momentary red gleam in Voldemort's eyes._

_"Here, Hokey, take these away and lock them up again… The usual enchantments…"_

_"Time to leave, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly, and as the in tie elf bobbed away bearing the boxes, Dumbledore grasped Harry once again above the elbow and together they rose up through oblivion and back to Dumbledore's office._

_"Hepzibah Smith died two days after that little scene," said Dumbledore, resuming his seat and indicating that Harry should do the same._

"Of course she did," Gideon chuckled darkly.

"Wouldn't expect anything less," Fabian agreed.

_"Hokey the house-elf was convicted by the Ministry of poisoning her mistress's evening cocoa by accident."_

_"No way!" said Harry angrily._

"Is this why you tolerated S.P.E.W a bit more?" Hermione asked. "And why you actually helped me when I was trying to get laws passed."

Harry nodded.

_"I see we are of one mind," said Dumbledore. "Certainly, there are many similarities between this death and that of the Riddles. In both cases, somebody else took the blame, someone who had a clear memory of having caused the death —"_

_"Hokey confessed?"_

_"She remembered putting something in her mistress's cocoa that turned out not to be sugar, but a lethal and little-known poison," said Dumbledore. "It was concluded that she had not meant to do it, but being old and confused —"_

_"Voldemort modified her memory, just like he did with Morfin!"_

_"Yes, that is my conclusion too," said Dumbledore. "And, just as with Morfin, the Ministry was predisposed to suspect Hokey —"_

_"— because she was a house-elf," said Harry. _

"Stupid ministry," Fleur said.

_"Precisely," said Dumbledore. "She was old, she admitted to having tampered with the drink, and nobody at the Ministry bothered to inquire further. As in the case of Morfin, by the time I traced her and managed to extract this memory, her life was almost over — but her memory, of course, proves nothing except that Voldemort knew of the existence of the cup and the locket._

_"By the time Hokey was convicted, Hepzibah's family had realized that two of her greatest treasures were missing. It took them a while to be sure of this, for she had many hiding places, having always guarded her collection most jealously. But before they were sure beyond doubt that the cup and the locket were both gone, the assistant who had worked at Borgin and Burkes, the young man who had visited Hepzibah so regularly and charmed her so well, had resigned his post and vanished. His superiors had no idea where he had gone; they were as surprised as anyone at his disappearance. And that was the last that was seen or heard of Tom Riddle for a very long time._

"I wonder where he went," Bill pondered.

_"Now," said Dumbledore, "if you don't mind, Harry, I want to pause once more to draw your attention to certain points of our story. Voldemort had committed another murder; whether it was his first since he killed the Riddles, I do not know, but I think it was. This time, as you will have seen, he killed not for revenge, but for gain. He wanted the two fabulous trophies that poor, besotted, old woman showed him. Just as he had once robbed the other children at his orphanage, just as he had stolen his Uncle Morfin's ring, so he ran off now with Hepzibahs cup and locket."_

"That's mad," Ginny frowned.

_"But," said Harry, frowning, "it seems mad… Risking everything, throwing away his job, just for those…"_

Harry and Ginny grinned at each other.

_"Mad to you, perhaps, but not to Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "I hope you will understand in due course exactly what those objects meant to him, Harry, but you must admit that it is not difficult to imagine that he saw the locket, at least, as rightfully his."_

_"The locket maybe," said Harry, "but why take the cup as well?"_

_"It had belonged to another of Hogwarts's founders," said Dumbledore. "I think he still felt a great pull toward the school and that he could not resist an object so steeped in Hogwarts history. There were other reasons, I think… I hope to be able to demonstrate them to you in due course._

_"And now for the very last recollection I have to show you, at least until you manage to retrieve Professor Slughorn's memory for us. Ten years separates Hokey's memory and this one, ten years during which we can only guess at what Lord Voldemort was doing…"_

"Probably killing," James snarled.

_Harry got to his feet once more as Dumbledore emptied the last memory into the Pensieve._

_"Whose memory is it?" he asked._

_"Mine," said Dumbledore._

_And Harry dived after Dumbledore through the shifting silver mass, landing in the very office he had just left. There was Fawkes slumbering happily on his perch, and there behind the desk was Dumbledore, who looked very similar to the Dumbledore standing beside Harry, though both hands were whole and undamaged and his face was, perhaps, a little less lined. The one difference between the present-day office and this one was that it was snowing in the past; bluish flecks were drifting past the window in the dark and building up on the outside ledge._

_The younger Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for something, and sure enough, moments after their arrival, there was a knock on the door and he said, "Enter."_

_Harry let out a hastily stifled gasp. Voldemort had entered the room. His features were not those Harry had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron almost two years ago: They were not as snake-like, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet masklike, and yet he was no longer handsome Tom Riddle._

_It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that Harry knew they would become. He was wearing a long black cloak, and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders._

"He's already split his soul," Hermione murmured to Harry and Ron, who nodded in agreement.

"What happened to him?" Dudley asked.

"Magic," Ron said.

_The Dumbledore behind the desk showed no sign of surprise. Evidently this visit had been made by appointment._

_"Good evening, Tom," said Dumbledore easily. "Won't you sit down?"_

_"Thank you," said Voldemort, and he took the seat to which Dumbledore had gestured — the very seat, by the looks of it, that Harry had just vacated in the present._

_"I heard that you had become headmaster," he said, and his voice was slightly higher and colder than it had been. "A worthy choice."_

_"I am glad you approve," said Dumbledore, smiling. "May I offer you a drink?"_

_"That would be welcome," said Voldemort. "I have come a long way."_

_Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet where he now kept the Pensieve, but which then was full of bottles. Having handed Voldemort a goblet of wine and poured one for himself, he returned to the seat behind his desk._

_"So, Tom… to what do I owe the pleasure?"_

_Voldemort did not answer at once, but merely sipped his wine._

_"They do not call me 'Tom' anymore," he said. "These days, I am known as —"_

"Voldemort," Remus hissed.

_"I know what you are known as," said Dumbledore, smiling, pleasantly. "But to me, I'm afraid, you will always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things about old teachers. I am afraid that they never quite forget their charges' youthful beginnings."_

"That won't make him very happy," Sirius grinned.

_He raised his glass as though toasting Voldemort, whose face remained expressionless. Nevertheless, Harry felt the atmosphere in the room change subtly: Dumbledore's refusal to use Voldemort's chosen name was a refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the terms of the meeting, and Harry could tell that Voldemort took it as such._

_"I am surprised you have remained here so long," said Voldemort after a short pause. "I always wondered why a wizard such as yourself never wished to leave school."_

_"Well," said Dumbledore, still smiling, "to a wizard such as myself, there can be nothing more important than passing on ancient skills, helping hone young minds. If I remember correctly, you once saw the attraction of teaching too."_

_"I see it still," said Voldemort. "I merely wondered why you — who are so often asked for advice by the Ministry, and who have twice, I think, been offered the post of Minister —"_

_"Three times at the last count, actually," said Dumbledore. "But the Ministry never attracted me as a career. Again, something we have in common, I think."_

"Don't compare yourself to him," Dora said.

_Voldemort inclined his head, unsmiling, and took another sip of wine. Dumbledore did not break the silence that stretched between them now, but waited, with a look of pleasant expectancy, for Voldemort to talk first._

_"I have returned," he said, after a little while, "later, perhaps, than Professor Dippet expected… but I have returned, nevertheless, to request again what he once told me I was too young to have. I have come to you to ask that you permit me to return to this castle, to teach. I think you must know that I have seen and done much since I left this place. I could show and tell your students' things they can gain from no other wizard."_

"Yes," Bill nodded in agreement. "Evilness."

_Dumbledore considered Voldemort over the top of his own goblet for a while before speaking._

_"Yes, I certainly do know that you have seen and done much since leaving us," he said quietly. "Rumours of your doings have reached your old school, Tom. I should be sorry to believe half of them."_

_Voldemort's expression remained impassive as he said, "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore."_

_"You call it 'greatness,' what you have been doing, do you?" asked Dumbledore delicately._

_"Certainly," said Voldemort, and his eyes seemed to burn red. "I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed —"_

_"Of some kinds of magic," Dumbledore corrected him quietly. "Of some. Of others, you remain… forgive me… woefully ignorant."_

"Here he goes with Love," Ginny sighed.

_For the first time, Voldemort smiled. It was a taut leer, an evil thing, more threatening than a look of rage._

_"The old argument," he said softly. "But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore."_

"I disagree," everyone in the room said, many squeezing the hand of their partners or children's shoulders.

_"Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places," suggested Dumbledore._

_"Well, then, what better place to start my fresh researches than here, at Hogwarts?" said Voldemort. "Will you let me return? Will you let me share my knowledge with your students? I place myself and my talents at your disposal. I am yours to command."_

_Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "And what will become of those whom you command? What will happen to those who call themselves — or so rumour has it — the Death Eaters?"_

_Voldemort's eyes flash red again and the slitlike nostrils flare._

_My friends," he said, after a moment's pause, "will carry on without me, I am sure."_

_"I am glad to hear that you consider them friends," said Dumbledore. "I was under the impression that they are more in the order of servants."_

_"You are mistaken," said Voldemort._

"No, he is correct," Arthur said.

_"Then if I were to go to the Hog's Head tonight, I would not find a group of them — Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov — awaiting your return? Devoted friends indeed, to travel this far with you on a snowy night, merely to wish you luck as you attempted to secure a teaching post."_

_There could be no doubt that Dumbledore's detailed knowledge of those with whom he was travelling was even less welcome to Voldemort; however, he rallied almost at once._

_"You are omniscient as ever, Dumbledore."_

_"Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen," said Dumbledore lightly. "Now, Tom…"_

_Dumbledore set down his empty glass and drew himself up in his seat, the tips of his fingers together in a very characteristic gesture._

_"Let us speak openly. Why have you come here tonight, surrounded by henchmen, to request a job we both know you do not want?"_

_Voldemort looked coldly surprised. "A job I do not want? On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very much."_

_"Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts, but you do not want to teach any more than you wanted to when you were eighteen. What is it you're after, Tom? Why not try an open request for once?"_

_Voldemort sneered. "If you do not want to give me a job —"_

_"Of course I don't," said Dumbledore. "And I don't think for a moment you expected me to. Nevertheless, you came here, you asked, you must have had a purpose."_

_Voldemort stood up. He looked less like Tom Riddle than ever, his features thick with rage. "This is your final word?"_

_"It is," said Dumbledore, also standing._

_"Then we have nothing more to say to each other."_

_"No, nothing," said Dumbledore, and a great sadness filled his face. "The time is long gone when I could frighten you with a burning wardrobe and force you to make repayment for your crimes. But I wish I could, Tom… I wish I could…"_

"So do we," Remus said.

_He was sure that Voldemort's hand had twitched toward his pocket and his wand; but then the moment had passed, Voldemort had turned away, the door was closing, and he was gone._

_Harry felt Dumbledore's hand close over his arm again and moments later, they were standing together on almost the same spot, but there was no snow building on the window ledge, and Dumbledore's hand was blackened and dead-looking once more._

_"Why?" said Harry at once, looking up into Dumbledore's face. "Why did he come back? Did you ever find out?"_

_"I have ideas," said Dumbledore, "but no more than that."_

_"What ideas, sir?"_

_"I shall tell you, Harry, when you have retrieved that memory from Professor Slughorn," said Dumbledore. "When you have that last piece of the jigsaw, everything will, I hope, be clear… to both of us."_

_Dumbledore had walked to the door and was holding it open for him, he did not move at once._

_"Was he after the Defence Against the Dark Arts job again, sir? He didn't say…"_

_"Oh, he definitely wanted the Defence Against the Dark Arts job," said Dumbledore. "The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."_

"And that's a good thing in every case apart from one," Hermione said.

"You're finally going to learn what Horcruxes are," Harry said, frowning as everyone except Ginny, Ron and Hermione perked.

_"Well, here goes," said Harry, and he raised the little bottle and look a carefully measured gulp._

_"What does it feel like?" whispered Hermione._

_Harry did not answer for a moment He got to his feet, smiling, brimming with confidence._

_"Excellent," he said. "Really excellent. Right… I'm going down to Hagrid's."_

_"What?" said Ron and Hermione together, looking aghast._

_"No, Harry — you've got to go and see Slughorn, remember?" said Hermione._

_"No," said Harry confidently. "I'm going to Hagrid's, I've got a good feeling about going to Hagrid's."_

_"You've got a good feeling about burying a giant spider?" asked Ron, looking stunned._

"Aragogs dead?" Arthur said.

_"Yeah," said Harry, pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag. "I feel like it's the place to be tonight, you know what I mean?"_

_"No," said Ron and Hermione together, both looking positively alarmed now._

_"This is Felix Felicis, I suppose?" said Hermione anxiously, holding up the bottle to the light. "You haven't got another little bottle full of — I don't know —"_

_"Essence of Insanity?" suggested Ron, as Harry swung his cloak over his shoulders._

"Yeah," Teddy said. "He takes that everyday."

_Harry laughed, and Ron and Hermione looked even more alarmed._

_"Trust me," he said. "I know what I'm doing… or at least" he strolled confidently to the door — "Felix does."_

"You're an idiot," Ginny said.

_He pulled the Invisibility Cloak over his head and set off down the stairs, Ron and Hermione hurrying along behind him. At the foot of the stairs, Harry slid through the open door._

_"What were you doing up there with her" shrieked Lavender Brown, staring right through Harry at Ron and Hermione emerging together from the boys' dormitories._

"Brilliant!" Bill said.

_Harry heard Ron spluttering behind him as he darted across the room away from them._

_Getting through the portrait hole was simple; as he approached it, Ginny and Dean came through it, and Harry was able to slip between them. As he did so, he brushed accidentally against Ginny._

"That was you?" Ginny asked. "That was the reason I broke up with him!"

"No offense, Ginny," Lily said. "But if that's all it took, there wasn't much of a relationship left."

_"Don't push me, please, Dean," she said, sounding annoyed. "You're always doing that, I can get through perfectly well on my own…"_

"Zat potion really is making everzing go your way," Fleur laughed.

_The portrait swung closed behind Harry, but not before he had heard Dean make an angry retort… Harry strode off through the castle. He did not have to creep along, for he met nobody on his way._

_When he reached the entrance hall he saw that Filch had forgotten to lock the front door. Beaming, Harry threw it open and breathed in the smell of clean air and grass for a moment before walking down the steps into the dusk._

_Harry directed his feet immediately toward the vegetable patch, where he found Professor Slughorn in conversation with Professor Sprout. Harry lurked behind a low stone wall, feeling at peace with the world and listening to their conversation._

"You should take this potion often," James said.

"Prongs, that's dangerous," Remus snapped.

"_I do thank you for taking the time, Pomona," Slughorn was saying courteously, "most authorities agree that they are at their most efficacious if picked at twilight."_

_"Oh, I quite agree," said Professor Sprout warmly. "That enough for you?"_

_"Plenty, plenty," said Slughorn, who, Harry saw, was carrying an armful of leafy plants. "This should allow for a few leaves for each of my third years, and some to spare if anybody over-stews them… Well, good evening to you, and many thanks again!"_

_Professor Sprout headed off into the gathering darkness in the direction of her greenhouses, and Slughorn directed his steps to the spot where Harry stood, invisible._

_Seized with an immediate desire to reveal himself, Harry pulled it off the cloak with a flourish._

_"Good evening, Professor."_

_"Merlin's beard, Harry, you made me jump," said Slughorn, stopping dead in his tracks and looking wary. "How did you get out of the castle?"_

"Through the front door," Fabian laughed.

"It is the easiest way out of a building," Gideon added.

_"I think Filch must've forgotten to lock the doors," said Harry cheerfully, and was delighted to see Slughorn scowl._

_"I'll be reporting that man, he's more concerned about litter than proper security if you ask me… But why are you out then, Harry?"_

_"Well, sir, it's Hagrid," said Harry, who knew that the right thing to do just now was to tell the truth. "He's pretty upset… But you won't tell anyone, Professor? I don't want trouble for him…"_

_Slughorn's curiosity was evidently aroused. "Well, I can't promise that," he said gruffly. "But I know that Dumbledore trusts Hagrid to the hilt, so I'm sure he can't be up to anything very dreadful…"_

_"Well, it's this giant spider, he's had it for years… It lived in the forest… It could talk and everything —"_

_"I heard rumours there were acromantulas in the forest," said Slughorn softly, looking over at the mass of black trees. "It's true, then?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. "But this one, Aragog, the first one Hagrid ever got, it died last night. He's devastated. He wants company while he buries it and I said I'd go."_

_"Touching, touching," said Slughorn absentmindedly, his large droopy eyes fixed upon the distant lights of Hagrid's cabin. "But acromantula venom is very valuable… If the beast only just died it might not yet have dried out… Of course, I wouldn't want to do anything insensitive if Hagrid is upset… but if there was any way to procure some… I mean, it's almost impossible to get venom from an acromantula while it's alive…" Slughorn seemed to be talking more to himself than Harry now. "… seems an awful waste not to collect it… might get a hundred Galleons a pint… To be frank, my salary is not large…"_

_"Well," he said, with a most convincing hesitancy, "well, if you wanted to come, Professor, Hagrid would probably be really pleased… Give Aragog a better send-off, you know…"_

"This potion really is brilliant," Sirius said.

_"Yes, of course," said Slughorn, his eyes now gleaming with enthusiasm. "I tell you what, Harry, I'll meet you down there with a bottle or two… We'll drink the poor beast's — well — not health — but we'll send it off in style, anyway, once it's buried. And I'll change my tie, this one is a little exuberant for the occasion…"_

_He bustled back into the castle, and Harry sped off to Hagrid's_

_"Yeh came," croaked Hagrid, when he opened the door and saw Harry emerging from the Invisibility Cloak in front of him._

_"Yeah — Ron and Hermione couldn't, though," said Harry. "They're really sorry."_

"No, we're not," they said together.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell his that, was I?" Harry said looking at them. "Sorry Hagrid, Ron and Hermione didn't want to come. Ron thought you were mad. Yeah, that would go down well."

_"Don — don matter… Hed've bin touched yeh're here, though, Harry…"_

_Hagrid gave a great sob. He had made himself a black armband out of what looked like a rag dipped in boot polish, and his eyes were puffy, red, and swollen. Harry patted him consolingly on the elbow, which was the highest point of Hagrid he could easily reach._

_"Where are we burying him?" he asked. "The forest?"_

_"Blimey, no," said Hagrid, wiping his streaming eyes on the bottom of his shirt. "The other spiders won' let me anywhere near their webs now Aragog's gone. Turns out it was only on his orders they didn' eat me! Can yeh believe that, Harry?"_

_The honest answer was "yes"_

"Well, he did try to eat you," Teddy laughed.

_"Never bin an area o' the forest I couldn' go before!" said Hagrid, shaking his head._

_"It wasn' easy, gettin' Aragog's body out o' there, I can tell yeh — they usually eat their dead, see… But I wanted ter give 'im a nice burial… a proper send-off…"_

_He broke into sobs again and Harry resumed the patting of his elbow, saying as he did "Professor Slughorn met me coming down here, Hagrid."_

"He'll think you're in trouble," Dudley warned.

_"Not in trouble, are yeh?" said Hagrid, looking up, alarmed. "Yeh shouldn' be outta the castle in the evenin', I know it, it's my fault —"_

_"No, no, when he heard what I was doing he said he'd like to come and pay his last respects to Aragog too," said Harry. "He's gone to change into something more suitable, I think… and he said he'd bring some bottles so we can drink to Aragog's memory…"_

_"Did he?" said Hagrid, looking both astonished and touched. "Tha's — tha's righ' nice of him, that is, an' not turnin' yeh in either. I've never really had a lot ter do with Horace Slughorn before… Comin' ter see old Aragog off, though, eh? Well… he'd've liked that, Aragog would…"_

_Harry thought privately that what Aragog would have liked most about Slughorn was the ample amount of edible flesh he provided,_

"Harry!" Moly said, shocked while the marauders, Teddy and her brothers sniggered.

_but he merely moved to the rear window of Hagrid's hut, where he saw the rather horrible sight of the enormous dead spider lying on its back outside, its legs curled and tangled._

"That's horrible," Ron shuddered.

_"Are we going to bury him here, Hagrid, in your garden?"_

_"Jus' beyond the pumpkin patch, I thought," said Hagrid in a choked voice. "I've already dug the — yeh know — grave. Jus' thought we'd say a few nice things over him — happy memories, yeh know —"_

_His voice quivered and broke. There was a knock on the door, and he turned to answer it, blowing his nose on his great spotted handkerchief as he did so. Slughorn hurried over the threshold, several bottles in his arms, and wearing a somber black cravat._

_"Hagrid," he said, in a deep, grave voice. "So very sorry to hear of your loss."_

_"Tha's very nice of yeh," said Hagrid. "Thanks a lot. An' thanks fer not givin Harry detention neither…"_

_"Wouldn't have dreamed of it," said Slughorn. "Sad night, sad night… Where is the poor creature?"_

_"Out here," said Hagrid in a shaking voice. "Shall we — shall we do it, then?"_

_The three of them stepped out into the back garden. The moon was glistening palely through the trees now, and its rays mingled with the light spilling from Hagrid's window to illuminate Aragogs body lying on the edge of a massive pit beside a ten-foot- high mound of freshly dug earth._

_"Magnificent," said Slughorn, approaching the spiders head, where eight milky eyes stared blankly at the sky and two huge, curved pincers shone, motionless, in the moonlight._

"I disagree," Petunia said.

_Harry thought he heard the tinkle of bottles as Slughorn bent over the pincers, apparently examining the enormous hairy head._

_"Its not ev'ryone appreciates how beau'iful they are' said Hagrid to Slughorn's back, tears leaking from the corners of his crinkled eyes. "I didn' know yeh were interested in creatures like Aragog, Horace."_

_"Interested? My dear Hagrid, I revere them," said Slughorn, stepping back from the body. Harry saw the glint of a bottle disappear beneath his cloak, though Hagrid, mopping his eyes once more, noticed nothing. "Now… shall we proceed to the burial?"_

_Hagrid nodded and moved forward. He heaved the gigantic spider into his arms and, with an enormous grunt, rolled it into the dark pit. It hit the bottom with a rather horrible, crunchy thud. Hagrid started to cry again._

"Oh Hagrid," Lily sighed.

_"Of course, it's difficult for you, who knew him best," said Slughorn, who like Harry could reach no higher than Hagrid's elbow, but patted it all the same. "Why don't I say a few words?"_

_He must have got a lot of good quality venom from Aragog, Harry thought, for Slughorn wore a satisfied smirk as he stepped up to the rim of the pit and said, in a slow, impressive voice, "Farewell, Aragog, king of arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you won't forget! Though your body will decay, your spirit lingers on in the quiet, web-spun places of your forest home. May your many-eyed descendants ever flourish and your human friends find solace for the loss they have sustained."_

_"Tha was… tha was… beau'iful!" howled Hagrid, and he collapsed onto the compost heap, crying harder than ever._

_"There, there," said Slughorn, waving his wand so that the huge pile of earth rose up and then fell, with a muffled sort of crash, onto the dead spider, forming a smooth mound. "Lets get inside and have a drink. Get on his other side, Harry… That's it… Up you come, Hagrid… Well done…"_

_They deposited Hagrid in a chair at the table. Fang, who had been skulking in his basket during the burial, now came padding softly across to them and put his heavy head into Harry's lap as usual._

_Slughorn uncorked one of the bottles of wine he had brought._

_"I have had it all tested for poison," he assured Harry, pouring most of the first bottle into one of Hagrid's bucket-sized mugs and handing it to Hagrid._

"Good," everyone muttered.

_"Had a house-elf taste every bottle after what happened to your poor friend Rupert."_

"Ron," Molly said forcefully.

_Harry saw, in his mind's eye, the expression on Hermione's face if she ever heard about this abuse of house elves, and decided never to mention it to her._

"Yep, that's the one I was afraid of," Harry said, causing everyone to look at Hermione.

She had clenched her fist and was quickly turning red in anger, her eyes narrowed in a deadly glare at Slughorn.

"How dare he?" she shrieked. "I could have him arrested for mistreatment of house elves!"

_"One for Harry…" said Slughorn, dividing a second bottle between two mugs, "… and one for me. Well"— he raised his mug high — "to Aragog."_

_"Aragog," said Harry and Hagrid together. Both Slughorn and Hagrid drank deeply. Harry, however, merely pretended to take a gulp and then set the mug back on the table before him._

_"I had him from an egg, yeh know," said Hagrid morosely. "'Tiny little thing he was when he hatched. 'Bout the size of a Pekingese"_

_"Sweet," said Slughorn._

Everyone's faces said that disagreed with that sentiment completely.

_"Used ter keep him in a cupboard up at the school until… well…"_

_Hagrid's face darkened.. Slughorn, did not seem to be listening; he was looking up at the ceiling, from which a number of brass pots hung, and also a long, silky skein of bright white hair._

_"That's not unicorn hair, Hagrid?"_

_"Oh, yeah," said Hagrid indifferently. "Gets pulled out of their tails, they catch it on branches an' stuff in the forest, yeh know…"_

_"But my dear chap, do you know how much that's worth?"_

"Hagrid doesn't care about that," Dora said.

_"I use it fer bindin' on bandages an' stuff if a creature gets injured," said Hagrid, shrugging. "It's dead useful… very strong."_

_Slughorn took another deep draught from his mug, his eyes moving carefully around the cabin now, looking, He refilled Hagrid's mug and his own, and questioned him about the creatures that lived in the forest these days and how Hagrid was able to look after them all. Hagrid, becoming expansive under the influence of the drink and Slughorn's flattering interest, stopped mopping his eyes and entered happily into a long explanation of bowtruckle husbandry._

_Harry noticed that the supply of drink that Slughorn had brought was running out fast. He pointed his wand under the able at the emptying bottles and they immediately began to refill._

"Good magic," Lily praised.

"I think it was the potion," Harry said. "I hadn't been able to do it before."

This caused Lily to roll her eyes.

_After an hour or so, Hagrid and Slughorn began making extravagant toasts: to Hogwarts, to Dumbledore, to elf-made wine, and to —_

_"Harry Potter!" bellowed Hagrid, slopping some of his fourteenth bucket of wine down his chin as he drained it._

_"Yes, indeed," cried Slughorn a little thickly, "Parry Otter,_

"Nice," James snorted.

_the Chosen Boy Who — well — something of that sort," he mumbled, and drained his mug too._

Everyone chuckled.

_Not long after this, Hagrid became tearful again and pressed the whole unicorn tail upon Slughorn, who pocketed it with cries of, "To friendship! To generosity! To ten Galleons a hair!"_

_And for a while after that, Hagrid and Slughorn were sitting side by side, arms around each other, singing a slow sad song about a dying wizard called Odo._

"Oh Merlin," Remus groaned. "Cover your ears."

_"Aaargh, the good die young," muttered Hagrid, slumping low onto the table, a little cross-eyed, while Slughorn continued to warble the refrain._

"And the innocent first," Hermione agreed.

_"Me dad was no age ter go… nor were yer mum' an' dad, Harry…"_

_Great fat tears oozed out of the corners of Hagrid's crinkled eyes again; he grasped Harry's arm and shook it_

_"Bes' wiz and witchard o' their age… I never knew… terrible thing… terrible thing…"_

_And Odo the hero, they bore him back home_

_To the place that he'd known as a lad,_

_sang Slughorn plaintively._

_They laid him to rest with his hat inside out._

_And his wand snapped in two, which was sad._

"Bloody hell, I see what you mean!" Teddy said.

_"…terrible," Hagrid grunted, and his great shaggy head rolled sideways onto his arms and he fell asleep, snoring deeply._

_"Sorry," said Slughorn with a hiccup. "Can't carry a tune to save my life."_

"No kidding," Remus said, rubbing his ears.

"_Hagrid wasn't talking about your singing," said Harry quietly. "He was talking about my mumand dad dying."_

_"Oh," said Slughorn, repressing a large belch. "Oh dear. Yes, that was — was terrible indeed. Terrible… terrible…"_

_He looked quite at a loss for what to say, and resorted to refilling their mugs._

_"I don't — don't suppose you remember it, Harry?" he asked awkwardly._

"Yes he does," Molly sighed. "Only bits though."

_"No — well, I was only one when they died," said Harry, his eyes on the flame of the candle flickering in Hagrid's heavy snores. "But I've found out pretty much what happened since. My dad died first. Did you know that?"_

"He won't like this," Arthur said.

"He won't," Sirius yelped. "Neither will I."

_"I — I didn't," said Slughorn in a hushed voice._

_"Yeah… Voldemort murdered him and then stepped over his body toward my mum," said Harry._

_Slughorn gave a great shudder, but he did not seem able to tear his horrified gaze away from Harry's face._

_"He told her to get out of the way," said Harry remorselessly. "He told me she needn't have died. He only wanted me. She could have run."_

"'Arry, shh," Fleur said. "Tais-toi!" (shut up)

"_Oh dear," breathed Slughorn. "She could have… she needn't… That's awful…"_

_"It is, isn't it?" said Harry, in a voice barely more than a whisper. "But she didn't move. Dad was already dead, but she didn't want me to go too. She tried to plead with Voldemort… but he just laughed…"_

_"That's enough!" said Slughorn suddenly, raising a shaking hand. "Really, my dear boy, enough… I'm an old man… I don't need to hear… I don't want to hear…"_

"And nor do we," Ginny shuddered.

_"I forgot," lied Harry. "You liked her, didn't you?"_

_"Liked her?" said Slughorn, his eyes brimming with tears once more. "I don't imagine anyone who met her wouldn't have liked her… Very brave… Very funny…_

"Thank you," Lily smiled

_It was the most horrible thing…"_

_"But you won't help her son," said Harry. "She gave me her life, but you won't give me a memory."_

_Hagrid's rumbling snores filled the cabin. Harry looked steadily into Slughorn's tear-filled eyes. The Potions master seemed unable to look away._

_"Don't say that," he whispered. "It isn't a question… If it were to help you, of course… but no purpose can be served…"_

_"It can," said Harry clearly. "Dumbledore needs information. I need information."_

_Looking Slughorn straight in the eye, Harry leaned forward a little._

_"I am the Chosen One. I have to kill him. I need that memory."_

"Keep going, Harry," Remus said.

"And considering your eyes," Dora said. "Keep eye contact."

_Slughorn turned paler than ever; his shiny forehead gleamed with sweat._

_"You are the Chosen One?"_

_"Of course I am," said Harry calmly._

_"But then… my dear boy… you're asking a great deal… you're asking me, in fact, to aid you in your attempt to destroy —"_

_"You don't want to get rid of the wizard who killed Lily Evans?'"_

"That'll do it," James smiled.

_"Harry, Harry, of course I do, but —"_

_"You're scared he'll find out you helped me?"_

_Slughorn said nothing; he looked terrified._

_"Be brave like my mother, Professor…"_

_Slughorn raised a pudgy hand and pressed his shaking fingers to his mouth; he looked for a moment like an enormously overgrown baby._

_"I am not proud…" he whispered through his fingers. "I am ashamed of what — of what that memory shows… I think I may have done great damage that day…"_

_"You'd cancel out anything you did by giving me the memory," said Harry. "It would be a very brave and noble thing to do."_

"You're forgetting," Teddy said. "He's Slytherin, not Gryffindor."

_Hagrid twitched in his sleep and snored on. Slughorn and Harry stared at each other over the guttering candle. There was a long, long silence. Then, very slowly, Slughorn put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wand. He put his other hand inside his cloak and took out a small, empty bottle. Still looking into Harry's eyes, Slughorn touched the tip of his wand to his temple and withdrew it, so that a long, silver thread of memory came away too, clinging to the wand tip. Longer and longer the memory stretched until it broke and swung, silvery bright, from the wand. Slughorn lowered it into the bottle where it coiled, then spread, swirling like gas. He corked the bottle with a trembling hand and then passed it across the table to Harry._

_"Thank you very much, Professor."_

_"You're a good boy," said Professor Slughorn, tears trickling down his fat cheeks into his walrus moustache. "And you've got her eyes… Just don't think too badly of me once you've seen it…"_

_And he too put his head on his arms, gave a deep sigh, and fell asleep._

"Well done, Harry," Arthur beamed.

"Skipping," Harry said, smiling slightly.

_Harry was already hurtling back along the corridor and within minutes, he was saying "toffee éclairs" to Dumbledore's gargoyle, which leapt aside, permitting Harry entrance onto the spiral staircase._

_"Enter," said Dumbledore when Harry knocked. He sounded exhausted. Harry pushed open the door. There was Dumbledore's office, looking the same as ever, but with black, star-strewn skies beyond the windows._

_"Good gracious, Harry," said Dumbledore in surprise._

"You shocked, Dumbledore!" the twins yelled.

"And I thought he was never surprised," Dora chuckled.

_"To what do I owe this very late pleasure?"_

_"Sir — I've got it. I've got the memory from Slughorn."_

_Harry pulled out the tiny glass bottle and showed it to Dumbledore. For a moment or two, the headmaster looked stunned. Then his face split in a wide smile._

"'E's impressed," Fleur laughed, it was funny seeing Dumbledore shocked.

_"Harry, this is spectacular news! Very well done indeed! I knew you could do it!"_

_All thought of the lateness of the hour apparently forgotten, he hurried around his desk, took the bottle with Slughorn's memory in his uninjured hand, and strode over to the cabinet where he kept the Pensieve._

Everyone grinned.

"I've never seen him excited either," Sirius laughed.

_"And now," said Dumbledore, placing the stone basin upon the desk and emptying the contents of the bottle into it. "Now, at last, we shall see. Harry, quickly__…"_

_Harry bowed obediently over the Pensieve and felt his feet leave the office floor… Once again he fell through darkness and landed in Horace Slughorn's office many years before. There was the much younger Slughorn, with his thick, shiny, straw-coloured hair and his gingery-blond moustache, sitting again in the comfortable winged armchair in his office, his feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, a small glass of wine in one hand, the other rummaging in a box of crystallized pineapple. And there were the half dozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, Marvolo's gold-and-black ring gleaming on his finger._

_Dumbledore landed beside Harry just as Riddle asked, "Sir is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?"_

_"Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn't tell you," said Slughorn, wagging his finger reprovingly at Riddle, though winking at the same time. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are."_

_Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks._

_"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favourite —" Several of the boys tittered again. "— I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."_

"He does love his pineapples, doesn't he?" Petunia smiled.

_Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look to him as their leader._

_"I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," he said when the laughter had died away. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing."_

_A couple of the boys around him smirked at each other. _

_"Nonsense," said Slughorn briskly, "couldn't be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you'll go far, Tom, I've never been wrong about a student yet."_

_The small golden clock standing upon Slughorn's desk chimed eleven o'clock behind him and he looked around._

_"Good gracious, is it that time already? You'd better get going boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by in morrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."_

_One by one, the boys filed out of the room. Slughorn heaved himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk. A movement behind him made him look around; Riddle was still standing there._

_"Look sharp, Tom, you don't want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect…"_

_"Sir, I wanted to ask you something."_

_"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away…"_

_"Sir, I wondered what you know about… about Horcruxes?'_

_Slughorn stared at him, his thick ringers absentmindedly clawing the stem of his wine glass._

_"Project for Defence Against the Dark Arts, is it?"_

_But Harry could tell that Slughorn knew perfectly well that this was not schoolwork._

_"Not exactly, sir," said Riddle. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."_

_"No… well… you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed," said Slughorn_

_"But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you — sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously —I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could—so I just thought I'd–"_

_It was very well done, thought Harry, the hesitancy, the casual tone, the careful flattery, none of it overdone. _

"Harry, don't compliment him," Hermione said.

"Sorry," Harry said.

_"Well," said Slughorn, not looking at Riddle, but fiddling with the ribbon on top of his box of crystallized pineapple, "well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term._

"Here we go," Arthur said.

_A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."_

"Sorry?" Dudley asked, confused.

_"I don't quite understand how that works, though, sir," said Riddle._

_His voice was carefully controlled, but Harry could sense his excitement._

_"Well, you split your soul, you see," said Slughorn, "and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form…"_

_Slughorn's face crumpled _

_"… few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable."_

_But Riddle's hunger was now apparent; his expression was greedy, he could no longer hide his longing._

_"How do you split your soul?"_

_"Well," said Slughorn uncomfortably, "you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature."_

_"But how do you do it?"_

_"By an act of evil — the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart._

"That's disgusting," Teddy said, everyone did look rather revolted at this description.

_The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: He would encase the torn portion —"_

_"Encase? But how —?"_

_"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know!" said Slughorn shaking his head like an old elephant bothered by mosquitoes. "Do I look as though I have tried it — do I look like a killer?"_

_"No, sir, of course not," said Riddle quickly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend…"_

_"Not at all, not at all, not offended," said Slughorn gruffly, "It is natural to feel some curiosity about these things… Wizards of a certain calibre have always been drawn to that aspect of magic…"_

_"Yes, sir," said Riddle. "What I don't understand, though — just out of curiosity — I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven —?"_

The trio shared a look, looking by far the sickest by this conversation.

_"Merlin's beard, Tom!" yelped Slughorn. "Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case… bad enough to divide the soul… but to rip it into seven pieces…"_

_Slughorn looked deeply troubled now: He was gazing at Riddle as though he had never seen him plainly before, and Harry could tell that he was regretting entering into the conversation at all._

_"Of course," he muttered, "this is all hypothetical, what we're discussing, isn't it? All academic…"_

_"Yes, sir, of course," said Riddle quickly._

_"But all the same, Tom… keep it quiet, what I've told — that's to say, what we've discussed. People wouldn't like to think we've been chatting about Horcruxes. It's a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know… Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it…"_

_"I won't say a word, sir," said Riddle, and he left, but not before Harry had glimpsed his face, which was full of that same wild happiness it had worn when he had first found out that he was a wizard, the sort of happiness that did not enhance his handsome features, but made them, somehow, less human…_

_"Thank you, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "Let us go…"_

_When Harry landed back on the office floor Dumbledore was; already sitting down behind his desk. Harry sat too and waited for Dumbledore to speak._

_"I have been hoping for this piece of evidence for a very long time," said Dumbledore at last. "It confirms the theory on which I have been working, it tells me that I am right, and also how very far there is still to go…"_

_Harry suddenly noticed that every single one of the old headmasters and headmistresses in the portraits around the walls was awake and listening in on their conversation. A corpulent, red nosed wizard had actually taken out an ear trumpet._

_"Well, Harry," said Dumbledore, "I am sure you understood the significance of what we just heard. At the same age as you are now, give or take a few months, Tom Riddle was doing all he could to find out how to make himself immortal."_

_"You think he succeeded then, sir?" asked Harry. "He made a Horcrux? And that's why he didn't die when he attacked me? He had a Horcrux hidden somewhere? A bit of his soul was safe?"_

"Sadly," Remus said quietly.

_"A bit… or more," said Dumbledore. "You heard Voldemort, what he particularly wanted from Horace was an opinion on what would happen to the wizard who created more than one Horcrux, what would happen to the wizard so determined to evade death that he would be prepared to murder many times, rip his soul repeatedly, so as to store it in many, separately concealed Horcrux. No book would have given him that information. As far as I know — as far, I am sure, as Voldemort knew — no wizard had ever done more than tear his soul in two."_

_Dumbledore paused for a moment, marshalling his thought, and then said, "Four years ago, I received what I considered certain proof that Voldemort had split his soul."_

_"Where?" asked Harry. "How?"_

_"You handed it to me, Harry," said Dumbledore._

"The diary!" Molly gasped. "Oh Ginny."

_"The diary, Riddles diary, the one giving instructions on how to reopen the Chamber of Secrets."_

_"I don't understand, sir," said Harry._

_"Well, although I did not see the Riddle who came out of the diary, what you described to me was a phenomenon I had never witnessed. A mere memory starting to act and think for itself? A mere memory, sapping the life out of the girl into whose hands it had fallen? No, something much more sinister had lived inside that book… a fragment of soul, I was almost sure of it. The diary had been a Horcrux. But this raised as many questions as it answered. What intrigued and alarmed me most was that that diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard."_

_"I still don't understand," said Harry._

_"Well, it worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work — in other words, the fragment of soul concealed inside it was kept safe and had undoubtedly played its part in preventing the death of its owner. But there could be no doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his soul to inhabit or possess somebody else, so that Slytherin's monster would be unleashed again."_

_"Well, he didn't want his hard work to be wasted," said Harry. "He wanted people to know he was Slytherin's heir, because he couldn't take credit at the time."_

_"Quite correct," said Dumbledore, nodding. "But don't you see, Harry, that if he intended the diary to be passed to, or planted on, some future Hogwarts student, he was being remarkably blase about that precious fragment of his soul concealed within it. The point of a Horcrux is, as Professor Slughorn explained, to keep part of the self hidden and safe, not to fling it into somebody else's path and run the risk that they might destroy it — as indeed happened: That particular fragment of soul is no more; you saw to that._

"So one's gone," Sirius said.

_"The careless way in which Voldemort regarded this Horcrux seemed most ominous to me. It suggested that he must have made — or had been planning to make — more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would not be so detrimental. I did not wish to believe it, but nothing else seemed to make sense. Then you told me, two years later, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement to his Death Eaters. 'I who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.' That was what you told me he said. 'Further than anybody!' And I thought I knew what that meant, though the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural, Harry, which I don't believe any other wizard has ever had. Yet it fitted: Lord Voldomort has seemed to grow less human with the passing years, and the transformation he had undergone seemed to me to be only explainable if his soul was mutilated beyond the realms of what we might call 'usual evil'…"_

"Well, we already know he's past normal evil," Dora said.

_"So he's made himself impossible to kill by murdering other people?" said Harry. "Why couldn't he make a Philosopher's Stone, or steal one, if he was so interested in immortality?"_

"He doesn't like to be dependant on things, does he?" Remus said. "So he won't want to have to keep taking a potion."

"Plus, he would have died that night he attacked you," Hermione said, gesturing to the Potters.

"So you think he thought he might get killed?" Ron asked.

"I think he thought it was best to be prepared," Hermione replied. "But, no, I don't think he really thought it would become necessary."

_"Well, we know that he tried to do just that, five years ago," said Dumbledore. "But there are several reasons why, I think, a Philosopher's Stone would appeal less than Horcruxes to Lord Voldemort._

_"While the Elixir of Life does indeed extend life, it must be drunk regularly, for all eternity, if the drinker is to maintain the immortality. Therefore, Voldemort would be entirely dependant on the Elixir, and if it ran out, or was contaminated, or if the Stone was stolen, he would die just like any other man. Voldemort likes to operate alone, remember. I believe that he would have found the thought of being dependent, even on the Elixir, intolerable. _

"Dumbledore agrees then," Lily chuckled.

_Of course he was prepared to drink it if it would take him out of the horrible part-life to which he was condemned after attacking you, but only to regain a body. Thereafter, I am convinced, he intended to continue to rely on his Horcruxes. He would need nothing more, if only he could regain a human form. He was already immortal, you see… or as close to immortal as any man can be._

_"But now, Harry, armed with this information, the crucial memory you have succeeded in procuring for us, we are closer to the secret of finishing Lord Voldemort than anyone has ever been before. You heard him, Harry: 'Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces… isn't seven the most powerfully magical number…' Isn't seven the most powerfully magical number. Yes, I think the idea of a seven-part soul would greatly appeal to Lord Voldemort."_

"He failed at that part," Hermione said.

"Yes, but he went one the wrong way," Harry muttered in return.

"He made six Horcruxes," Sirius yelled.

_"He made seven Horcruxes?" said Harry, horror-struck, while several of the portraits on the walls made similar noises of shock mid outrage._

"Six, Harry," Molly corrected.

"You were right," Ron said to Harry.

"And I bet he knew it," Hermione added, shivering.

_"But they could be anywhere in the world — hidden — buried or invisible —"_

"Oh god," Petunia said.

"Wait," Remus suddenly snapped. "That's were you went isn't it? Horcrux hunting?"

Everyone who had been alive at the time snapped to face the trio. Ginny already knew everything but Molly, Arthur, Bill and Fleur just knew that they had been hunting things to destroy Voldemort.

After sharing a look, the trio nodded.

"Yikes," Dora breathed, running a hand threw her bubblegum pink hair.

"Why you three?" James asked.

"You'll see by the end of today," Hermione said.

_"I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the problem," said Dumbledore calmly. "But firstly, no, Harry, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many years during his exile; without that, he has no self at all. That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort must attack — the piece that lives in his body."_

_"But the six Horcruxes, then," said Harry, a little desperately, "how are we supposed to find them?"_

"We blunder though the wilderness having no idea what to do," Ron said under his breath. "With no tools or positive direction."

_"You are forgetting… you have already destroyed one of them. And I have destroyed another."_

"Quarter es still a lot to deal wiz," Fleur said.

_"You have?" said Harry eagerly._

_"Yes indeed," said Dumbledore, and he raised his blackened, burned-looking hand. "The ring, Harry. Marvolo's ring. And a terrible curse there was upon it too. Had it not been — forgive me the lack of seemly modesty — for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape's timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale._

"Thank god for Snape," Teddy said.

_However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort's soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux."_

_"But how did you find it?"_

"Yes please tell us," Bill said.

_"Well, as you now know, for many years I have made it my business to discover as much as I can about Voldemort's past life. I have travelled widely, visiting those places he once knew. I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the Gaunt's house. It seems that once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a piece of his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it anymore. He hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, in the shack where his ancestors had once lived (Morfin having been carted off to Azkaban, of course), never guessing that I might one day take the trouble to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye open for traces of magical concealment._

_"However, we should not congratulate ourselves too heartily. You destroyed the diary and I the ring, but if we are right in our theory of a seven-part soul, four Horcruxes remain."_

"Ha, we've already said that," the twins said, trying to lighten the tense mood.

_"And they could be anything?" said Harry. "They could be oh, in tin cans or, I dunno, empty potion bottles…"_

"He'd use something more special than that," Arthur disagreed.

_"You are thinking of Portkeys, Harry, which must be ordinary objects, easy to overlook. But would Lord Voldemort use tin cans or old potion bottles to guard his own precious soul? You areforgetting what I have showed you. Lord Voldemort liked to collect trophies, and he preferred objects with a powerful magical history. His pride, his belief in his own superiority, his determination to carve for himself a startling place in magical history; these things, suggest to me that Voldemort would have chosen his Horcruxes with some care, favouring objects worthy of the honour."_

_"The diary wasn't that special."_

_"The diary, as you have said yourself, was proof that he was the Heir of Slytherin. I am sure that Voldemort considered it of stupendous importance."_

"He has a point," Ginny sighed, she didn't like talk of the diary.

_"So, the other Horcruxes?" said Harry. "Do you think you know what they are, sir?"_

"I'm sure he has an idea," Remus smiled, although it sounded like he was forcing himself to talk.

_"I can only guess," said Dumbledore. "For the reasons I have already given, I believe that Lord Voldemort would prefer objects that, in themselves, have a certain grandeur. I have therefore trawled back through Voldemort's past to see if I can find evidence that such artefacts have disappeared around him."_

_"The locket!" said Harry loudly, "Hufflepuff's cup!"_

"And Ravenclaw diadem," Hermione murmured.

_"Yes," said Dumbledore, smiling, "I would be prepared to bet — perhaps not my other hand — but a couple of fingers, that they became Horcruxes three and four. The remaining two, assuming again that he created a total of six, are more of a problem, but I will hazard a guess that, having secured objects from Hufflepuff and Slytherin, he set out to track down objects owned by Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Four objects from the four founders would, I am sure, have exerted a powerful pull over Voldemort's imagination. I cannot answer for whether he ever managed to find anything of Ravenclaw's. I am confident, however, that the only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe."_

_Dumbledore pointed his blackened fingers to the wall behind him, where a ruby-encrusted sword reposed within a glass case._

_"Do you think that's why he really wanted to come back to Hogwarts, sir?" said Harry. "To try and find something from one of the other founders?"_

_"My thoughts precisely," said Dumbledore. "But unfortunately, that does not advance us much further, for he was turned away, or so I believe, without the chance to search the school. I am forced to conclude that he never fulfilled his ambition of collecting four founders' objects. _

"Incorrect," Ron muttered.

_He definitely had two — he may have found three — that is the best we can do for now."_

_"Even if he got something of Ravenclaw's or of Gryffindor's, that leaves a sixth Horcrux," said Harry, counting on his fingers. "Unless he's got both?"_

_"I don't think so," said Dumbledore. "I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behaviour of the snake, Nagini?"_

_"The snake?" said Harry, startled. "You can use animals as Horcruxes?"_

"It's probably not clever," Lily said.

_"Well, it is inadvisable to do so," said Dumbledore,_

"Yes, considering it has a mind of its own," Teddy said.

_"because to confide a part of your soul to something that can think and move for itself is obviously a very risky business. However, if my calculations are correct, Voldemort was still at least one Horcrux short of his goal of six when he entered your parents' house with the intention of killing you. He seems to have reserved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly significant deaths. You would certainly have been that. He believed that in killing you, he was destroying the danger the prophecy had outlined. He believed he was making himself invincible. I am sure that he was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death. As we know, he failed. After an interval of some years, however, he used Nagini to kill an old Muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux._

"So you were the sixth Horcrux," Ginny murmured so only Harry could hear her. "Not the seventh."

"Yep," Harry whispered.

_She underlines the Slytherin connection, which enhances Lord Voldemorts mystique; I think he is perhaps as fond of her as he can be of anything; he certainly likes to keep her close, and he seems to have an unusual amount of control over her, even for a Parselmouth."_

_"So," said Harry, "the diary's gone, the ring's gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, and you think there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"_

_"An admirably succinct and accurate summary, yes," said Dumbledore, bowing his head._

_"So… are you still looking for them, sir? Is that where you've been going when you've been leaving the school?"_

_"Correct," said Dumbledore. "I have been looking for a very long time. I think… perhaps… I may be close to finding another one. There are hopeful signs."_

_"And if you do," said Harry quickly, "can I come with you and help get rid of it?"_

"No!" Lily snapped.

_Dumbledore looked at Harry very intently for a moment before saying, "Yes, I think so."_

"Wha?" James and Sirius yelled.

_"I can?" said Harry, thoroughly taken aback._

_"Oh yes," said Dumbledore, smiling slightly. "I think you have earned that right."_

_. The headmasters and head-mistresses around the walls seemed less impressed by Dumbledore's decision; Harry saw a few of them shaking their heads and Phineas Nigellus actually snorted._

"Nobody cares what you think," Dora spat.

_"Does Voldemort know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?" Harry asked, ignoring the portraits._

_"A very interesting question, Harry. I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do. Perhaps, at the point of death, he might be aware of his loss… but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold."_

"Serves him right," Harry muttered and saw Ginny smile slightly, although he was sure she rolled her eyes as well.

_"But I thought he meant Lucius Malfoy to smuggle it into Hogwarts?"_

_"Yes, he did, years ago, when he was sure he would be able to create more Horcruxes, but still Lucius was supposed to wait for Voldemorts say-so, and he never received it, for Voldemort vanished shortly after giving him the diary. No doubt he thought that Lucius would not dare do anything with the Horcrux other than guard it carefully, but he was counting too much upon Lucius's fear of a master who had been gone for years and whom Lucius believed dead. Of course, Lucius did not know what the diary really was. I understand that Voldemort had told him the diary would cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen because it was cleverly enchanted. Had Lucius known he held a portion of his masters soul in his hands, he would undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence — but instead he went ahead and carried out the old plan for his own ends. By planting the diary upon Arthur Weasleys daughter, he hoped to discredit Arthur and get rid of a highly incriminating magical object in one stroke. Ah, poor Lucius… what with Voldemorts fury about the fact that he threw away the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is not secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the moment."_

_Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, "So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?"_

"Yes," everyone said.

_"Yes, I think so," said Dumbledore. "Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes."_

_"But I haven't got uncommon skill and power," said Harry, before he could stop himself._

Hermione, Ron and Ginny scoffed.

"Harry, you are a brilliant fighter!" Ron said

"Although, I think Dumbledore is going to say something about love," Hermione smiled.

_"Yes, you have," said Dumbledore firmly. "You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can —"_

_"I know!" said Harry impatiently. "I can love!" _

_"Yes, Harry, you can love," said Dumbledore. "Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry."_

"Do you understand yet?" Sirius chuckled.

"Not really," Harry said, frowning.

"Then you need to grow up," Dudley chuckled.

"Or he just needs to learn to be less modest," suggested Teddy.

"Okay, Harry, listen to me," Molly said. "For man who had every right to want to hide from the world, or hate Muggles –" (she shot a dark look at Petunia and Dudley) "- to scream, and rage and be downright horrible – you are extremely caring and pure."

_"So, when the prophecy says that I'll have 'power the Dark Lord knows not,' it just means — love?" asked Harry._

_"Yes — just love," said Dumbledore. "But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you out as the person who would be most dangerous to him — and in doing so, he made you the person who would be most dangerous to him!"_

"What?" Fabian asked

"No idea," Gideon replied.

_"But it comes to the same —"_

_"No, it doesn't!" said Dumbledore, sounding impatient now. Pointing at Harry with his black, withered hand, he said, "You are setting too much store by the prophecy!"_

_"But," spluttered Harry, "but you said the prophecy means —"_

_"If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?"_

"Yeah," James said.

_"But," said Harry, bewildered, "but last year, you said one of us would have to kill the other —"_

_"Harry, Harry, only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney's words! If Voldemort had never murdered your father, would he have imparted in you a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for you, would he have given you a magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, Harry! _

"Oh," Lily said, nodding.

_Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!"_

_"But —"_

_"It is essential that you understand this!" said Dumbledore, standing up and striding about the room, his glittering robes swishing in his wake. _

"He's really attached to this," Remus said. "He never usually shows much emotion."

_"By attempting to kill you, Voldemort himself singled out the remarkable person who sits here in front of me, and gave him the tools for the job! It is Voldemort's fault that you were able to see into his thoughts, his ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike language in which he gives orders, and yet, Harry, despite your privileged insight into Voldemort's world (which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would kill to have), you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort's followers!"_

_"Of course I haven't!" said Harry indignantly. "He killed my mum and dad!"_

_"You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!" said Dumbledore loudly. _

"I'm still confused," Sirius muttered.

"Me too," Teddy replied.

_"The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart's desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches. Harry, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!_

_"But he knows it now. You have flitted into Lord Voldemort's mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess you without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, Harry, but then, he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole."_

_"But, sir," said Harry, making valiant efforts not to sound argumentative, "it all comes to the same thing, doesn't it? I've got to try and kill him, or —"_

"Oui, but not in ze way you are zinking," Fleur disagreed.

_"Got to?" said Dumbledore. "Of course you've got to! But not because of the prophecy! Because you, yourself, will never rest until you've tried! We both know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!"_

"Oh, I see," Petunia muttered.

_"I'd want him finished," said Harry quietly. "And I'd want to do it."_

_"Of course you would!" cried Dumbledore. "You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal… In other words, you are free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy! But Voldemort continues to set store by the prophecy. He will continue to hunt you… which makes it certain, really, that —"_

_"That one of us is going to end up killing the other," said Harry. "Yes."_

_But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high._

"Now that makes a lot more sense,"Dudley grinned.

_Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world_

Everyone smiled softly as they left the pensieve.

"We'll that was interesting," Sirius said.

"I'm just glad to know where you three went," Remus said.

"Me too," Dora said. "I was worried sick."

"What do you mean?" Teddy said.

"Teddy,' Harry said. "Get ready to see the war put in colour."

Everyone else looked confused at these words but Teddy nodded knowing what he meant. It would be different than hearing stories – everyone was always so guarded about what really happened and what they went through – or reading a book or looking a pictures, this would show him what war was really like and give him a vivid image – perhaps too vivid.

"Let's have dinner," Ginny said moving the topic on, "then continue."

"We'll stay up later today since we're nearly finished," Harry said. "So if you're tired drink a lot of coffee or just use a spell."

Everyone nodded and they headed to dinner. Soon they were back and in the pensieve.

_"Quid agis?" he said tentatively to the Fat Lady, wondering what he would find inside._

_Her expression was unreadable as she replied, "You'll see."_

"You'll see what?" James asked

"I was in detention for the last Quidditch match," Harry said, glad he had control over what he showed.

"What?"' the Quidditch fanes who didn't know yelled.

"Snape?" Sirius guessed.

_And she swung forward._

_A roar of celebration erupted from the hole behind her. Harry gaped as people began to scream at the sight of him; several hands pulled him into the room._

_"We won!" yelled Ron, bounding into sight and brandishing the silver Cup at Harry. "We won! Four hundred and fifty to a hundred and forty! We won!"_

"You won!" Gideon yelled shocked.

"You won!" Fabian then yelled jubilant.

_Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. Harry kissed her._

There was silence for a minute.

"That how you two got together!" Teddy yelled, amazed.

"Aw!" a few of the women, and few men sarcastically, cooed while everyone else just laughed – including Harry and Ginny

_After several long moments, they broke apart. The room had gone very quiet. Then several people wolf-whistled and there was an outbreak of nervous giggling. Harry looked over the top of Ginny's head to see Dean Thomas holding a shattered glass in his hand,_

"I don't think he knew," Ginny laughed

_and Romilda Vane looking as though she might throw something. _

"Poor girl, she'll 'ave to give up on 'Arry now," Fleur laughed.

_Hermione was beaming,_

"That's because I knew,"' Hermione told them. "I was just waiting for you to get on with it."

_but Harry's eyes sought Ron. At last he found him, still clutching the Cup and wearing an expression appropriate to having been clubbed over the head._

"Care to explain?" Lily laughed.

"I had no bloody idea!" Ron exclaimed causing everyone to laugh again.

_For a fraction of a second they looked at each other, then Ron gave a tiny jerk of the head that Harry understood to mean, Well — if you must._

"See, you don't go mad if I kiss Harry," Ginny said, remembering how annoying Ron had been with her other boyfriends.

"That's because it's better Harry than anyone else," Ron said before getting hit by Hermione.

_He grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. _

"That takes some guts," Sirius laughed.

"Although I wonder what's harder, though," Gideon said, "Falling for you best friend –"

"Or you best mate's little sister?" Fabian finished.

"Ron and Hermione had it harder," Harry and Ginny said.

"I dunno,' Hermione said. "It might've been you two, I mean Harry spent ages beating himself up and having internal debates."

"How do you know this?" Harry almost shouted in surprise.

"I pay attention!" Hermione said smiling, "Like how you knew I liked Ron."

"Everyone knew that, Hermione," Ginny laughed.

"Fine, maybe it because I'm a girl and you're my best friend," Hermione suggested.

"Are you three done?" Dudley laughed

"Yeah, sorry, Dud," Harry chuckled.

_Harry shouted the password at the gargoyle and ran up the moving spiral staircase three steps at a time. He did not knock upon Dumbledore's door, he hammered; and the calm voice answered 'Enter' after Harry had already flung himself into the room._

_Fawkes the phoenix looked round, his bright black eyes gleaming with reflected gold from the sunset beyond the window. Dumbledore was standing at the window looking out at the grounds, a long, black travelling cloak in his arms._

_"Well, Harry, I promised that you could come with me."_

"You're going!" Lily gasped.

_For a moment or two Harry said nothing._

_"Come… with you…?"_

_"Only if you wish it, of course."_

_"If I…"_

_"You've found one? You've found a Horcrux?"_

"There you go, Harry," Bill laughed. "Keep up."

_"I believe so."_

_For several moments, Harry could not speak._

_"It is natural to be afraid," said Dumbledore._

_"I'm not scared!" said Harry at once, and it was perfectly true. "Which Horcrux is it? Where is it?"_

"It's not one," Harry groaned quietly.

_"I am not sure which it is — though I think we can rule out the snake — but I believe it to be hidden in a cave on the coast many miles from here, a cave I have been trying to locate for a very long time: the cave in which Tom Riddle once terrorised two children from his orphanage on their annual trip; you remember?"_

_"Yes," said Harry. "How is it protected?"_

_"I do not know; I have suspicions that may be entirely wrong." Dumbledore hesitated, then said, "Harry, I promised you that you could come with me, and I stand by that promise, but it would be very wrong of me not to warn you that this will be exceedingly dangerous."_

_"I'm coming," said Harry, almost before Dumbledore had finished speaking. _

_This seemed to show on Harry's face, for Dumbledore moved away from the window, and looked more closely at Harry, a slight crease between his silver eyebrows._

_"What has happened to you?"_

"Huh?" Petunia asked.

"Something's wrong…" Teddy frowned at his 16 year old godfathers face.

_"Nothing," lied Harry promptly._

_"What has upset you?"_

_"I'm not upset."_

_"Harry, you were never a good Occlumens —"_

_"Snape!" he said, very loudly, and Fawkes gave a soft squawk behind them. "Snape's what's happened! He told Voldemort about the prophecy, it was him, he listened outside the door, Trelawney told me!"_

"He what?" James growled – Dumbledore had never told them this, just that it was a spy.

_Dumbledore's expression did not change, but Harry thought his face whitened under the bloody tinge cast by the setting sun._

_For a long moment, Dumbledore said nothing._

_"When did you find out about this?" he asked at last._

_"Just now!" said Harry, who was refraining from yelling with enormous difficulty. And then, suddenly, he could not stop himself. "AND YOU LET HIM TEACH HERE AND HE TOLD VOLDEMORT TO GO AFTER MY MUM AND DAD!"_

"Harry, calm down," Lily sighed softly trying to digest this new bit of information.

_Breathing hard as though he were fighting, Harry turned away from Dumbledore, who still had not moved a muscle, and paced up and down the study, rubbing his knuckles in his hand_

_"Harry," said Dumbledore quietly. "Please listen to me."_

_Harry paused, biting his lip, and looked into Dumbledore's lined face._

_"Professor Snape made a terrible —"_

_"Don't tell me it was a mistake, sir, he was listening at the door!"_

_"Please let me finish." Dumbledore waited until Harry had nodded curtly, then went on. "Professor Snape made a terrible mistake. He was still in Lord Voldemort's employ on the night he heard the first half of Professor Trelawney's prophecy. Naturally, he hastened to tell his master what he had heard, for it concerned his master most deeply. But he did not know — he had no possible way of knowing — which boy Voldemort would hunt from then onwards, or that the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest were people that Professor Snape knew, that they were your mother and father —"_

_Harry let out a yell of mirthless laughter._

_"He hated my dad like he hated Sirius! Haven't you noticed, Professor, how the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?"_

"That's a good point," Sirius frowned.

"But it doesn't mean it's his fault," Lily hissed.

_"You have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realized how Lord Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy, Harry. I believe it to be the greatest regret of his life and the reason that he returned —"_

_"But he's a very good Occlumens, isn't he, sir?" said Harry, whose voice was shaking with the effort of keeping it steady. "And isn't Voldemort convinced that Snape's on his side, even now? Professor… how can you be sure Snape's on our side?"_

_Dumbledore did not speak for a moment; he looked as though he was trying to make up his mind about something. At last he said, "I am sure. I trust Severus Snape completely."_

_Harry breathed deeply for a few moments in an effort to steady himself. _

_"Well, I don't!" he said, as loudly as before. "He's up to something with Draco Malfoy right now, right under your nose, and you still —"_

_"We have discussed this, Harry," said Dumbledore, and now he sounded stern again. "I have told you my views."_

_"You're leaving the school tonight and I'll bet you haven't even considered that Snape and Malfoy might decide to —"_

_"To what?" asked Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised. "What is it that you suspect them of doing, precisely?"_

_"I… they're up to something!" said Harry and his hands curled into fists as he said it. "Professor Trelawney was just in the Room of Requirement, trying to hide her sherry bottles, and she heard Malfoy whooping, celebrating! He's trying to mend something dangerous in there and if you ask me he's fixed it at last and you're about to just walk out of school without —"_

_"Enough," said Dumbledore. He said it quite calmly, and yet Harry fell silent at once. "Do you think that I have once left the school unprotected during my absences this year? I have not. Tonight, when I leave, there will again be additional protection in place. Please do not suggest that I do not take the safety of my students seriously, Harry."_

_"I didn't —" mumbled Harry, a little abashed, but Dumbledore cut across him._

_"I do not wish to discuss the matter any further." Dumbledore went on, "Do you wish to come with me tonight?"_

_"Yes," said Harry at once._

_"Very well, then: listen."_

_Dumbledore drew himself up to his full height._

_"I take you with me on one condition: that you obey any command I might give you at once, and without question."_

_"Of course."_

"Don't agree so outright," Arthur said.

_"Be sure to understand me, Harry. I mean that you must follow even such orders as 'run', 'hide' or 'go back'. Do I have your word?"_

_"I - yes, of course."_

_"If I tell you to hide, you will do so?"_

_"Yes."_

_"If I tell you to flee, you will obey?"_

"No," Ron said.

_"Yes."_

_"If I tell you to leave me, and save yourself, you will do as I tell you?"_

"Definitely not," Hermione said.

_"I —"_

_"Harry?"_

_They looked at each other for a moment._

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Very good. Then I wish you to go and fetch your Cloak and meet me in the Entrance Hall in five minutes' time."_

"I thought you had it on you all the time," Ginny said confused.

"I did but just be glad I went back to the common, Gin," he said before lowering his voice so only she could hear. "Or you might be dead now."

_Dumbledore turned back to look out of the fiery window; the sun was now a ruby-red glare along the horizon. Harry walked quickly from the office and down the spiral staircase. _

_Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the common room when he came back._

_"What does Dumbledore want?" Hermione said at once. "Harry, are you okay?" she added anxiously._

"You do look determined and stressed," James said.

"That's his look when he does something brave," Hermione smiled.

_"I'm fine," said Harry shortly, racing past them. He dashed up the stairs and into his dormitory, where he flung open his trunk and pulled out the Marauder's Map and a pair of balled-up socks._

_Then he stepped back down the stairs and into the common room, skidding to a halt where Ron and Hermione sat, looking stunned._

"You were being very vague," Ron explained "and, again, you looked stressed."

_"I haven't got much time," Harry panted, "Dumbledore thinks I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen…"_

_Quickly he told them where he was going, and why. He did not pause either for Hermione's gasps of horror or for Ron's hasty questions._

_"… so you see what this means?" Harry finished at a gallop. "Dumbledore won't be here tonight, so Malfoy's going to have another clear shot at whatever he's up to. No, listen to me!" he hissed angrily, as both Ron and Hermione showed every sign of interrupting. "I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the Room of Requirement. Here —" He shoved the Marauder's Map into Hermione's hand. "You've got to watch him and you've got to watch Snape, too. Use anyone else who you can rustle up from the DA. Hermione, those contact Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore says he's put extra protection in the school, but if Snape's involved, he'll know what Dumbledore's protection is, and how to avoid it — but he won't be expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?"_

_"Harry —" began Hermione, her eyes huge with fear._

_"I haven't got time to argue," said Harry curtly. "Take this as well —" He thrust the socks into Ron's hands._

_"Thanks," said Ron. "Er — why do I need socks?"_

"Because it's bad to wear shoes without socks," Gideon laughed.

"Yeah, he caring for your feet," Fabian chuckled.

_"You need what's wrapped in them, it's the Felix Felicis. Share it between yourselves and Ginny too. Say goodbye to her from me._

"I said goodbye but not in the way you would," Ron said. "I didn't kiss her."

"Thank Merlin," Hermione, Harry and Ginny said, making everyone else laugh.

_I'd better go, Dumbledore's waiting —"_

_"No!" said Hermione, as Ron unwrapped the tiny little bottle of golden potion, looking awestruck. "We don't want it, you take it, who knows what you're going to be facing?"_

_"I'll be fine, I'll be with Dumbledore," said Harry. "I want to know you lot are okay… don't look like that, Hermione, _

"Like your mad?" Hermione asked. "That's because you are."

_I'll see you later…"_

_And he was off, hurrying back through the portrait hole towards the Entrance Hall._

_Dumbledore was waiting beside the oaken front doors. He turned as Harry came skidding out on to the topmost stone step, panting hard, a searing stitch in his side._

_"I would like you to wear your Cloak, please," said Dumbledore, and he waited until Harry had thrown it on before saying, "Very good. Shall we go?"_

_Dumbledore set off at once down the stone steps, his own travelling cloak barely stirring in the still summer air. Harry hurried alongside him under the Invisibility Cloak, still panting and sweating rather a lot._

"Harry, stop panting," Ginny teased.

"You try it," Harry shot back grinning.

_"But what will people think when they see you leaving, Professor?" Harry asked, his mind on Malfoy and Snape._

_"That I am off into Hogsmeade for a drink," said Dumbledore lightly. "I sometimes offer Rosmerta my custom, or else visit the Hog's Head… or I appear to. It is as good a way as any of disguising one's true destination."_

_They made their way down the drive in the gathering twilight. The air was full of the smells of warm grass, lake water and wood smoke from Hagrid's cabin. It was difficult to believe that they were heading for anything dangerous or frightening._

_"Professor," said Harry quietly, as the gates at the bottom of the drive came into view, "will we be Apparating?"_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore. "You can Apparate now, I believe?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, "but I haven't got a license."_

"It's a good thing to tell him that," Remus agreed nodding.

_"No matter," said Dumbledore, "I can assist you again."_

_They turned out of the gates into the twilit, deserted lane to Hogsmeade. Darkness descended fast as they walked and by the time they reached the High Street night was falling in earnest. Lights twinkled from windows over shops and as they neared the Three Broomsticks they heard raucous shouting._

_"—and stay out!" shouted Madam Rosmerta, forcibly ejecting a grubby-looking wizard. "Oh, hello, Albus… you're out late"_

_"Good evening, Rosmerta, good evening… forgive me, I'm off to the Hog's Head… no offence, but I feel like a quieter atmosphere tonight…"_

"I doubt she's offended," Ron laughed.

_A minute later they turned the corner into the side street where the Hog's Head's sign creaked a little, though there was no breeze. In contrast to the Three Broomsticks, the pub appeared to be completely empty._

_"It will not be necessary for us to enter," muttered Dumbledore, glancing around. "As long as nobody sees us go… now place your hand upon my arm, Harry. There is no need to grip too hard, I am merely guiding you. On the count of three — one… two… three…"_

"Ready to get it in detail guys," Harry said to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Considering everything else that I wished I knew I more detail, I regret finding out," Hermione shivered. "No, I'll probably never be ready but oh well."

Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement to that statement.

_Harry turned. At once, there was that horrible sensation that he was being squeezed through a thick rubber tube; he could not draw breath, every part of him was being com-pressed almost past endurance and then, just when he thought he must suffocate, the invisible bands seemed to burst open, and he was standing in cool darkness, breathing in lungfuls of fresh, salty air. _

_Harry could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light, chilly breeze ruffled his hair as he looked out at moon-lit sea and star-strewn sky. He was standing upon a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming and churning below him. He glanced over his shoulder. A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, such as the one upon which Harry and Dumbledore were standing, looked as though they had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by any tree or sweep of grass or sand._

_"What do you think?" asked Dumbledore. He might have been asking Harry's opinion on whether it was a good site for a picnic._

"Absolutely charming," Gideon said cheerful.

"We shall have to go visit in the day time," Fabian nodded.

_"They brought the kids from the orphanage here?" asked Harry, who could not imagine a less cozy spot for a day trip._

_"Not here, precisely," said Dumbledore. "There is a village of sorts about halfway along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans were taken there for a little sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims who visited this spot. No Muggle could reach this rock unless they were uncommonly good mountaineers, and boats cannot approach the cliffs, the waters around them are too dangerous. I imagine that Riddle climbed down; magic would have served better than ropes. And he brought two small children with him, probably for the pleasure of terrorizing them. I think the journey alone would have done it, don't you?"_

"Probably," Dudley said, looking up at the cliff.

"He did have a lot of control over his accidental magic, didn't he?" Dora said.

_Harry looked up at the cliff again and felt goose bumps._

_"But his final destination — and ours — lies a little farther on. Come."_

_Dumbledore beckoned Harry to the very edge of the rock where a series of jagged niches made footholds leading down to boulders that lay half-submerged in water and closer to the cliff. It was a treacherous descent and Dumbledore, hampered slightly by his withered hand, moved slowly. The lower rocks were slippery with seawater. Harry could feel flecks of cold salt spray hitting his face. "Lumos," said Dumbledore, as he reached the boulder closest to the cliff face. A thousand flecks of golden light sparkled upon the dark surface of the water a few feet below where he crouched; the black wall of rock beside him was illuminated too. "You see?" said Dumbledore quietly, holding his wand a little higher. Harry saw a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling. "You will not object to getting a little wet?"_

"As long as you can dry at the end," James laughed.

_"No," said Harry._

_"Then take off your Invisibility Cloak — there is no need for it now — and let us take the plunge,"_

_And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, and began to swim, with a perfect breaststroke, toward the dark slit in the rock face, his lit wand held in his teeth._

Everyone laughed as they saw Dumbledore swimming.

"That's how he swims?" Petunia giggled. "It would be quicker to do front crawl."

_Harry pulled off his cloak, stuffed it into his pocket, and followed._

_The water was icy; Harry's waterlogged clothes billowed around him and weighed him down. Taking deep breaths that filled his nostrils with the tang of salt and seaweed, he struck out for the shimmering, shrinking light now moving deeper into the cliff._

_The fissure soon opened into a dark tunnel that Harry could tell would be filled with water at high tide. The slimy walls were barely three feet apart and glimmered like wet tar in the passing light of Dumbledore's wand. A little way in, the passageway curved to the left, and Harry saw that it extended far into the cliff. He continued to swim in Dumbledore's wake, the tips of his benumbed fingers brushing the rough, wet rock._

_Then he saw Dumbledore rising out of the water ahead, his silver hair and dark robes gleaming. When Harry reached the spot he found steps that led into a large cave._

_He clambered up them, water streaming from his soaking clothes, and emerged, shivering uncontrollably, into the still and freezing air._

"Now, use the hot air charm," Lily said.

Harry shrugged sheepishly.

_Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the cave, his wand held high as he turned slowly on the spot, examining the walls and ceiling._

_"Yes, this is the place," said Dumbledore._

_"How can you tell?" Harry spoke in a whisper._

_"It has known magic," said Dumbledore simply._

"He can sense magic!" Teddy said shocked.

"Yes, he can," Remus said. "Only extremely powerful wizards can do that."

After he'd spoken to his son, Remus turned to Harry and raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Harry asked warily

"I was wondering if you can sense magic?" Remus asked.

"Sometimes," Harry said. "In Ollivanders when I was eleven, a few times during school and on Auror missions. Why?"

"That's amazing," Dora said.

"That really is, Harry," Lily agreed beaming at her son.

Harry shuffled uncomfortable but luckily they dropped it.

_He watched as Dumbledore continued to revolve on the spot, evidently concentrating on things Harry could not see._

_"This is merely the antechamber, the entrance hall," said Dumbledore after a moment or two._

"He amazes me," Sirius said,

"So do a lot of things," James snorted resulting in a punch to the arm.

_"We need to penetrate the inner place… Now it is Lord Voldemort's obstacles that stand in our way, rather than those nature made…"_

"Now it get's dangerous," Bill groaned.

_Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave and caressed it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring words in a strange tongue that Harry did not understand. Twice Dumbledore walked right around the cave, touching as much of the rough rock as he could, occasionally pausing, running his fingers backward and forward over a particular spot, until finally he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the wall._

_"Here," he said. "We go on through here. The entrance is concealed."_

_Harry did not ask how Dumbledore knew.. Dumbledore stepped back from the cave wall and pointed his wand at the rock. For a moment, an arched outline appeared there, blazing white as though there was a powerful light behind the crack._

_"You've d-done it!" said Harry through chattering teeth, but before the words had left his lips the outline had gone, leaving the rock as bare and solid as ever. Dumbledore looked around._

_"Harry, I'm so sorry, I forgot," he said; he now pointed his wand at Harry and at once, Harry's clothes were as warm and dry as if they had been hanging in front of a blazing fire._

"Thank you," Lily and Molly said firmly.

_"Thank you," said Harry gratefully, but Dumbledore had already turned his attention back to the solid cave wall. _

_He did not try any more magic, but simply stood there staring at it intently, as though something extremely interesting was written on it. Harry stayed quite still; he did not want to break Dumbledore's concentration. Then, after two solid minutes, Dumbledore said quietly, "Oh, surely not. So crude." _

"Oh dear, what?" Dudley asked.

_"What is it, Professor?"_

_"I rather think," said Dumbledore, putting his uninjured hand inside his robes and drawing out a short silver knife of the kind Harry used to chop potion ingredients, "that we are required to make payment to pass."_

"Rude door," Gideon chuckled.

"It is horrible when you meet a door that's greedy," Fabian laughed.

_"Payment?" said Harry. "You've got to give the door something?"_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore. "Blood, if I am not much mistaken."_

_"Blood?"_

"Brilliant," everyone groaned.

_"I said it was crude," said Dumbledore, who sounded disdainful, even disappointed, as though Voldemort had fallen short of higher standards Dumbledore expected._

_"The idea, as I am sure you will have gathered, is that your enemy must weaken him — or herself to enter. Once again, Lord Voldemort fails to grasp that there are much more terrible things than physical injury."_

"There are things more painful than physical torture?" Ginny said, not sure if she believed tha, and she'd had some of both.

"Trust me, Gin," Harry said. "You'd much rather be in physical pain than mental pain."

_"Yeah, but still, if you can avoid it…" said Harry._

_"Sometimes, however, it is unavoidable," said Dumbledore, shaking back the sleeve of his robes and exposing the forearm of his injured hand._

_"Professor!" protested Harry, hurrying forward as Dumbledore raised his knife. "I'll do it, I'm -"_

"Do you 'ave to be so eager for pain?" Fleur muttered.

"You know Harry, Fleur," Arthur said. "He'll glad take any pain if it means that somebody else doesn't have to fell it."

_But Dumbledore merely smiled. There was a flash of silver, and a spurt of scarlet; the rock face was peppered with dark, glistening drops._

"Lovely," Molly said.

_"You are very kind, Harry," said Dumbledore,_

"That he is," Arthur said.

_now passing the tip of his wand over the deep cut he had made in his own arm, so that it healed instantly. "But your blood is worth more than mine. Ah, that seems to have done the trick, doesn't it?"_

_The blazing silver outline of an arch had appeared in the wall once more, and this time it did not fade away: The blood-spattered rock within it simply vanished, leaving an opening into what seemed total darkness. "After me, I think," said Dumbledore, and he walked through the archway with Harry on his heels, lighting his own wand hastily as he went._

_An eerie sight met their eyes: They were standing on the edge of a great black lake, so vast that Harry could not make out the distant banks, in a cavern so high that the ceiling too was out of sight. A misty greenish light shone far away in what looked like the middle of the lake; it was reflected in the completely still water below. The greenish glow and the light from the two wands were the only things that broke the otherwise velvety blackness, though their rays did not penetrate as far as Harry would have expected. The darkness was somehow denser than normal darkness._

_"Let us walk," said Dumbledore quietly. "Be very careful not to step into the water. Stay close to me."_

"Why?" Petunia asked warily.

_He set off around the edge of the lake, and Harry followed close behind him. Their footsteps made echoing, slapping sounds on the narrow rim of rock that surrounded the water. On and on they walked, but the view did not vary: on one side of them, the rough cavern wall, on the other, the boundless expanse of smooth, glassy blackness, in the very middle of which was that mysterious greenish glow. Harry found the place and the silence oppressive, unnerving._

_"Professor?" he said finally. "Do you think the Horcrux is here?"_

"No, he just took you here for the fun of it, Harry," Ginny laughed before her uncles could open their mouths causing them to beam.

_"Oh yes," said Dumbledore. "Yes, I'm sure it is. The question is, how do we get to it?"_

_"We couldn't… we couldn't just try a Summoning Charm?" Harry said._

"I doubt that'll work," Lily confided.

"Neither did I," Harry said. "But it was worth a shot."

"Good, cover all areas," Arthur nodded.

_"Certainly we could," said Dumbledore, stopping so suddenly that Harry almost walked into him. "Why don't you do it?"_

_"Me? Oh… okay…" Harry had not expected this, but cleared his throat and said loudly, wand aloft, "Accio Horcrux!"_

_With a noise like an explosion, something very large and pale erupted out of the dark water some twenty feet away; before Harry could see what it was, it had vanished again with a crashing splash that made great, deep ripples on the mirrored surface. Harry leapt backward in shock and hit the wall; his heart was still thundering as he turned to Dumbledore._

"There's something dangerous in there," Dudley groaned - why did his cousin's life have to be so worrying?

_"What was that?"_

_"Something, I think, that is ready to respond should we attempt to seize the Horcrux."_

"Brilliant," the twins muttered sarcastically.

_Harry looked back at the water. The surface of the lake was once more shining black glass: The ripples had vanished unnaturally fast;_

_"Did you think that would happen, sir?"_

_"I thought something would happen if we made an obvious attempt to get our hands on the Horcrux. That was a very good idea, Harry; much the simplest way of finding out what we are facing."_

_"But we don't know what the thing was," said Harry, looking at the sinisterly smooth water._

"It's probably going to be things, Harry," Remus said. "Plural."

_"What the things are, you mean," said Dumbledore. "I doubt very much that there is only one of them. Shall we walk on?"_

_"Professor?"_

_"Yes, Harry?"_

_"Do you think we're going to have to go into the lake?"_

"God, I hope not," Petunia said.

_"Into it? Only if we are very unfortunate."_

"Oh Merlin," Lily groaned.

_"You don't think the Horcrux is at the bottom?"_

_"Oh no… I think the Horcrux is in the middle." And Dumbledore pointed toward the misty green light in the centre of the lake._

"That would make sense," Dora nodded.

_"So we're going to have to cross the lake to get to it?"_

_"Yes, I think so." Harry did not say anything. _

_"Aha," said Dumbledore, and he stopped again; this time, Harry really did walk into him; for a moment he toppled on the edge of the dark water, and Dumbledore's uninjured hand closed tightly around his upper arm, pulling him back. "So sorry, Harry, I should have given warning._

"Yes, you should have," James said, he didn't want his son near that water until they knew what was in it.

_Stand back against the wall, please; I think I have found the place."_

_This time he was running his hand, not over the rocky wall, but through the thin air, as though expecting to find and grip something invisible._

_"Oho," said Dumbledore happily, seconds later. His hand had closed in midair upon something Harry could not see. Dumbledore moved closer to the water; Harry watched nervously as the tips of Dumbledore's buckled shoes found the utmost edge of the rock rim. Keeping his hand clenched in midair, Dumbledore raised his wand with the other and tapped his fist with the point._

_Immediately a thick coppery green chain appeared out of thin air, extending from the depths of the water into Dumbledore's clenched hand._

"That's amazing," Teddy murmured.

"It is, isn't it?" his father agreed.

_Dumbledore tapped the chain, which began to slide through his fist like a snake, coiling itself on the ground with a clinking sound that echoed noisily off the rocky walls, pulling something from the depths of the black water. Harry gasped as the ghostly prow of a tiny boat broke the surface, glowing as green as the chain, and floated, with barely a ripple, toward the place on the bank where Harry and Dumbledore stood._

_"How did you know that was there?" Harry asked in astonishment._

"Zat's an extremely good question," Fleur said,

"He's Dumbledore," Sirius grinned.

_"Magic always leaves traces," said Dumbledore, as the boat hit the bank with a gentle bump, "sometimes very distinctive traces. I taught Tom Riddle. I know his style."_

_"Is… is this boat safe?"_

_"Oh yes, I think so. Voldemort needed to create a means to cross the lake without attracting the wrath of those creatures he had placed within it in case he ever wanted to visit or remove his Horcrux."_

"Yes, I'm sure they have great conversation," Fabian grinned.

"Yes, he goes to have tea with his soul quite often," Gideon laughed.

Harry and Ron shared a look as the remembered one of the Horcruxes – this one - talking, then they both looked at Hermione – they'd never told her.

_"So the things in the water won't do anything to us if we cross in Voldemort's boat?"_

_"I think we must resign ourselves to the fact that they will, at some point, realize we are not Lord Voldemort. Thus far, however, we have done well. They have allowed us to raise the boat."_

_"But why have they let us?" asked Harry._

_"Voldemort would have been reasonably confident that none but a very great wizard would have been able to find the boat," said Dumbledore. "I think he would have been prepared to risk what was, to his mind, the most unlikely possibility that somebody else would find it, knowing that he had set other obstacles ahead that only he would be able to penetrate. We shall see whether he was right."_

_Harry looked down into the boat. It really was very small. "It doesn't look like it was built for two people. Will it hold both of us? Will we be too heavy together?"_

"Somehow I don't think weight will matter," Teddy said frowning.

_Dumbledore chuckled. "Voldemort will not have cared about the weight, but about the amount of magical power that crossed his lake. I rather think an enchantment will have been placed upon this boat so that only one wizard at a time will be able to sail in it."_

_"But then —?"_

_"I do not think you will count, Harry: You are underage and unqualified" _

"That's a stupid mistake to make," Dora said. "Considering how powerful he was at that age."

"Yes, dear but's he's so arrogant that he won't think that someone else will be as powerful a he was," Remus told her.

_Dumbledore then added, "Voldemort's mistake, Harry, Voldemort's mistake… Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth… Now, you first this time, and be careful not to touch the water."_

"Yes, please don't touch the water," Hermione fretted remembering what Kreacher told them.

_Dumbledore stood aside and Harry climbed carefully into the boat. Dumbledore stepped in too, coiling the chain onto the floor. They were crammed in together; Harry could not comfortably sit, but crouched, his knees jutting over the edge of the boat, which began to move at once. There was no sound other than the silken rustle of the boat's prow cleaving the water; it moved without their help, as though an invisible rope was pulling it onward toward the light in the center. Soon they could no longer see the walls of the cavern; they might have been at sea except that there were no waves._

_Harry looked down and saw the reflected gold of his wandlight sparkling and glittering on the black water as they passed. The boat was carving deep ripples upon the glassy surface, grooves in the dark mirror…_

_And then Harry saw it, marble white, floating inches below the surface._

_"Professor!" he said, and his startled voice echoed loudly over the silent water._

_"Harry?"_

_"I think I saw a hand in the water — a human hand!"_

"Inferius," the twins groaned.

"Dead bodies enchanted by a dark wizard?" Dudley checked, the wizards nodded.

"How do you know that?" Petunia asked.

"I listened a lot to what Harry was saying before we left, you know!"

_"Yes, I am sure you did," said Dumbledore calmly._

"He's so calm!" Fleur said, exasperated.

_Harry stared down into the water"So that thing that jumped out of the water —?"_

"A body," James nodded, looking slightly sick

_But Harry had his answer before Dumbledore could reply; the wandlight had slid over a fresh patch of water and showed him, this time, a dead man lying face up inches beneath the surface, his open eyes misted as though with cobwebs, his hair and his robes swirling around him like smoke._

"Oh my god/merlin," breathed everyone who had never seen one.

_"There are bodies in here!" said Harry, and his voice sounded much higher than usual and most unlike his own._

The twins snickered.

"Shut up."

_"Yes," said Dumbledore placidly, "but we do not need to worry about them at the moment."_

"At the moment?" Dora repeated.

_"At the moment?" Harry repeated,_

Harry and Dora grinned at each other.

_tearing his gaze from the water to look at Dumbledore._

_"Not while they are merely drifting peacefully below us," said Dumbledore. "There is nothing to be feared from a body, Harry, any more than there is anything to be feared from the darkness. Lord Voldemort, who of course secretly fears both, disagrees. But once again he reveals his own lack of wisdom. It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more."_

_Harry said nothing_

_"But one of them jumped," he said, trying to make his voice as level and calm as Dumbledore's. "When I tried to Summon the Horcrux, a body leapt out of the lake."_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I am sure that once we take the Horcrux, we shall find them less peaceable._

"How reassuring…" Hermione groaned.

_However, like many creatures that dwell in cold and darkness, they fear light and warmth, which we shall therefore call to our aid should the need arise. Fire, Harry," Dumbledore added with a smile, in response to Harry's bewildered expression._

_"Oh… right…" said Harry quickly. He turned his head to look at the greenish glow toward which the boat was still inexorably sailing. _

_"Nearly there," said Dumbledore cheerfully._

_Sure enough, the greenish light seemed to be growing larger at last, and within minutes, the boat had come to a halt, bumping gently into something that Harry could not see at first, but when he raised his illuminated wand he saw that they had reached a small island of smooth rock in the centre of the lake._

_"Careful not to touch the water," said Dumbledore again as Harry climbed out of the boat._

_The island was no larger than Dumbledore's office, an expanse of flat dark stone on which stood nothing but the source of that greenish light, which looked much brighter when viewed close to. Harry squinted at it; at first, he thought it was a lamp of some kind, but then he saw that the light was coming from a stone basin rather like the Pensieve, which was set on top of a pedestal._

_Dumbledore approached the basin and Harry followed. Side by side, they looked down into it. The basin was full of an emerald liquid emitting that phosphorescent glow._

_"What is it?" asked Harry quietly._

_"I am not sure," said Dumbledore. "Something more worrisome than blood and bodies, however."_

"Great and I thought the bodies where worrisome," Remus grumbled.

_Dumbledore pushed back the sleeve of his robe over his blackened hand, and stretched out the tips of his burned fingers toward the surface of the potion._

_"Sir, no, don't touch —!"_

_"I cannot touch," said Dumbledore, smiling faintly. "See? I cannot approach any nearer than this. You try."_

_Staring, Harry put his hand into the basin and attempted to touch the potion. He met an invisible barrier that prevented him coming within an inch of matter how hard he pushed, his fingers encountered nothing but what seemed to be solid and flexible air._

"Why can't you touch it?" Lily wondered.

_"Out of the way, please, Harry," said Dumbledore. He raised his wand and made complicated movements over the surface of the potion, murmuring soundlessly. Nothing happened, except perhaps that the potion glowed a little brighter. Harry remained silent while Dumbledore worked, but after a while Dumbledore withdrew his wand, and Harry felt it was safe to talk again._

_"You think the Horcrux is in there, sir?"_

_"Oh yes." Dumbledore peered more closely into the basin. Harry saw his face reflected, upside down, in the smooth surface of the green potion._

_"But how to reach it? This potion cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped up, or siphoned away, nor can it be Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise made to change its nature."_

"You have to drink it!" James gasped causing everyone who didn't know already to groan.

_Almost absentmindedly, Dumbledore raised his wand again, twirled it once in midair, and then caught the crystal goblet that he had conjured out of nowhere._

_"I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be drunk."_

_"What?" said Harry. "No!"_

_"Yes, I think so: Only by drinking it can I empty the basin and see what lies in its depths."_

_"But what if — what if it kills you?"_

_"Oh, I doubt that it would work like that," said Dumbledore easily. "Lord Voldemort would not want to kill the person who reached this island."_

"What?" some muttered while other's exclaimed, "this is Voldemort!"

_"Sir," said Harry, trying to keep his voice reasonable, "sir, this is Voldemort we're —"_

_"I'm sorry, Harry; I should have said, he would not want to immediately kill the person who reached this island," Dumbledore corrected himself._

"Of course," Bill said. "He'll want to know how they got there in the first place."

_"He would want to keep them alive long enough to find out how they managed to penetrate so far through his defences and, most importantly of all, why they were so intent upon emptying the basin. Do not forget that Lord Voldemort believes that he alone knows about his Horcruxes."_

_Harry made to speak again, but this time Dumbledore raised his hand for silence, frowning slightly at the emerald liquid, evidently thinking hard._

_"Undoubtedly," he said, finally, "this potion must act in a way that will prevent me taking the Horcrux. It might paralyze me, cause me to forget what I am here for, create so much pain I am distracted, or render me incapable in some other way. This being the case, Harry, it will be your job to make sure I keep drinking, even if you have to tip the potion into my protesting mouth. You understand?"_

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione said, looking tearful.

_Their eyes met over the basin, each pale face lit with that strange, green light. Harry did not speak. _

_"You remember," said Dumbledore, "the condition on which I brought you with me?"_

"Damn it," Dudley said.

_Harry hesitated, looking into the blue eyes that had turned green in the reflected light of the basin._

_"But what if —?"_

_"You swore, did you not, to follow any command I gave you?"_

_"Yes, but —"_

_"I warned you, did I not, that there might be danger?"_

_"Yes," said Harry, "but —"_

_"Well, then," said Dumbledore, shaking back his sleeves once more and raising the empty goblet, "you have my orders."_

_"Why can't I drink the potion instead?" asked Harry desperately._

_"Because I am much older, much cleverer, and much less valuable," said Dumbledore._

_"Once and for all, Harry, do I have your word that you will do all in your power to make me keep drinking?"_

_"Couldn't —?"_

_"Do I have it?"_

_"But —"_

_"Your word, Harry."_

_"I — all right, but —"_

"Harry," Ginny sighed taking his hand and rubbing her thumb across his knuckles.

_Before Harry could make any further protest, Dumbledore lowered the crystal goblet into the potion. For a split second, Harry hoped that he would not be able to touch the potion with the goblet, but the crystal sank into the surface as nothing else had; when the glass was full to the brim, Dumbledore lifted it to his mouth._

_"Your good health, Harry."_

_And he drained the goblet. Harry watched, terrified, his hands gripping the rim of the basin so hard that his fingertips were numb._

"Pain, then," the twins groaned.

_"Professor?" he said anxiously, as Dumbledore lowered the empty glass. "How do you feel?"_

_Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes closed. Harry wondered whether he was in pain. Dumbledore plunged the glass blindly back into the basin, refilled it, and drank once more._

_In silence, Dumbledore drank three gobletsful of the potion. Then, halfway through the fourth goblet, he staggered and fell forward against the basin. His eyes were still closed, his breathing heavy._

"Oh my Merlin!" Molly shrieked.

_"Professor Dumbledore?" said Harry, his voice strained. "Can you hear me?"_

_Dumbledore did not answer. His face was twitching as though he was deeply asleep, but dreaming a horrible dream. His grip on the goblet was slackening; the potion was about to spill from it. Harry reached forward and grasped the crystal cup, holding it steady._

_"Professor, can you hear me?" he repeated loudly, his voice echoing around the cavern._

_Dumbledore panted and then spoke in a voice Harry did not recognize, for he had never heard Dumbledore frightened like this._

_"I don't want… Don't make me…"_

Nobody seemed to want to say anything; it was odd for the wizards to see their headmaster so weak and frightened.

Some already had tears in their eyes or streaming down their faces.

_Harry stared into the whitened face he knew so well, at the crooked nose and half-moon spectacles_

_"…don't like… want to stop…" moaned Dumbledore._

_"You… you can't stop, Professor," said Harry. "You've got to keep drinking, remember? You told me you had to keep drinking. Here…"_

_Hating himself, repulsed by what he was doing, Harry forced the goblet back toward Dumbledore's mouth and tipped it, so that Dumbledore drank the remainder of the potion inside._

_"No…" he groaned, as Harry lowered the goblet back into the basin and refilled it for him. "I don't want to… I don't want to… Let me go…"_

_"It's all right, Professor," said Harry, his hand shaking. "Its all right, I'm here —"_

_"Make it stop, make it stop," moaned Dumbledore._

_"Yes… yes, this'll make it stop," lied Harry. He tipped the contents of the goblet into Dumbledore's open mouth._

"Do you think it was because he trusted Harry?" Petunia asked crying slightly. "Or because of the potion."

"Probably a bit of both," Lily replied breathing heavily, tears streaming thickly down her face in comparison to her sister.

_Dumbledore screamed; the noise echoed all around the vast chamber, across the dead black water._

Everyone flinched and Hermione reached from her embrace with Ron for Harry's hand.

_"No, no, no, no, I can't, I can't, don't make me, I don't want to…"_

_"It's all right, Professor, it's all right!" said Harry loudly, his hands shaking so badly he could hardly scoop up the sixth gobletful of potion; the basin was now half empty. "Nothing's happening to you, you're safe, it isn't real, I swear it isn't real — take this, now, take this…"_

_And obediently, Dumbledore drank, as though it was an antidote Harry offered him, but upon draining the goblet, he sank to his knees, shaking uncontrollably._

_"It's all my fault, all my fault," he sobbed. "Please make it stop, I know I did wrong, oh please make it stop and I'll never, never again…"_

"What he relieving?" James asked, not really wanting to know.

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks at that, none of them wanting to answer.

_"This will make it stop, Professor," Harry said, his voice cracking as he tipped the seventh glass of potion into Dumbledore's mouth._

_Dumbledore began to cower as though invisible torturers surrounded him; his flailing hand almost knocked the refilled goblet from Harry's trembling hands as he moaned, "Don't hurt them, don't hurt them, please, please, it's my fault, hurt me instead…"_

_"Here, drink this, drink this, you'll be all right," said Harry desperately, and once again Dumbledore obeyed him, opening his mouth even as he kept his eyes tight shut and shook from head to foot._

_And now he fell forward, screaming again, hammering his fists upon the ground, while Harry filled the ninth goblet._

_"Please, please, please, no… not that, not that, I'll do anything…"_

_"Just drink, Professor, just drink…"_

_Dumbledore drank like a child dying of thirst, but when he had finished, he yelled again as though his insides were on fire. "No more, please, no more…"_

_Harry scooped up a tenth gobletful of potion and felt the crystal scrape the bottom of the basin._

_"We're nearly there, Professor. Drink this, drink it…"_

_He supported Dumbledore's shoulders and again, Dumbledore drained the glass; then Harry was on his feet once more, refilling the goblet as Dumbledore began to scream in more anguish than ever, "I want to die! I want to die! Make it stop, make it stop, I want to die!"_

_"Drink this, Professor. Drink this…"_

_Dumbledore drank, and no sooner had he finished than he yelled, "KILL ME!"_

Ginny and Hermione let out a sob at Dumbledore begging for death.

_"This — this one will!" gasped Harry. "Just drink this… It'll be over… all over!"_

"Thank Merlin," Bill said, not sure how much more of that he could take of that let alone poor Harry - both in the memory and in present time.

_Dumbledore gulped at the goblet, drained every last drop, and then, with a great, rattling gasp, rolled over onto his face._

"No!" Sirius yelled.

_"No!" shouted Harry, who had stood to refill the goblet again; instead he dropped the cup into the basin, flung himself down beside Dumbledore, and heaved him over onto his back; Dumbledore's glasses were askew, his mouth agape, his eyes closed. "No." said Harry, shaking Dumbledore, "no, you're not dead, you said it wasn't poison, wake up, wake up — Rennervate!" he cried, his wand pointing at Dumbledore's chest; there was a flash of red light but nothing happened. "Rennervate — sir — please —"_

_Dumbledore's eyelids flickered._

_"Sir, are you —?"_

_"Water," croaked Dumbledore._

_"Water," panted Harry. "Yes —"_

_He leapt to his feet and seized the goblet he had dropped in the basin; he barely registered the golden locket lying curled beneath it._

"So it's the locket," Teddy choked out.

_"Aguamenti!" he shouted, jabbing the goblet with his wand._

_The goblet filled with clear water; Harry dropped to his knees beside Dumbledore, raised his head, and brought the glass to his lips — but it was empty. Dumbledore groaned and began to pant._

_"But I had some — wait — Aguamenti!" said Harry again, pointing his wand at the goblet. Once more, for a second, clear water gleamed within it, but as he approached Dumbledore's mouth, the water vanished again._

_"Sir, I'm trying, I'm trying!" said Harry desperately, but he did not think that Dumbledore could hear him; he had rolled onto his side and was drawing great, rattling breaths that sounded agonizing. "Aguamenti — Aguamenti — AGUAMENTI!"_

_The goblet filled and emptied once more. And now Dumbledores breathing was fading. His brain whirling in panic, Harry knew, instinctively, the only way left to get water, because Voldemort had planned it so…_

"Damn him!" the twins yelled.

_He flung himself over to the edge of the rock and plunged the goblet into the lake, bringing it up full to the brim of icy water that did not vanish._

_"Sir — here!" Harry yelled, and lunging forward, he tipped the water clumsily over Dumbledore's face._

_It was the best he could do, for the icy feeling on his arm not holding the cup was not the lingering chill of the water._

_A slimy white hand had gripped his wrist, and the creature to whom it belonged was pulling him, slowly, backward across the rock._

"Oh my god!" Hermione shrieked, suddenly reverting back to the muggle turn of phrase – no wonder Harry had never gone into much detail, this was horrifying.

_The surface of the lake was no longer mirror-smooth; it was churning, and everywhere Harry looked, white heads and hands were emerging from the dark water, men and women and children_

"Children," Molly sobbed.

_with sunken, sightless eyes were moving toward the rock: an army of the dead rising from the black water._

_"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Harry, struggling to cling to the smooth, soaked surface of the island as he pointed his wand at the Inferius that had his arm. It released him, falling backward into the water with a splash; he scrambled to his feet, but many more Inferi were already climbing onto the rock, their bony hands clawing at its slippery surface, their blank, frosted eyes upon him, trailing waterlogged rags, sunken faces leering._

"Fire, Harry," Remus muttered.

"I forgot," Harry said, swallowing.

_"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry bellowed again, backing away as he swiped his wand through the air; six or seven of them crumpled, but more were coming toward him. "Impedimenta! Incarcerous!"_

_A few of them stumbled, one or two of them bound in ropes, but those climbing onto the rock behind them merely stepped over or on the fallen bodies. Still slashing at the air with his wand, Harry yelled, "Sectumsempra! SECTUMSEMPRA!"_

"That won't work on them," Lily said.

"What is it?" Fabian asked.

"I've never heard of it," Gideon said.

"It's a spell of Severus's – it cuts," she replied.

_But though gashes appeared in their sodden rags and their icy skin, they had no blood to spill: They walked on, unfeeling, their shrunken hands outstretched toward him, and as he backed away still farther, he felt arms enclose him from behind, thin, fleshlcv. arms cold as death, and his feet left the ground as they lifted him and began to carry him, slowly and surely, back to the water, _

_But then, through the darkness, fire erupted: crimson and gold, a ring of fire that surrounded the rock so that the Inferi holding Harry so tightly stumbled and faltered; they did not dare pass through the flames to get to the water. They dropped Harry; he hit the ground, slipped on the rock, and fell, grazing his arms, then scrambled back up, raising his wand and staring around._

"Dumbledore!" Everyone cheered.

_Dumbledore was on his feet again, pale as any of the surrounding Inferi, but taller than any too, the fire dancing in his eyes; his wand was raised like a torch and from its tip emanated the flames, like a vast lasso, encircling them all with warmth. The Inferi bumped into each other, attempting, blindly, to escape the fire in which they were enclosed…_

_Dumbledore scooped the locket from the bottom of the stone basin and stowed it inside his robes. Wordlessly, he gestured to Harry to come to his side. Distracted by the flames, the Inferi seemed unaware that their quarry was leaving as Dumbledore led Harry back to the boat, the ring of fire moving with them, around them, the bewildered Inferi accompanying them to the waters edge, where they slipped gratefully back into their dark waters._

_Harry seized Dumbledore and helped him back to his seat. Once they were both safely jammed inside again, the boat began to move back across the black water, away from the rock, still encircled by that ring of fire, and it seemed that the Inferi swarming below them did not dare resurface._

_"Sir," panted Harry, "sir, I forgot — about fire — they were coming at me and I panicked —"_

_"Quite understandable," murmured Dumbledore. Harry was alarmed to hear how faint his voice was._

"Oh dear," Dora murmured

_They reached the bank with a little bump and Harry leapt out, then turned quickly to help Dumbledore. The moment that Dumbledore reached the bank he let his wand hand fall; the ring of fire vanished, but the Inferi did not emerge again from the water._

"It's all over," Sirius beamed but then he caught the expressions on everyone elses faces and it faltered.

_The little boat sank into the water once more; clanking and tinkling, its chain slithered back into the lake too. Dumbledore gave a great sigh and leaned against the cavern wall._

_"I am weak…" he said._

_"Don't worry, sir," said Harry at once, anxious about Dumbledore's extreme pallor and by his air of exhaustion. "Don't worry, I'll get us back… Lean on me, sir…"_

_And pulling Dumbledore's uninjured arm around his shoulders, Harry guided his headmaster back around the lake, bearing most of his weight._

_"The protection was… after all… well-designed," said Dumbledore faintly. "One alone could not have done it… You did well, very well, Harry…"_

_"Don't talk now," said Harry, fearing how slurred Dumbledore's voice had become, how much his feet dragged. "Save your energy, sir… We'll soon be out of here…"_

_"The archway will have sealed again… My knife…" '_

_"There's no need, I got cut on the rock," said Harry firmly. "Just tell me where…"_

_"Here…"_

_Harry wiped his grazed forearm upon the stone: Having received its tribute of blood, the archway reopened instantly. They crossed the outer cave, and Harry helped Dumbledore back into the icy seawater that filled the crevice in the cliff._

_"It's going to be all right, sir," Harry said over and over again, more worried by Dumbledore's silence than he had been by his weakened voice. "We're nearly there… I can Apparate us both back… Don't worry…"_

_"I am not worried, Harry," said Dumbledore, his voice a little stronger despite the freezing water. "I am with you."_

"It seems the tables have turned," Teddy observed.

_Once back under the starry sky, Harry heaved Dumbledore on to the top of the nearest boulder and then to his feet. Sodden and shivering, Dumbledore's weight still upon him, Harry concentrated harder than he had ever done upon his destination: Hogsmeade. Closing his eyes, gripping Dumbledore's arm as tightly as he could, he stepped forwards into that feeling of horrible compression._

_He knew it had worked before he opened his eyes: the smell of salt, the sea breeze had gone. He and Dumbledore were shivering and dripping in the middle of the dark High Street in Hogsmeade._

"Well done, Harry," Hermione beamed – or at least tried to.

_"We did it, Professor!" Harry whispered with difficulty; he suddenly realized that he had a searing stitch in his chest. "We did it! We got the Horcrux!"_

_Dumbledore staggered against him. For a moment, Harry thought that his inexpert Apparition had thrown Dumbledore off-balance; then he saw his face, paler and damper than ever in the distant light of a streetlamp._

_"Sir, are you all right?"_

_"I've been better," said Dumbledore weakly, though the corners of his mouth twitched. "That potion… was no health drink…"_

"No kidding," the twins chuckled darkly.

_And to Harry's horror, Dumbledore sank on to the ground._

_"Sir — it's okay, sir, you're going to be all right, don't worry -"_

_He looked around desperately for help, but there was nobody to be seen and all he could think was that he must somehow get Dumbledore quickly to the hospital wing._

_"We need to get you up to the school, sir… Madam Pomfrey…"_

_"No," said Dumbledore. "It is… Professor Snape whom I need… but I do not think… I can walk very far just yet…"_

_"Right — sir, listen — I'm going to knock on a door, find a place you can stay — then I can run and get Madam —"_

_"Severus," said Dumbledore clearly. "I need Severus…"_

_"All right then, Snape — but I'm going to have to leave you for a moment so I can —"_

_Before Harry could make a move, however, he heard running footsteps. His heart leapt: somebody had seen, somebody knew they needed help — and looking around he saw Madam Rosmerta scurrying down the dark street towards them on high-heeled, fluffy slippers, wearing a silk dressing-gown embroidered with dragons._

"Brilliant," James said. "Help."

Harry however flinched.

_"I saw you Apparate as I was pulling my bedroom curtains! Thank goodness, thank goodness, I couldn't think what to — but what's wrong with Albus?"_

_She came to a halt, panting, and stared down, wide-eyed, at Dumbledore._

_"He's hurt," said Harry. "Madam Rosmerta, can he come into the Three Broomsticks while I go up to the school and get help for him?"_

_"You can't go up there alone! Don't you realize — haven't you seen —?"_

_"If you help me support him," said Harry, not listening to her, "I think we can get him inside —"_

_"What has happened?" asked Dumbledore. "Rosmerta, what's wrong?"_

_"The — the Dark Mark, Albus."_

"No!" Lily said, shocked.

_And she pointed into the sky, in the direction of Hogwarts. He turned and looked._

_There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a building… wherever they had murdered…_

_"When did it appear?" asked Dumbledore, and his hand clenched painfully upon Harry's shoulder as he struggled to his feet._

_"Must have been minutes ago, it wasn't there when I put the cat out, but when I got upstairs —"_

_"We need to return to the castle at once," said Dumbledore. "Rosmerta," and though he staggered a little, he seemed wholly in command of the situation, "we need transport - brooms -"_

_"I've got a couple behind the bar," she said, looking very frightened. "Shall I run and fetch —?"_

_"No, Harry can do it."_

_Harry raised his wand at once._

_"Accio Rosmerta's brooms."_

_A second later they heard a loud bang as the front door of the pub burst open; two brooms had shot out into the street and were racing each other to Harry's side, where they stopped dead, quivering slightly, at waist height._

_"Rosmerta, please send a message to the Ministry," said Dumbledore, as he mounted the broom nearest him. "It might be that nobody within Hogwarts has yet realized anything is wrong… Harry, put on your Invisibility Cloak."_

_Harry pulled his Cloak out of his pocket and threw it over himself before mounting his broom;_

_Madam Rosmerta was already tottering back towards her pub as Harry and Dumbledore kicked off from the ground and rose up into the air. As they sped towards the castle, Harry glanced sideways at Dumbledore, ready to grab him should he fall: he was bent low over his broom, his eyes fixed upon the Mark, his long silver hair and beard flying behind him in the night air. And Harry, too, looked ahead at the skull, _

As they flew over the dark, twisting lane down which they had walked earlier, Harry heard, over the whistling of the night air in his ears, Dumbledore muttering in some strange language again. He thought he understood why as he felt his broom shudder for a moment when they flew over the boundary wall into the grounds: Dumbledore was undoing the enchantments he himself had set around the castle, so that they could enter at speed. The Dark Mark was glittering directly above the Astronomy Tower, the highest of the castle.

"They made you go there," Hermione murmured. "They knew Dumbledore would go to where the mark was."

_Dumbledore had already crossed the crenulated ramparts and was dismounting; Harry landed next to him seconds later and looked around._

_The ramparts were deserted. The door to the spiral staircase that led back into the castle was closed. There was no sign of a struggle, of a fight to the death, of a body._

_"What does it mean?" Harry asked Dumbledore, looking up at the green skull with its serpent's tongue glinting evilly above them. "Is it the real Mark? Has someone definitely been — Professor?"_

_In the dim green glow from the Mark Harry saw Dumbledore clutching at his chest with his blackened hand._

"Oh god," Dudley muttered.

_"Go and wake Severus," said Dumbledore faintly but clearly. "Tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else and do not remove your Cloak. I shall wait here."_

_"But —"_

_"You swore to obey me, Harry — go!"_

"Brace yourselves," Harry warned everyone causing them to look at him in fear – what was going to happen _now_?

_Harry hurried over to the door leading to the spiral staircase, but his hand had only just closed upon the iron ring of the door when he heard running footsteps on the other side. He looked round at Dumbledore, who gestured to him to retreat. Harry backed away, drawing his wand as he did so._

_The door burst open and somebody erupted through it and shouted: "Expelliarmus!"_

_Harry's body became instantly rigid and immobile, and he felt himself fall back against the Tower wall, propped like an unsteady statue, unable to move or speak._

"Huh?" Molly asked.

"Dumbledore," Ginny replied.

_Then, by the light of the Mark, he saw Dumbledore's wand flying in an arc over the edge of the ramparts and understood… Dumbledore had wordlessly immobilised Harry, and the second he had taken to perform the spell had cost him the chance of defending himself._

_Standing against the ramparts, very white in the face, Dumbledore still showed no sign of panic or distress. He merely looked across at his disarmer and said, "Good evening, Draco."_

"Draco!" everyone yelled, no one louder than Teddy.

_Malfoy stepped forwards, glancing around quickly to check that he and Dumbledore were alone. His eyes fell upon the second broom._

_"Who else is here?"_

_"A question I might ask you. Or are you acting alone?"_

_Harry saw Malfoy's pale eyes shift back to Dumbledore in the greenish glare of the Mark._

_"No," he said. "I've got back-up. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."_

"He should listen to you more, then," Dora said.

_"Well, well," said Dumbledore, as though Malfoy was showing him an ambitious homework project. "Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"_

_"Yeah," said Malfoy, who was panting. "Right under your nose and you never realized!"_

_"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "Yet… forgive me… where are they now? You seem unsupported."_

_"They met some of your guard._

"Order and very little of the D.A." Hermione told them.

_They're having a fight down below. They won't be long… I came on ahead. I - I've got a job to do."_

"His job's to kill Dumbledore!" Sirius yelped.

_"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy," said Dumbledore softly._

_There was silence. Harry stood imprisoned within his own invisible, paralyzed body, staring at the two of them, his ears straining to hear sounds of the Death Eaters' distant fight, and in front of him, Draco Malfoy did nothing but stare at Albus Dumbledore who, incredibly, smiled._

_"Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."_

_"How do you know?" said Malfoy at once._

_He seemed to realize how childish the words had sounded; Harry saw him flush in the Mark's greenish light._

_"You don't know what I'm capable of," said Malfoy more forcefully, "you don't know what I've done!"'_

"'E probably does," Fleur said.

_"Oh, yes, I do," said Dumbledore mildly. "You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. _

Bill gritted his teeth at that one.

_You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts… so feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has been really in it…"_

"He doesn't want to do it," Teddy guessed. "He has to."

_"It has been in it!" said Malfoy vehemently. "I've been working on it all year, and tonight —"_

_Somewhere in the depths of the castle below Harry heard a muffled yell. Malfoy stiffened and glanced over his shoulder._

_"Somebody is putting up a good fight," said Dumbledore conversationally. "But you were saying… yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school which, I admit, I thought impossible… how did you do it?"_

_But Malfoy said nothing: he was still listening to whatever was happening below and seemed almost as paralysed as Harry was._

_"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone," suggested Dumbledore. "What if your backup has been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps realized, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight, too. And after all, you don't really need help… I have no wand at the moment… I cannot defend myself."_

_Malfoy merely stared at him._

_"I see," said Dumbledore kindly, when Malfoy neither moved nor spoke. "You are afraid to act until they join you."_

_"I'm not afraid!" snarled Malfoy, though he still made no move to hurt Dumbledore. "It's you who should be scared!"_

"He's not that much of a threat," Molly sighed.

_"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe…_ _so tell me, while we wait for your friends… how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it."_

_Malfoy looked as though he was fighting down the urge to shout, or to vomit. He gulped and took several deep breaths, glaring at Dumbledore, his wand pointing directly at the latter's heart. Then, as though he could not help himself, he said, "I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year."_

_Aaaah." Dumbledore's sigh was half a groan. He closed his eyes for a moment. "That was clever… there is a pair, I take it?"_

_"The other's in Borgin and Burkes," said Malfoy, "and they make a kind of passage between them._

"Damn," some muttered.

_Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shop, as if the Cabinet was travelling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him… in the end he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed his test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realized what it meant — even Borgin didn't know — I was the one who realized there could be a way into Hogwarts through the Cabinets if I fixed the broken one."_

"I have to admit, sadly, that's clever," Arthur sighed.

_"Very good," murmured Dumbledore. "So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you… a clever plan, a very clever plan… and, as you say, right under my nose…"_

_"Yeah," said Malfoy who, bizarrely, seemed to draw courage and comfort from Dumbledore's praise. "Yeah, it was!"_

_"But there were times," Dumbledore went on, "weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the Cabinet? And you resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands… poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink…"_

_"Yeah, well, you still didn't realize who was behind that stuff, did you?" sneered Malfoy, _

"I'm sure he did," Fabian said.

"He knows nearly everything," Gideon added.

_as Dumbledore slid a little down the ramparts, the strength in his legs apparently fading, and Harry struggled fruitlessly, mutely, against the enchantment binding him._

"Oh Dumbledore and there's nothing you can do, Harry," Lily said, sadly.

_"As a matter of fact, I did," said Dumbledore. "I was sure it was you."_

_"Why didn't you stop me, then?" Malfoy demanded._

_"I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders —"_

_"He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised my mother —-"_

_"Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but —"_

_"He's a double-agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!"_

_"We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape —"_

_"Well, you're losing your grip, then!" sneered Malfoy. "He's been offering me plenty of help — wanting all the glory for himself — wanting a bit of the action — 'What are you doing? Did you do the necklace, that was stupid, it could have blown everything —' But I haven't told him what I've been doing in the Room of Requirement, he's going to wake up tomorrow and it'll all be over and he won't be the Dark Lord's favourite any more, he'll be nothing compared to me, nothing!"_

_"Very gratifying," said Dumbledore mildly. "We all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course… but you must have had an accomplice, all the same… someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to slip Katie the - the - aaaah"_

_Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as though he was about to fall asleep. "… of course… Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperius Curse?"_

_"Got there at last, have you?" Malfoy taunted._

_There was another yell from below, rather louder than the last. Malfoy looked nervously over his shoulder again, then back at Dumbledore, who went on, "So poor Rosmerta was forced to lurk in her own bathroom and pass that necklace to any Hogwarts student who entered the room unaccompanied?_

"Poor Rosmerta," Sirius groaned as James smirked at him.

_And the poisoned mead… well, naturally, Rosmerta was able to poison it for you before she sent the bottle to Slughorn, believing that it was to be my Christmas present… yes, very neat… very neat… poor Mr. Filch would not, of course, think to check a bottle of Rosmerta's…tell me, how have you been communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all methods of communication in and out of the school monitored."_

_"Enchanted coins," said Malfoy, as though he was compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was shaking badly._

"Hey!" Hermione yelled and everyone who didn't know looked at her. "That was my idea for the D.A."

_"I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages —"_

_"Isn't that the secret method of communication the group that called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" asked Dumbledore. His voice was light and conversational, but Harry saw him slip an inch lower down the wall as he said it._

_"Yeah, I got the idea from them," said Malfoy, with a twisted smile. "I got the idea of poisoning the mead from the Mudblood Granger, as well, I heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognising potions…"_

"Stop taking my ideas," Hermione growled. "Especially if you're going to use them for evil."

_"Please do not use that offensive word in front of me," said Dumbledore._

_Malfoy gave a harsh laugh._

_"You care about me saying 'Mudblood' when I'm about to kill you?"_

_"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore, and Harry saw his feet slide a little on the floor as he struggled to remain upright. "But as for being about to kill me, Draco, you have had several long minutes now. We are quite alone. I am more defenceless than you can have dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted…"_

_Malfoy's mouth contorted involuntarily, as though he had tasted something very bitter._

_"Now, about tonight," Dumbledore went on, "I am a little puzzled about how it happened… you knew that I had left the school? But of course," he answered his own question, "Rosmerta saw me leaving, she tipped you off using your ingenious coins, I'm sure…"_

_"That's right," said Malfoy. "But she said you were just going for a drink, you'd be back…"_

_"Well, I certainly did have a drink… _

"Yes but I wish you had drunk something more healthy," Molly sighed.

_and I came back… after a fashion," mumbled Dumbledore. "So you decided to spring a trap for me?"_

_"We decided to put the Dark Mark over the Tower and get you to hurry up here, to see who'd been killed," said Malfoy. "And it worked!"_

_"Well… yes and no…" said Dumbledore. "But am I to take it, then, that nobody has been murdered?"_

_"Someone's dead," said Malfoy and his voice seemed to go up an octave as he said it. "One of your people…_

"No!" Lily gasped.

_I don't know who, it was dark… I stepped over the body… I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way…"_

"That's 'cause were awesome, Cous'," Dora laughed.

_"Yes, they do that," said Dumbledore._

"Damn right we do," Remus said, grinning.

_There was a bang and shouts from below, louder than ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the actual spiral staircase that led to where Dumbledore, Malfoy and Harry stood._

_"There is little time, one way or another," said Dumbledore. "So let us discuss your options, Draco."_

_"My options!" said Malfoy loudly. "I'm standing here with a wand — I'm about to kill you —"_

_"My dear boy, let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means."_

_"I haven't got any options!" said Malfoy, and he was suddenly as white as Dumbledore. "I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"_

"Oh," everyone who didn't know breathed as they realised why Malfoy was doing what he was doing. Suddenly some were more sympathetic.

_"I appreciate the difficulty of your position," said Dumbledore. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized that I suspected you."_

_Malfoy winced at the sound of the name._

_"I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you," continued Dumbledore. "But now at last we can speak plainly to each other… no harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived… I can help you, Draco."_

_"No, you can't," said Malfoy, his wand hand shaking very badly indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."_

_"Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban… when the time comes we can protect him too… come over to the right side, Draco… you are not a killer…"_

"Listen to him," James groaned, as Harry shock his head in amazement – why did they all forget everything he said? He told them Snape killed Dumbledore.

_Malfoy stared at Dumbledore._

_"But I got this far, didn't I?" he said slowly. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here… and you're in my power… I'm the one with the wand… you're at my mercy…"_

_"No, Draco," said Dumbledore quietly. "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now."_

_Malfoy did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. Harry thought he saw it drop by a fraction — But suddenly footsteps were thundering up the stairs and a second later Malfoy was buffeted out of the way as four people in black robes burst through the door on to the ramparts._

"Death Eaters," Petunia gasped.

_Still paralysed, his eyes staring unblinkingly, Harry gazed in terror upon four strangers: it seemed the Death Eaters had won the fight below._

_A lumpy-looking man with an odd lopsided leer gave a wheezy giggle._

_"Dumbledore cornered!" he said, and he turned to a stocky little woman who looked as though she could be his sister and who was grinning eagerly. "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done!"_

_"Good evening, Amycus," said Dumbledore calmly, _

Ginny shuddered slightly, she hated that man – Harry squeezed her hand

_as though welcoming the man to a tea party. "And you've brought Alecto too… charming…"_

_The woman gave an angry little titter._

_"Think your little jokes'll help you on your death bed, then?" she jeered._

_"Jokes? No, no, these are manners," replied Dumbledore._

"But they don't do them," Fabian said.

"A Death Eater with manner's, I'd think hell had frozen over," said Gideon.

_"Do it," said the stranger standing nearest to Harry, a big, rangy man with matted grey hair and whiskers, whose black Death Eater's robes looked uncomfortably tight. He had a voice like none that Harry had ever heard: a rasping bark of a voice. Harry could smell a powerful mixture of dirt, sweat and, unmistakeably, of blood coming from him. His filthy hands had long yellowish nails._

_"Is that you, Fenrir?" asked Dumbledore._

Remus growled, "bloody werewolf."

"He's a werewolf?" Teddy asked.

"Yes, and a bloodthirsty one at that," Dora said. "He gave in to his wolf side."

"What do you –?" but she just waved to the memory

_"That's right," rasped the other. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"_

_"No, I cannot say that I am…"_

_Fenrir Greyback grinned, showing pointed teeth. Blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, obscenely._

"He didn't!" Teddy gasped.

"That might be mine," Bill said calmly.

"This is when you got those scars?" Lily asked and Bill nodded.

_"But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore."_

Everyone growled, Remus the loudest.

_"Am I to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon now? This is most unusual… you have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?"_

_"That's right," said Greyback. "Shocks you, that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?"_

"No, disgusts," Hermione spat.

_"Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little," said Dumbledore. "And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live…"'_

_"I didn't," breathed Malfoy. He was not looking at Greyback; he did not seem to want to even glance at him. _

"He's scared of him," Petunia realized.

"Don't blame him," James growled

_"I didn't know he was going to come —"_

_"I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore," rasped Greyback. "Not when there are throats to be ripped out… delicious, delicious…"_

Everyone either growled or hissed but no one said anything

_And he raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore._

_"I could do you for afters, Dumbledore…"_

_"No," said the fourth Death Eater sharply. He had a heavy, brutal-looking face. "We've got orders. Draco's got to do it. Now, Draco, and quickly."_

_Malfoy was showing less resolution than ever. He looked terrified as he stared into Dumbledore's face, which was even paler, and rather lower than usual, as he had slid so far down the rampart wall._

_"He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!" said the lopsided man, to the accompaniment of his sister's wheezing giggles. "Look at him — what's happened to you, then, Dumby?"_

_"Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus," said Dumbledore. "Old age, in short… one day, perhaps, it will happen to you… if you are lucky…"_

"And if we were extremely unlucky," Ron said.

_"What's that mean, then, what's that mean?" yelled the Death Eater, suddenly violent._

_"Always the same, weren't yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing, I don't even know why the Dark Lord's bothering to kill yeh! Come on, Draco, do it!"_

_But at that moment, there were renewed sounds of scuffling from below and a voice shouted, "They've blocked the stairs - Reducto! REDUCTO!"_

_"Now, Draco, quickly!" said the brutal-faced man angrily._

_But Malfoy's hand was shaking so badly that he could barely aim._

_"I'll do it," snarled Greyback, moving towards Dumbledore with his hands outstretched, his teeth bared._

_"I said no!" shouted the brutal-faced man; there was a flash of light and the werewolf was blasted out of the way; he hit the ramparts and staggered, looking furious._

_"Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us —" screeched the woman, but at that precise moment the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewolf, and Malfoy._

_"We've got a problem, Snape," said the lumpy Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore, "the boy doesn't seem able —"_

_But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly._

_"Severus…"_

_The sound frightened Harry beyond anything he had experienced all evening. For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading._

"Oh Merlin," Lily breathed.

_Snape said nothing, but walked forwards and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way. The three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed cowed._

_Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face._

"For what he's about to do," Harry muttered to Ginny.

_"Severus… please…"_

_Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore._

"I'd suggest -!" Harry said but he never got his warning out.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

_A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. _

"No!" Lily shrieked as she turned into her husband.

Teddy was looking at his godfather in shock; one of Al's namesakes had killed the first.

Everyone else had let out screams or noises of shock and horror.

_He was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air: for a split second he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight._

"Skipping," Harry said.

"What?" Dora asked, anger burning in her voice.

"Me chasing after Snape," Harry said, sheepishly.

"Deep breathes everyone," Hermione said and a few minutes later when everyone had calmed down, the memory began again.

_Harry walked alongside Hagrid._

_He and Hagrid moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the very front, where the dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap._

_Harry heard Hagrid's moan of pain and shock, but he did not stop; he walked slowly forward until he reached the place where Dumbledore lay and crouched down beside him. _

_Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the wise old face._

_The crowd murmured behind Harry. After what seemed like a long time, he became aware that he was kneeling upon something hard and looked down._

_The locket they had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out of Dumbledore's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which it hit the ground. And although he could not feel more shock or horror or sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, as he picked it up, that there was something wrong …_

_He turned the locket over in his hands. This was neither as large as the locket he remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Slytherins mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been._

_Harry pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind him:_

_To the Dark Lord_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can._

_I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more._

_R.A.B._

"It's a fake," Lily groaned.

_. Harry crumpled the parchment in his hand, and his eyes burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl._

"Why's it gone all blurry," Hermione said. "I can't tell what's what."

"Probably because I couldn't either," Harry frowned.

_"C 'mere, Harry…"_

_"No."_

_"Yeh can' stay here, Harry… Come on, now…"_

_"No."_

"Listen to him, Harry," James sighed: he hated seeing how all these death affected his son.

_He did not want to leave Dumbledore's side, he did not want to move anywhere. Hagrid's hand on his shoulder was trembling. Then another voice said, "Harry, come on."_

_A much smaller and warmer hand had enclosed his and was pulling him upward._

_He obeyed its pressure without really thinking about it. _

"Who wants to bet that's Ginny?" Fabian laughed.

"Who else would be able to get though to him at this time?" Hermione said shaking her head.

_Incomprehensible voices battered him, sobs and shouts and wails stabbed the night, but Harry and Ginny walked on, back up the steps into the entrance hall. Faces swam on the edges of Harry's vision, people were peering at him, whispering, wondering, and Gryffindor rubies glistened on the floor like drops of blood as they made their way toward the marble staircase._

_"We're going to the hospital wing," said Ginny._

_"I'm not hurt," said Harry._

_"It's McGonagall's orders," said Ginny. "Everyone's up there, Ron and Hermione and Lupin and everyone —"_

_"Ginny, who else is dead?"_

_"Don't worry, none of us."_

"But Malfoy said," Dudley began.

_"But the Dark Mark — Malfoy said he stepped over a body —"_

_"He stepped over Bill, but its all right, he's alive."_

_There was something in her voice, however, that Harry knew boded ill._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Of course I'm sure… he's a — a bit of a mess, that's all. Greyback attacked him. Madam Pomfrey says he won't — won't look the same anymore…"_

_Ginny's voice trembled a little._

_"We don't really know what the after effects will be — I mean, Greyback being a werewolf, but not transformed at the time."_

_"But the others… There were other bodies on the ground…"_

_"Neville and Professor Flitwick are both hurt, but Madam Pomfrey says they'll be all right. And a Death Eater's dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge blond one was firing off everywhere —_

"Thank Merlin/God," everyone said, being the only thing they felt like saying now.

_Harry, if we hadn't had your Felix potion, I think we'd all have been killed, _

"Don't tell him that," Teddy muttered quietly.

_but everything seemed to just miss us —"_

_They had reached the hospital wing. Pushing open the doors, Harry saw Neville lying, apparently asleep, in a bed near the door. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Tonks, and Lupin were gathered around another bed near the far end of the ward. At the sound of the doors opening, they all looked up. Hermione ran to Harry and hugged him; Lupin moved forward too, looking anxious._

_"Are you all right, Harry?"_

_"I'm fine… How's Bill?"_

_Nobody answered. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw an unrecognizable face lying on Bill's pillow, so badly slashed and ripped that he looked grotesque._

_Madam Pomfrey was dabbing at his wounds with some harsh-smelling green ointment. Harry remembered how Snape had mended Malfoy's Sectumsempra wounds so easily with his wand._

_"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked the matron._

_"No charm will work on these," said Madam Pomfrey. "I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites."_

_"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron, who was gazing down into his brother's face as though he could somehow force him to mend just by staring. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a — a real —?"_

_He looked uncertainly at Lupin._

"Oh yes, look to the werewolf," Remus muttered but he was smiling.

_"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," said Lupin, "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and — and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."_

"While it seems I was right," Remus said, looking at Bill's scars.

"Yep, completely," he nodded.

_"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Ron said._

"Oh Ron," Molly said.

_"Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state -"_

_"Ron — Dumbledore's dead," said Ginny._

_"No!" Lupin looked wildly from Ginny to Harry, as though hoping the latter might contradict her, but when Harry did not, Lupin collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face. Harry had never seen Lupin lose control before;_

"Dumbledore never was someone you expect to die," Lily nodded, her tears nearly stopped now.

_. He turned away and caught Ron's eye instead, exchanging in silence a look that confirmed what Ginny had said._

_"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"_

_"Snape killed him," said Harry. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was… Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak — and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him —"_

_Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron groaned. Luna's mouth trembled._

_"— more Death Eaters arrived — and then Snape — and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Harry couldn't go on._

_Madam Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except Ginny, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!"_

"Very sympathetic," Bill chuckled weakly.

_Gulping, Madam Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had never heard before: a stricken lament of terrible beauty._

"Poor Fawkes," Teddy muttered.

_And Harry felt, as he had felt about phoenix song before, that the music was inside him, not without: It was his own grief turned magically to song that echoed across the grounds and through the castle windows._

_How long they all stood there, listening, he did not know, nor why it seemed to ease their pain a little to listen to the sound of their mourning, but it felt like a long time later that the hospital door opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like all the rest, she bore marks of the recent battle: There were grazes on her face and her robes were ripped._

_"Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said, and the spell of the music was broken:_

_Everyone roused themselves as though coming out of trances, turning again to look at Bill, or else to rub their own eyes shake their heads. _

_"Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he — when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some —"_

_"Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry._

"And you moan at us for being blunt," Ron said, gesturing to him and Hermione.

_She stared at him for a moment, then swayed alarmingly;_

_Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall._

_"Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. "We all wondered… but he trusted… always… Snape… I can't believe it…"_

_"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We always knew that."_

_"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"_

_"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Professor McGonagall, now dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "I mean… with Snape's history… of course people were bound to wonder… but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine — Wouldn't hear a word against him!"_

_"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks._

_"I know," said Harry, and they all turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."_

_They all stared at him._

_"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin incredulously. "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James…"_

"Thanks, Remus," James said.

"It's true and you hated him," Remus said causing James to sigh.

_"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, "because she was Muggle-born… 'Mudblood,' he called her…"_

_Nobody asked how Harry knew this. All of them seemed to be lost in horrified shock, trying to digest the monstrous truth of what had happened._

"Remus why didn't you correct him?" Lily asked.

"I don't actually remember him saying that," Remus smiled slightly.

_"This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."_

_"It isn't your fault, Minerva," said Lupin firmly. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way…"_

_"So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eaters' side?" asked Harry._

_"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. "It's all so confusing… Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case… Remus, Bill, and Nymphadora were to join us… and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret _

_passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered…"_

_"I do," said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. "So they got in through the Room of Requirement."_

_Almost against his will he glanced from Ron to Hermione, both of whom looked devastated._

_"I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. "We did like you told us: We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny, and Neville went to keep watch on it… but Malfoy got past us."_

"It's not your fault," Remus said.

_"He came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch," said Ginny. "He was on his own, clutching that awful shrivelled arm —"_

_"His Hand of Glory," said Ron. "Gives light only to the holder, remember?"_

_"Anyway," Ginny went on, "he must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black —"_

_"— Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."_

"Let's not tell them that," Arthur muttered, knowing how much it would hurt his sons to know that their products, which they invented only for pranks and jokes mainly, had been used to help Malfoy and Snape kill Dumbledore.

_"We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio," said Ginny. "Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."_

_"Luckily," said Lupin hoarsely,_

"We did have Harry's potion," Ginny smiled a little.

_"Ron, Ginny, and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs -"_

_"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry._

_"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Lupin. "But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."_

"Zat's bad luck on 'is part," Fleur muttered. "Good on yours, though."

_"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione, "were you —?"_

_"Outside Snape's office, yes," whispered Hermione, her eyes sparkling with tears, "with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened… We didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the map — It was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and — and —"_

_"What?" Harry urged her._

_"I was so stupid, Harry!" said Hermione in a high-pitched whisper._

_"He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he — while he went to help fight the Death Eaters —"_

_She covered her face in shame and continued to talk into her fingers, so that her voice was muffled. "We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor… and oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realize, Harry, we didn't realize, we just let Snape go!"_

"It's not your fault," Lily sighed.

_"It's not your fault," said Lupin firmly. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."_

_"So then he came upstairs," said Harry, "and he found the place where you were all fighting…"_

_"We were in trouble, we were losing," said Tonks in a low voice. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback… It was all dark… curses flying everywhere… The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs… then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair behind them with some kind of curse… Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air —"_

_"None of us could break through," said Ron, "and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us…"_

_"And then Snape was there," said Tonks, "and then he wasn't —"_

_"I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eaters jinx just missed me right afterward and I ducked and lost track of things," said Ginny._

_"I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," said Lupin. "I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville…"_

_"He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered McGonagall. "After all — he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher… I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower…"_

_"He was," said Harry savagely, "but to help them, not to stop them… and I'll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier — _

"That's logical," Petunia nodded.

_so what happened when he came back down?"_

_"Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Lupin. "We all ran forward — those of us who were still standing anyway — and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust — obviously, none of us attacked them —"_

_"We just let them pass," said Tonks in a hollow voice. "We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters — and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again — I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what —"_

_"He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry. "He'd done what he'd meant to do."_

_They all fell silent. Fawkes's lament was still echoing over the dark grounds _

_The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified._

_"Molly — Arthur —" said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry —"_

_"Bill," whispered Mrs. Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"_

_Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs. Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead._

_"You said Greyback attacked him?" Mr. Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"_

_"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin._

"Quit that," Remus grinned.

_"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case, possibly unique… We don't know what his behaviour might be like when he awakens…"_

_Mrs. Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds._

_"And Dumbledore…" said Mr. Weasley. "Minerva, is it true… Is he really…?"_

_As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry felt Ginny move beside him and looked at her. Her slightly narrowed eyes were fixed upon Fleur, _

"Why are you glaring at me?" Fleur asked.

"I didn't particularly like you," Ginny muttered quietly.

"What?" Bill snapped.

Ginny shifted from foot to foot shooting a nasty look at Harry.

"Why not?" Fleur asked, sounding hurt.

"I guess … I don't know," Ginny said, still shifting. 2I guess I kind of felt like you were taking my brother away, you know."

"Oh," Fleur breathed. "Oui, oui, I understand."

"You do?" Bill asked. "It's not like I was home much anyway."

"She was ze one you cared for most, am I right?"

"'Course, she was my baby sister," Bill said, still looking confused.

"She felt like I was taking you away from 'er and ze famille, I wouldn't expect you to understand," Fleur frowned. "If you don't get it straight away, I can't theenk of a way to explain."

_who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face._

_"Dumbledore gone," whispered Mr. Weasley, but Mrs. Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill's mutilated face._

_"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks… It's not r-really important… but he was a very handsome little b-boy… always very handsome… and he was g-going to be married!"_

"Going to be!" Bill repeated. "Did none of you like Fleur?"

"I felt kind of the same as Ginny, she was taking my child away," Molly said, "and it was so quick, I didn't know much about her."

Bill glared at her, Ginny, and Ron but Fleur just patted him arm.

_"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, 'he was going to be married?'"_

_Mrs. Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. "Well — only that —"_

_"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?" demanded Fleur. "You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"_

"No, no, Fleur," Bill said, a slight grin flitting across his face. "I think mum meant that you wouldn't love me."

"Oh."

_"No, that's not what I —"_

_"Because 'e will!" said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"_

_"Well, yes, I'm sure," said Mrs. Weasley, "but I thought perhaps — given how — how he —"_

_"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you hoped?" said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. "What do I care how he looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" she added fiercely, pushing Mrs. Weasley aside and snatching the ointment from her._

"Mum'll like you now," Bill nodded.

_Mrs. Weasley fell back against her husband and watched Fleur mopping up Bill's wounds with a most curious expression upon her face. Nobody said anything; Harry did not dare move. Like everybody else, he was waiting for the explosion._

_"Our Great-Auntie Muriel," said Mrs. Weasley after a long pause, "has a very beautiful tiara — goblin-made — which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, _

"But I hate her," he said.

_you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."_

_"Thank you," said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."_

_And then, Harry did not quite see how it happened, both, women were crying and hugging each other. Completely bewildered, wondering whether the world had gone mad, he turned around: Ron looked as stunned as he felt and Ginny and Hermione were exchanging startled looks._

"No need to look so shocked," Molly huffed.

_"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"_

Everyone laughed as Teddy looked confused at his parents.

_"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely —"_

_"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times…"_

_"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor… too dangerous…"_

"You're an idiot, Dad!" Teddy chuckled.

"Why thank you, Teddy," Remus grumbled.

_"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said Mrs. Weasley over Fleur's shoulder as she patted her on the back._

_"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily._

"Yes, you are," everyone else said.

_"Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."_

_"But she wants you," said Mr. Weasley, with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."_

_He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them._

"Should I take offense to that?" Bill asked.

"Of course not," Mr Weasley chuckled.

_"This is… not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead…"_

"Wrong thing to say," the twins sang.

_"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital doors opened again and Hagrid walked in._

"You were all ganging up on me," Remus groaned.

_The little of his face that was not obscured by hair or beard was soaking and swollen; he was shaking with tears, a vast, spotted handkerchief in his hand._

_"I've… I've done it, Professor," he choked. "M-moved him. Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed. Professor Flitwick's lyin down, but he says he'll be all righ' in a jiffy, an' Professor Slughorn says the Ministry's bin informed."_

_"Thank you, Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall, standing up at once and turning to look at the group around Bill's bed. "I shall have to see the Ministry when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of Houses — Slughorn can represent Slytherin — that I want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like you to join us too."_

_As Hagrid nodded, turned, and shuffled out of the room again, she looked down at Harry._

_"Before I meet them I would like a quick word with you, Harry. If you'll come with me…."_

_Harry stood up, murmured "See you in a bit" to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, and followed Professor McGonagall back down the ward. The corridors outside were deserted and the only sound was the distant phoenix song. It was several minutes before Harry became aware that they were not heading for Professor McGonagall's office, but for Dumbledore's, and another few seconds before he realized that of course, she had been deputy headmistress…. Apparently she was now headmistress… so the room behind the gargoyle was now hers._

_In silence they ascended the moving spiral staircase and entered the circular office. He did not know what he had expected: that the room would be draped in black, perhaps, or even that Dumbledore's body might be lying there. In fact, it looked almost exactly as it had done when he and Dumbledore had left it mere hours previously: the silver instruments whirring and puffing on their spindle legged tables, Gryffindor's sword in its glass case gleaming in the moonlight, the Sorting Hat on a shelf behind the desk, the Fawkes's perch stood empty, he was still crying his lament to the grounds. And a new portrait had joined the ranks of the dead headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts: Dumbledore was slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half-moon spectacle perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled._

"It's that quick!" Dora said shocked.

_After glancing once at this portrait, Professor McGonagall made an odd movement as though steeling herself, then rounded the' desk to look at Harry, her face taut and lined._

_"Harry," she said, "I would like to know what you and Professor Dumbledore were doing this evening when you left the school."_

"He won't tell you," Dudley scoffed.

_"I can't tell you that, Professor," said Harry. He had expected the question and had his answer ready. It had been here, in this very room, that Dumbledore had told him that he was to confide the contents of their lessons to nobody but Ron and Hermione._

_"Harry, it might be important," said Professor McGonagall._

_"It is," said Harry, "very, but he didn't want me to tell anyone."_

_Professor McGonagall glared at him. "Potter" — Harry registered the renewed use of his surname — "in the light of Professor Dumbledore's death, I think you must see that the situation has changed somewhat —"_

_"I don't think so," said Harry, shrugging. "Professor Dumbledore never told me to stop following his orders if he died."_

"Who would say that?" Petunia asked.

"Dumbledore," most the wizards said

_"But —"_

_"There's one thing you should know before the Ministry gets here though. Madam Rosmerta's under the Imperius Curse, she was helping Malfoy and the Death Eaters, that's how the necklace and the poisoned mead —"_

_"Rosmerta?" said Professor McGonagall incredulously, but before she could go on, there was a knock on the door behind them and Professors Sprout, Flitwick, and Slughorn traipsed into the room, followed by Hagrid, who was still weeping copiously, his huge frame trembling with grief._

_"Snape!" ejaculated Slughorn, who looked the most shaken, pale and sweating. "Snape! I taught him! I thought I knew him!"_

"They all taught him," Lily reasoned.

"Plus he was Voldemort's head of house," James added.

_But before any of them could respond to this, a sharp voice spoke from high on the wall: A sallow-faced wizard with a short black fringe had just walked back into his empty canvas._

_"Minerva, the Minister will be here within seconds, he has just Disapparated from the Ministry."_

_"Thank you, Everard," said Professor McGonagall, and she turned quickly to her teachers._

_"I want to talk about what happens to Hogwarts before he gets here," she said quickly. "Personally, I am not convinced that the school should reopen next year. The death of the headmaster at the hands of one of our colleagues is a terrible stain upon Hogwarts's history. It is horrible."_

_"I am sure Dumbledore would have wanted the school to remain open," said Professor Sprout. "I feel that if a single pupil wants to come, then the school ought to remain open for that pupil."_

"Yes," the twins nodded.

_"But will we have a single pupil after this?" said Slughorn, now dabbing his sweating brow with a silken handkerchief. "Parents will want to keep their children at home and I can't say I blame them. Personally, I don't think we're in more danger at Hogwarts than we are anywhere else, but you can't expect mothers to think like that. They'll want to keep their families together, it's only natural."_

_"I agree," said Professor McGonagall. "And in any case, it is not true to say that Dumbledore never envisaged a situation in which Hogwarts might close. When the Chamber of Secrets reopened he considered the closure of the school — and I must say that Professor Dumbledore's murder is more disturbing to me than the idea of Slytherin's monster living undetected in the bowels of the castle…"_

_"We must consult the governors," said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice; he had a large bruise on his forehead but seemed otherwise unscathed by his collapse in Snape's office. "We must follow the established procedures. A decision should not be made hastily."_

_"Hagrid, you haven't said anything," said Professor McGonagall. "What are your views, ought Hogwarts to remain open?"_

_Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large, spotted handkerchief throughout this conversation, now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, "I dunno, Professor… that's fer the Heads of House an the headmistress ter decide…"_

_"Professor Dumbledore always valued your views," said Professor McGonagall kindly, "and so do I."_

"Zat ws nice of 'er," Fleur smiled.

_"Well, I'm stayin," said Hagrid, fat tears still leaking out of the corners of his eyes and trickling down into his tangled beard. "It's me home, it's bin me home since I was thirteen. An' if there's kids who wan' me ter teach 'em, I'll do it. But… I dunno… Hogwarts without Dumbledore…" He gulped and disappeared behind his handkerchief once more, and there was silence._

"Does seem odd, doesn't it?" Remus muttered.

_"Very well," said Professor McGonagall, glancing out of the window at the grounds, checking to see whether the Minister was yet approaching, "then I must agree with Filius that the right thing to do is to consult the governors, who will make the final decision._

_"Now, as to getting students home… there is an argument for doing it sooner rather than later. We could arrange for the Hogwarts Express to come tomorrow if necessary —"_

_"What about Dumbledore's funeral?" said Harry, speaking at last._

_"Well…" said Professor McGonagall, losing a little of her briskness as her voice shook. "I — I know that it was Dumbledore's wish to be laid to rest here, at Hogwarts —"_

"Then he should," Sirius said firmly.

_"Then that's what'll happen, isn't it?" said Harry fiercely._

_"If the Ministry thinks it appropriate," said Professor McGonagall. "No other headmaster or headmistress has ever been —"_

_"No other headmaster or headmistress ever gave more to this school," growled Hagrid._

_"Hogwarts should be Dumbledore's final resting place," said Professor Flitwick._

_"Absolutely," said Professor Sprout._

_"And in that case," said Harry, "you shouldn't send the students' home until the funeral's over. They'll want to say —"_

_The last word caught in his throat, but Professor Sprout completed the sentence for him._

_"Good-bye."_

"Well said," Petunia muttered.

"I'm glad you convinced them to do that," Hermione smiled.

_"Well said," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Well said indeed! Our students should pay tribute, it is fitting. We can arrange transport home afterward."_

_"Seconded," barked Professor Sprout._

_"I suppose… yes…" said Slughorn in a rather agitated voice, while Hagrid let out a strangled sob of assent._

_"He's coming," said Professor McGonagall suddenly, gazing down into the grounds. "The Minister… and by the looks of it. he's brought a delegation…"_

_"Can I leave, Professor?" said Harry at once._

_"You may," said Professor McGonagall. "And quickly."_

_She strode toward the door and held it open for him. He sped down the spiral staircase and off along the deserted corridor; he had left his Invisibility Cloak at the top of the Astronomy Tower, but it did not matter; there was nobody in the corridors to see him pass, not even Filch, Mrs. Norris, or Peeves. He did not meet another soul until he turned into the passage leading to the Gryffindor common room._

_"Is it true?" whispered the Fat Lady as he approached her. "It is really true? Dumbledore — dead?"_

_"Yes," said Harry._

_She let out a wail and, without waiting for the password, swung forward to admit him._

"Not very good security," Dora frowned.

"Ah well," Harry said. "Do you want to watch the funeral? It is late."

"Yes," Lily said firmly and without missing a beat.

"As you wish," Harry said, smirking.

_"It is nearly time," she said. "Please follow your Heads of House out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."_

_They filed out from behind their benches in near silence. Harry glimpsed Slughorn at the head of the Slytherin column, wearing magnificent long emerald-green robes embroidered with silver. He had never seen Professor Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuff's, looking so clean; there was not a single patch on her hat, and when they reached the Entrance Hall, they found Madam Pince standing beside Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs._

"Lovely," Petunia muttered.

_They were heading, as Harry saw when he stepped out on to the stone steps from the front doors, towards the lake. The warmth of the sun caressed his face as they followed Professor McGonagall in silence to the place where hundreds of chairs had been set out in rows. An aisle ran down the centre of them: there was a marble table standing at the front, all chairs facing it. It was the most beautiful summer's day._

"You have to cause trouble around this time of year," Ginny frowned.

"Well I don't plan it like that, I promise," Harry replied.

_An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs: shabby and smart, old and young. Most Harry did not recognise, but there were a few that he did, including members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest pink,_

"Really, Mum?" Teddy said.

"What?" she asked.

"I thought you might have a duller colour for the funeral," he grinned.

"I was happy, sorry," Dora said and she did look ashamed of herself.

"Why?" James asked.

_Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to be holding hands,_

"Oh, Moony's given in," Sirius grinned.

"You knew I must have eventually," Remus frowned at him as he gestured to Teddy and Dora held up her left hand.

_Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill supported by Fleur and followed by Fred and George, who were wearing jackets of black dragonskin. Then there was Madame Maxime, who took up two-and-a-half chairs on her own, Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, Harry's Squib neighbour, the hairy bass player from the wizardmg group the Weird Sisters, Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, Madam Malkin, of the robe shop in Diagon Alley, and some people whom Harry merely knew by sight, such as the barman of the Hog's Head_

"I would expect him to be there," Molly nodded.

_and the witch who pushed the trolley on the Hogwarts Express. The castle ghosts were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight, discernible only when they moved, shimmering insubstantially in the gleaming air._

_Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny filed into seats at the end of a row beside the lake. People were whispering to each other; it sounded like a breeze in the grass, but the birdsong was louder by far. The crowd continued to swell; with a great rush of affection for both of them, Harry saw Neville being helped into a seat by Luna._

The trio and Ginny smiled fondly.

_Cornelius Fudge walked past them towards the front rows, his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler hat as usual; _

"He's upset!" the twins yelped shocked.

_Harry next recognised Rita Skeeter, who, he was infuriated to see, had a notebook clutched in her red-taloned hand; and then, Dolores Umbridge, an unconvincing expression of grief upon her toadlike face, a black velvet bow set atop her iron-coloured curls. _

Everyone hissed.

"How dare she show her face at that school," Teddy growled.

_At the sight of the centaur Firenze, who was standing like a sentinel near the water's edge, she gave a start and scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away. The staff were seated at last. Harry could see Scrimgeour looking grave and dignified in the front row with Professor McGonagall. _

_But then he heard music, strange, otherworldly music, and he forgot his dislike of the Ministry in looking around for the source of it. He was not the only one: many heads were turning, searching, a little alarmed._

_"In there," whispered Ginny in Harry's ear._

_And he saw them in the clear green sunlit water, inches below the surface; a chorus of merpeople singing in a strange language he did not understand, their pallid faces rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them. It spoke very clearly of loss and of despair. As he looked down into the wild faces of the singers he had the feeling that they, at least, were sorry for Dumbledore's passing._

_Then Ginny nudged him again and he looked round._

_Hagrid was walking slowly up the aisle between the chairs. He was crying quite silently, his face gleaming with tears, and in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars, was what Harry knew to be Dumbledore's body. Ron looked white and shocked. Tears were falling thick and fast into both Ginny and Hermione's laps._

_They could not see clearly what was happening at the front. Hagrid seemed to have placed the body carefully upon the table. Now he retreated down the aisle, blowing his nose with loud trumpeting noises that drew scandalized looks from some, including, Harry saw, Dolores Umbridge… but Harry knew that Dumbledore would not have cared._

"You're right," Lily smiled but then everyone feel back into silence for the funeral, as though they were actually there.

_He tried to make a friendly gesture to Hagrid as he passed, but Hagrid's eyes were so swollen it was a wonder he could see where he was going. Harry glanced at the back row to which Hagrid was heading and realized what was guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp, his great ugly boulder-like head bowed, docile, almost human._

_Hagrid sat down next to his half-brother and Grawp patted Hagrid hard on the head, so that his chair legs sank into the ground. _

Fabian and Gideon had to stop their snort of laughter as many lips twitched.

_But then the music stopped and he turned to face the front again._

_A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore's body. Harry could not hear what he was saying. Odd words floated back to them over the hundreds of beads. "Nobility of spirit"… "intellectual contribution"… "greatness of heart"… it did not mean very much. _

_There was a soft splashing noise to his left and he saw that the merpeople had broken the surface to listen, too. _

_He clutched the cold locket in his hand so tightly that it hurt, but he could not prevent hot tears spilling from his eyes:_

"Harry," some breathed but it was inaudible.

_he looked away from Ginny and the others and stared out over the lake, towards the Forest, as the little man in black droned on… there was movement among the trees. The centaurs had come to pay their respects, too._

_They did not move into the open but Harry saw them standing quite still, half-hidden in shadow, watching the wizards, their bows hanging at their sides. _

_And Harry saw very clearly as he sat there under the hot sun how people who cared about him had stood in front of him one by one,_

"Oh no, not thoughts," Teddy groaned.

_his mother, his father, his godfather, and finally Dumbledore, all determined to protect him; but now that was over. He could not let anybody else stand between him and Voldemort; he must abandon forever the illusion he ought to have lost at the age of one: that the shelter of a parent's arms meant that nothing could hurt him. There was no waking from his nightmare, no comforting whisper in the dark that he was safe really, that it was all in his imagination; the last and greatest of his protectors had died and he was more alone than he had ever been before._

"You're never alone, Harry," Hermione said after a while. "Never. You've got all of us, you'll always have us."

"I know," Harry smiled at her. "But thanks."

_The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. Harry waited for somebody else to get to their feet; he expected speeches, probably from the Minister, but nobody moved._

_Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore's body and the table upon which it lay: higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiralled into the air and made strange shapes: Harry thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue,_

"I saw that," Ginny, Hermione and Ron said.

_but next second the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table on which he had rested._

_There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was, Harry knew, the centaurs' tribute: he saw them turn tail and disappear back into the cool trees. Likewise the merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and were lost from view._

_Harry looked at Ginny, Ron and Hermione: Ron's face was screwed up as though the sunlight was blinding him. Hermione's face was glazed with tears, but Ginny was no longer crying. She met Harry's gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly, and that when he told her what he was going to do now, she would not say "Be careful", or "Don't do it", but accept his decision, because she would not have expected anything less of him. And so he steeled himself to say what he had known he must say ever since Dumbledore had died._

"What are you going to tell her?" Fabian growled,

"It better not be what I think it is," Gideon added.

_"Ginny, listen…" he said very quietly, as the buzz of conversation grew louder around them and people began to get to their feet. "I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."_

"What?" Teddy yelled causing Harry and Ginny to chuckle.

_She said, with an oddly twisted smile, "It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?"_

"Isn't it always?" Lily sighed, shooting her husband a look – he'd done vaguely the same thing or at least attempted too.

"It still hurt," Ginny muttered to him. "That was while the smiles off."

"I know," Harry murmured. "Hurt me, too."

"What are you two mumbling about?" Ron asked.

"None of your bloody business," Ginny frowned.

"Ginevra, language," Molly snapped.

"Sorry, Mum."

_"It's been like… like something out of someone else's life, these last few weeks with you," said Harry._

"That's sad," everyone thought, frowning.

_"But I can't… we can't… I've got things to do alone now." _

"I can't believe you thought we weren't coming," Ron chuckled.

_She did not cry, she simply looked at him,_

_"Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to. He's already used you as bait once, and that was just because you're my best friend's sister. Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you."_

_"What if I don't care?" said Ginny fiercely._

"Harry cares," Dora smiled.

_"I care," said Harry. "How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral… and it was my fault…"_

"That did it," Ginny muttered.

_She looked away from him, over the lake._

_"I never really gave up on you," she said. "Not really. I always hoped… Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember?_

"Yeah, that was brilliant," Harry chuckled.

"Oi!" she slapped him on the arm.

"It was great fun," Ron laughed but he then got hit by Hermione.

_And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more — myself."_

_"Smart girl, that Hermione," said Harry, trying to smile._

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione laughed.

_"I just wish I'd asked you sooner. Wecould've had ages… months… years maybe…"_

_"But you've been too busy saving the wizarding world," said Ginny, half-laughing. "Well… I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort._

The trio scoffed.

"Oh you know what I meant," Ginny groaned. "He wouldn't rest."

_Maybe that's why I like you so much."_

_Harry could not bear to hear these things, nor did he think his resolution would hold if he remained sitting beside her. _

"I should have held you there against your will," Ginny laughed.

_Ron, he saw, was now holding Hermione and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long nose._

"And you're not together yet!" Sirius said, shocked.

"Nope," Hermione said.

_With a miserable gesture, Harry got up, turned his back on Ginny and on Dumbledore's tomb and walked away around the lake._

"Polite that was, Harry," Lily scolded.

_"Harry!"_

_He turned. Rufus Scrimgeour was limping rapidly towards him around the bank, leaning on his walking stick._

"Fantastic," everyone groaned.

_"I've been hoping to have a word… do you mind if I walk a little way with you?"_

_"No," said Harry indifferently, and set off again._

_"Harry, this was a dreadful tragedy," said Scrimgeour quietly, "I cannot tell you how appalled I was to hear of it. Dumbledore was a very great wizard. We had our disagreements, as you know, but no one knows better than I —"_

_"What do you want?" asked Harry flatly._

"Yes, shut him up," James nodded.

_Scrimgeour looked annoyed but, as before, hastily modified his expression to one of sorrowful understanding._

_"You are, of course, devastated," he said. "I know that you were very close to Dumbledore. I think you may have been his favourite pupil ever. The bond between the two of you —"_

_"What do you want?" Harry repeated, coming to a halt._

"He had no sympathy!" Petunia growled, the man had just died.

_Scrimgeour stopped too, leaned on his stick and stared at Harry, his expression shrewd now._

_"The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died."_

_"Whose word?" said Harry._

_"Somebody Stupefied a Death Eater on top of the Tower after Dumbledore died. There were also two broomsticks up there. The Ministry can add two and two, Harry."_

"Zat's news to me," Fleur shrugged.

_"Glad to hear it," said Harry. "Well, where I went with Dumbledore and what we did is my business. He didn't want people to know."_

_"Such loyalty is admirable, of course," said Scrimgeour, who seemed to be restraining his irritation with difficulty, "but Dumbledore is gone, Harry. He's gone"_

"Shut up!" Dudley snapped.

_"He will only be gone from the school when none here are loyal to him," said Harry, smiling in spite of himself._

"Good sentiment, Harry," Molly smiled.

_"My dear boy… even Dumbledore cannot return from the —"_

"He's not stupid," Teddy muttered.

_"I am not saying he can. You wouldn't understand. But I've got nothing to tell you."_

_Scrimgeour hesitated, then said, in what was evidently supposed to be a tone of delicacy, "The Ministry can offer you all sorts of protection, you know, Harry. I would be delighted to place a couple of my Aurors at your service —"_

_Harry laughed._

_"Voldemort wants to kill me himself and Aurors won't stop him. So thanks for the offer, but no thanks."_

Harry frowned at his old words causing Ginny to laugh.

"Harry," Hermione laughed as she looked over.

Everyone now looked to see Harry's slightly put out expression and couldn't stop themselves from laughing

"Hang on," Dora said suddenly. "Me and Kingsley were Aurors!"

"Yes but you were cool Aurors," Harry said, hastily.

_"So," said Scrimgeour, his voice cold now, "the request I made of you at Christmas —"_

_"What request? Oh yeah… the one where I tell the world what a great job you're doing in exchange for —"_

_"— for raising everyone's morale!" snapped Scrimgeour._

_Harry considered him for a moment._

_"Released Stan Shunpike yet?"_

_Scrimgeour turned a nasty purple colour._

"Must you annoy him," Arthur sighed.

"I was taking my annoyance at myself and sadness out on him," Harry shrugged. "He deserved it anyway."

_"I see you are —"_

_"Dumbledore's man through and through," said Harry. "That's right."_

"We've already agreed on that," Ron grinned.

_Scrimgeour glared at him for another moment, then turned and limped away without another word. Harry could see Percy and the rest of the Ministry delegation waiting for him, casting nervous glances at the sobbing Hagrid and Grawp, who were still in their seats. Ron and Hermione were hurrying towards Harry, passing Scrimgeour going in the opposite direction;_

_Harry turned and walked slowly on, waiting for them to catch up, which they finally did in the shade of a beech tree under which they had sat in happier times._

"Our tree," they sighed, wishfully.

_"What did Scrimgeour want?" Hermione whispered._

_"Same as he wanted at Christmas," shrugged Harry. "Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry's new poster boy."_

_Ron seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then he said loudly to Hermione, "Look, let me go back and hit Percy!"_

_"No," she said firmly, grabbing his arm._

_"It'll make me feel better!"_

_Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle._

"Well done, Ron," Bill chuckled.

_"I can't bear the idea that we might never come back." she said softly. "How can Hogwarts close?"_

"I'm sure it won't," Lily said.

_"Maybe it won't," said Ron. "We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Every where's the same now. I'd even say Hogwarts is safer; there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?"_

_"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen," said Harry._

"What?" Lily snapped rounding her son.

_Ron gaped at him, but Hermione said sadly, "I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?"_

_"I'm going back to the Dursleys' once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to," said Harry. "But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good."_

_"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?"_

_"I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow," Harry muttered._

Lily and James smiled softly at that while Harry and Hermione frowned a little remembering that trip.

_. "For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that."_

_"And then what?" said Ron._

_"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" said Harry, his eyes upon Dumbledore's white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of the lake. "That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right — and I'm sure he was — there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape along the way," he added, "so much the better for me, so much the worse for him."_

"Sev's an excellent dueller, Harry," Lily told him.

"Don't worry," Harry said. "We didn't."

_There was a long silence. The crowd had almost dispersed now, the stragglers giving the monumental figure of Grawp a wide berth as he cuddled Hagrid, whose howls of grief were still echoing across the water._

_"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron._

_"What?"_

_"At your aunt and uncle's house," said Ron._

"Well, you weren't," Petunia frowned.

"I managed to talk them out of that, telling them to spend time with their families," Harry chuckled.

_"And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going."_

_"No —" said Harry quickly._

_"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"_

"Great friends," Remus grinned.

_"We're with you whatever happens," said Ron. "But, mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow."_

_"Why?"_

_"Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?"_

_Harry looked at him, startled; the idea that anything as normal as a wedding could still exist seemed incredible and yet wonderful._

_"Yeah, we shouldn't miss that," he said finally._

"Glad you theenk so, 'Arry," Fleur smiled as the exited the pensieve for that day.

"Right," Harry half smiled. "Everyone off to bed, we're starting an hour later than normal alright? Please try get some sleep."

They all nodded and drifted of to bed, half scared of what they would see tomorrow and half curious – the trio never talked about it, preferring to forget that year ever happened.


	25. Chapter 24 - Ronald Weasley!

Everyone woke up an hour later than usual due to the bad nights sleep and the late night. Everyone who had been alive in 1997 were all looking forward to finding out what the trio was up to during the year but they were also scared, scared of what they would see, scared of what they would have to relieve. The trio were up earlier than everyone else, talking about what was important to show them and what they should leave out.

"What about Remus' visit?" Hermione asked, although she already knew the answer.

"No way, we can't do that to Remus," Harry said, straight away.

"Yeah, I doubt he told Tonks what happened there," Ron agreed. "We shouldn't inform her about it."

"Plus imagine how much it hurt Teddy," Harry said, as though that made it final.

Ron and Hermione smiled softly, they knew how much Harry cared for Teddy and knew the last things Harry would want for him was to be hurt or upset.

"Agreed," Hermione nodded.

"Are we going to show me leaving?" Ron asked shifting guiltily, after all these years that was still the worst decision of his life and he still felt terrible about it.

"Well, we're going to show Godrics Hollow," Hermione said slowly. "So they'll ask where you are, why you aren't there. I think we're going to have to."

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "I thought you'd say that. Just Harry… take Ginny's wand, will ya?"

"Definitely," Harry grinned. "Snape's memories?"

"You should talk to him about that," Hermione suggested. "He might not want them shown."

"Right, I'll contact him in a minute," Harry nodded. "Anything else which we definitely shouldn't show?"

"I would say Malfoy Manor," Ron said. "But that's only because I don't want to relive it."

"Sadly they, Bill and Fleur especially, have the right to know," Hermione sighed

"I've been thinking," Harry said. "Is our visit to Xeno important?"

"I don't know, Harry," said Hermione. "I mean, it's where we found out about the Deathly Hallows, Luna, and where we almost got caught but… we could tell them about the Hallows, it'd be quicker, and explain why Luna wasn't there. What do you think Ron?"

"Don't show it, we'll tell them," Ron nodded. "You think we should get some other people?"

"Definitely," Hermione agreed. "But not many."

"Just Neville and Luna, yeah?" Harry suggested

'Yeah, that seems good," Ron said. "I'm mean they've been through a bit with us, more than most people."

Harry nodded and then just then Ginny walked into the breakfast room and raised her eyebrows at them,

"Morning," she said slowly.

"Good morning, Ginny," Hermione smiled.

"Hey, sis," Ron said as Harry just grinned at wife, getting up to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously, looking at the way they were still leaning slightly toward each other although they had straightened up a bit when she walked in. "You look like your planning something…"

"It's nothing," Harry said. "Just thinking of what to show today."

"We're going to bring Neville and Luna," Ron told her.

"Good," Ginny said although she looked a little shocked

"What are you thinking NOW?' Ron asked, looking at Harry.

"Don't you think Frank and Alice will want to see the final battle?" Hermione said, guessing what Harry was thinking.

"Probably," Ginny sighed siting down at the table. "They were both Auror's and in the Order of Phoenix."

"Right," Hermione said. "Now, go and talk to Snape, Harry."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Well, it's a bit rude just to show those important memories isn't it?" Hermione smiled.

"I'm just going to floo him," Harry said, walking out of the breakfast room towards the sitting room.

Harry grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire before putting his head in and saying in a clear voice, "Number 2, Spinners End, Cokeworth."

Harry closed his eyes as he felt the familiar and still hated sensation of flooing and soon he was looking at a shabby kitchen where Severus Snape just happened to be making a drink of some description.

"Professor Snape?" Harry said called.

He looked around a slight look of dislike crossed his face and made Harry think of times when Snape would have looked at him with such hatred it was surprising he hadn't burst into flames. This was nothing and practically could be taken as liking.

"How can I help you, Potter?" he said sharply. "Do you realize the time?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Harry half-smiled. "Anyway, I assume you want this quick," –Snape nodded curtly – "we've moved onto what should have been my seventh year and –"

"You want to know how much of my memories you can show them," Snape finished. "Let's see, not my childhood. I shall give you permission to show anytime I'm with Dumbledore but _that is it_, Potter."

"Of course, thank you very much, Professor," Harry replied. "Have a nice day."

"And you," Snape nodded, a slight smile flashing across his face.

"I doubt it," Harry said before exiting the fire place, he then contacted everyone else they had said – Alice and Frank only coming for the Final Battle as they wanted to spend some time together and get anything they needed..

"Well?" Hermione said as he entered the breakfast room again.

"Anytime he's with Dumbledore," Harry said. "Isn't anyone else up yet?"

"We are," Dora said, as she and Remus walked in. "Wotcher."

"Morning," Remus smiled.

"Good morning," they all mumbled in reply.

5 minutes later everyone else had trickled in and they began breakfast, chatting aimlessly and soon gathered in the family room. Once all the guests had arrived, Harry put the memory in and they all entered the pensieve.

_The sound of the front door slamming echoed up the stairs and a voice roared, "Oh! You!"_

"Oh great - Vernon," Petunia sighed.

_He was still staring at the narrow fragment in which, for a split second, he had thought he saw Dumbledore's eye. It was not until his uncle bellowed, "BOY!"_

"Does he know you have a name?" Neville growled.

_that Harry got slowly out of bed and headed for the bedroom door, pausing to add the piece of broken mirror to the rucksack filled with things he would be taking with him._

_"You took you time!" roared Vernon Dursley when Harry appeared at the top of the stairs, "Get down here. I want a word!"_

"Manners help, Vermin," Lily snapped.

_Harry strolled downstairs, his hands deep in his pants pockets. When he searched the living room he found all three Dursleys. They were dressed for packing; Uncle Vernon in an old ripped-up jacket and Dudley, Harry's, large, blond, muscular cousin, in his leather jacket._

_"Yes?" asked Harry._

_"Sit down!" said Uncle Vernon. Harry raised his eyebrows. "Please!"_

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said. "He needs teaching him some manners."

"I didn't know that word was in his vocabulary," Teddy laughed.

_added Uncle Vernon, wincing slightly as though the word was sharp in his throat._

_Harry sat. He though he knew what was coming. His uncle began to pace up and down, Aunt Petunia and Dudley, following his movement with anxious expressions. Finally, his large purple face crumpled with concentration. Uncle Vernon stopped in front of Harry and spoke._

_"I've changed my mind," he said._

_"What a surprise," said Harry_**.**

The twins snorted.

_"Don't you take that tone—" began Aunt Petunia in a shrill voice, but Vernon Dursley waved her down_

_"It's all a lot of claptrap," said Uncle Vernon, glaring at Harry with piggy little eyes. "I've decided I don't believe a word of it. We're staying put, we're not going anywhere."_

"Idiot man," Bill said.

_Harry looked up at his uncle and felt a mixture of exasperation and amusement. Vernon Dursley had been changing his mind every twenty four hours for the past four weeks, packing and unpacking and repacking the car with every change of heart._

"That was mad," Petunia told them.

_Harry's favorite moment had been the one when Uncle Vernon, unaware the Dudley had added his dumbbells to his case since the last time it been repacked, had attempted to hoist it back into the boot and collapsed with a yelp of pain and much swearing._

Everyone laughed and Dudley said, "that was funny."

_"According to you," Vernon Dursley said, now resuming his pacing up and down the living room, "we – Petunia, Dudley, and I – are in danger. From – from –"_

"Voldemort," Luna said dreamily.

_"Some of 'my lot' right?" said Harry_

_"Well I don't believe it," repeated Uncle Vernon, coming to a halt in front of Harry again. "I was awake half the night thinking it all over, and I believe it's a plot to get the house."_

Most people snorted.

"Out of curiosity, how many houses do you have?" Luna asked.

"You don't even what to go there," Harry laughed.

"There's way too many," Ginny agreed. "We don't know what to do with half of them."

_"The house?" repeated Harry. "What house?"_

_"This house!" shrieked Uncle Vernon, the vein his forehead starting to pulse. "Our house! House prices are skyrocketing around here! You want us out of the way and then you're going to do a bit of hocus pocus and before we know it the deeds will be in your name and –"_

_"Are you out of your mind?" demanded Harry. "A plot to get this house? Are you actually as stupid as you look?"_

"More," everyone laughed, including Dudley and Petunia.

_"Don't you dare -!" squealed Aunt Petunia, but again Vernon waved her down. Slights on his personal appearance were it seemed as nothing to the danger he had spotted._

Some chuckled.

_"Just in case you've forgotten," said Harry, "I've already got a house my godfather left me one. So why would I want this one? All the happy memories?"_

The god mood vanished at the question, many thinking about Harry's childhood.

_There was silence. Harry thought he had rather impressed his uncle with this argument._

_"You claim," said Uncle Vernon, starting to pace yet again, "that this Lord Thing –"_

"Lord Thing!" the Prewett twins laughed. "Brilliant!"

_"—Voldemort," said Harry impatiently, "and we've been through this about a hundred times already. This isn't a claim, it's fact. Dumbledore told you last year, and Kingsley and Mr. Weasley –"_

_Vernon Dursley hunched his shoulders angrily, and Harry guessed that his uncle was attempting to ward off recollections of the unannounced visit, a few days into Harry's summer holidays, of two fully grown wizards. The arrival on the doorstep of Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had come as a most unpleasant shock to the Dursleys. Harry had to admit, however that as Mr. Weasley had once demolished half of the living room, his reappearance could not have been expected to delight Uncle Vernon._

"You did what?" Molly snapped.

"Nothing dear," Arthur said quickly as Harry, Dudley and Ron laughed.

_"—Kingsley and Mr. Weasley explained it all as well," Harry pressed on remorselessly, "Once I'm seventeen, the protective charm that keeps me safe will break, and that exposes you as well as me. The Order is sure Voldemort will target you, whether to torture you to try and find out where I am, or because he thinks by holding you hostage I'd come and try to rescue you."_

"Would you?" Petunia asked.

"As if he would even hesitate," Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna laughed.

"But we were horrible," Dudley persisted.

"No one deserves Voldemort," Bill said

"Plus, you may have been horrible," said Harry, "but you still family."

Petunia was shaking her head in awe at her nephews logical, amazed that although they treated him terribly he would still save them.

_Uncle Vernon's and Harry's eyes met. Then Uncle Vernon walked on and Harry resumed, "You've got to go into hiding and the Order wants to help. You're being offered serious protection, the best there is."_

"Thank you," everyone who had been in the order said.

_Uncle Vernon said nothing but continued to pace up and down. Outside the sun hung low over the privet hedges. The next door neighbor's lawn mower stalled again._

_"I thought there was a Ministry of Magic?" asked Vernon Dursley abruptly._

_"There is," said Harry, surprised._

"He remembered that?" James asked.

_"Well, then, why can't they protect us? It seems to me that, as innocent victims, guilty of nothing more than harboring a marked man, we ought to qualify for government protection!"_

"The ministry was infiltrated," Arthur said.

_Harry laughed; he could not help himself. It was so very typical of his uncle to put his hopes in the establishment, even within this world that he despised and mistrusted._

"True," Dudley chuckled, that was his dad.

_"You heard what Mr. Weasley and Kingsley said," Harry replied. "We think the Ministry has been infiltrated."_

'And we were right," Molly nodded

_Uncle Vernon strode back to the fireplace and back breathing so strongly that his great black mustache rippled his face still purple with concentration._

_"All right," he said. Stopping in front of Harry get again. "All right, let's say for the sake of argument we accept this protection. I still don't see why we can't have that Kingsley bloke."_

"You liked Kingsley?" Dora said, shocked.

"Yes, he was calming and not too eccentric," Petunia said thinking of Dedalus Diggle

"Unluckily for you, 'e was protecting ze Muggle Prime Minister," Fleur said.

_"As I've told you," he said through gritted teeth, "Kingsley is protecting the Mug – I mean, your Prime Minister."_

_"Exactly – he's the best!" said Uncle Vernon, pointing at the blank television screen._

"What makes you think you warrant the best?" James growled, still angry at this man for the treatment of Harry.

_"Well, he's taken," said Harry. "But Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are more than up to the job –"_

"Poor them," Sirius chuckled.

"They were cool," Dudley said. "Dedalus taught me things about the wizarding world."

_"If we'd even seen CVs…" began Uncle Vernon, but Harry lost patience. Getting to his feet, he advanced on his uncle, now pointing at the TV set himself._

_"These accidents aren't accidents – the crashed and explosions and derailments and whatever else has happened since we last watched the news. People are disappearing and dying and he's behind it – Voldemort. I've told you this over and over again, he kills Muggles for fun. Even the fogs – they're caused by dementors, and if you can't remember what they are, ask your son!"_

Dudley shuddered.

"Again with these speeches when you're angry!" Teddy chuckled. "I'm glad you rarely explode now! In fact I don't think I've ever seen in you shouting angry…"

There were a few raised eyebrows at this.

_Dudley's hands jerked upward to tower his mouth. With his parents' and Harry's eyes upon him, he slowly lowered them again and asked, "There are… more of them?"_

"A lot more," Ron said darkly.

_"More?" laughed Harry. "More than the two that attacked us, you mean? Of course there are hundreds, maybe thousands by this time, seeing as they feed off fear and despair—"_

_"All right, all right," blustered Vernon Dursley. "You've made your point –"_

_"I hope so," said Harry, "because once I'm seventeen, all of them – Death Eaters, Dementors, maybe even Inferi – which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark wizard –_

_The Muggles looked sick._

"I don't blame you," Ginny muttered.

"Did he use them?" Lily asked.

"Not this time," Bill said.

_will be able to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you'll agree you need help."_

"What happened?" Molly said, warily.

"Hagrid broke down the door, told me I was a wizard and then gave Dudley, here, a pig's tail," Harry laughed.

"Oh Hagrid," Molly sighed as everyone roared with laughter except Dudley and Petunia

_Aunt Petunia was looking at Uncle Vernon; Dudley was staring at Harry. Finally Uncle Vernon blurted out, "But what about my work? What about Dudley's school? I don't suppose those things matter to a bunch of lay about wizards –"_

"What's more important: your job or your life?" Hermione snapped.

_"Don't you understand?" shouted Harry. "They will torture and kill you like they did my parents!"_

"Luckily it was direct torture," Lily sighed.

"Yeah, just fear," James nodded. "But still torture."

_"Dad," said Dudley in a loud voice, "Dad – I'm going with these Order people."_

"Thank you," Remus sighed

_"Dudley," said Harry, "for the first time in your life, you're talking sense."_

"Was that really necessary?" Luna asked. "I mean, you've just gained an ally."

"Habit, Luna," Harry chuckled.

_"They'll be here in about five minutes," he said, and when none of the Dursleys replied, he left the room. The prospect of parting—probably forever – from his aunt, uncle, and cousin was one that he was able to contemplate quite cheerfully but there was nevertheless a certain awkwardness in the air. What did you say to one another at the end of sixteen years' solid dislike?_

"Nothing," Sirius laughed, having done it himself.

_Back in his bedroom, Harry fiddled aimlessly with his rucksack then poked a couple of owl nuts through the bats of Hedwig's cage. They fell with dull thuds to the bottom where she ignored them._

_"We're leaving soon, really soon," Harry told her. "And then you'll be able to fly again."_

"Poor owl," Neville said. "You shouldn't lock them up."

_The doorbell rang. Harry hesitated, then headed back out of his room and downstairs._

_"Harry Potter!" squeaked an excited voice, the moment Harry had opened the door; a small man in a mauve top hat that was sweeping him a deep bow. "An honor as ever!"_

"Dedalus," Sirius laughed.

_"Thanks, Dedalus," said Harry, bestowing a small and embarrassed smile upon the dark haired Hestia. "It's really good of you to do this… They're through here, my aunt and uncle and cousin…"_

_"Good day to you, Harry Potter's relatives!" said Dedalus happily striding into the living room._

"Bet you loved that," Gideon laughed.

"Go Dedalus," Fabian cheered.

_The Dursleys did not look at all happy to be addressed thus. Dudley shrank neared to his mother at the sight of the witch and wizard._

_"I see you are packed and ready. Excellent! The plan, as Harry has told you, is a simple one," said Dedalus, pulling an immense pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examining it. "We shall be leaving before Harry does. Due to the danger of using magic in your house –Harry being still underage it could provide the Ministry with an excuse to arrest him –we shall be driving, say, ten miles or so before Disapparating to the safe location we have picked out for you. You know how to drive, I take it?" He asked Uncle Vernon politely._

"Vernon wasn't too impressed by that," Petunia chuckled.

"Well, we have other, quicker moods of transportation," Hermione said.

"Yes, Harry scared me one time by apparating into my car,' Dudley said, grimacing. "I almost crashed!"

"Sorry, Dud," Harry snickered. "I was paying you back a bit for all those years."

"Right," Dud muttered.

_"Know how to –? Of course I ruddy well know how to drive!" spluttered Uncle Vernon._

_"Very clever of you, sir, very clever. I personally would be utterly bamboozled by all those buttons and knobs," said Dedalus. He was clearly under the impression that he was flattering Vernon Dursley, who was visibly losing confidence in the plan with every word Dedalus spoke._

_"Can't even drive," he muttered under his breath, his mustache rippling indignantly, but fortunately neither Dedalus nor Hestia seemed to hear him._

"Selective hearing is best around Vernon," Lily smiled.

_"You, Harry," Dedalus continued, "will wait here for your guard. There has been a little change in the arrangements –"_

_"What d'you mean?" said Harry at once. "I thought Mad-Eye was going to come and take me by Side Along-Apparition?"_

_"Can't do it," said Hestia tersely, "Mad-Eye will explain."_

_The Dursleys, who had listened to all of this with looks of utter incomprehension on their faces, jumped as a loud voice screeched, "Hurry up!" Harry looked all around the room before realizing the voice had issued from Dedalus's pocket watch._

_"Quite right, were operating to a very tight schedule," said Dedalus nodding at his watch and tucking it back into his waist coat. "We are attempting to time your departure from the house with your family's Disapparition, Harry thus the charm breaks the moment you all head for safety." He turned to the Dursleys, "Well, are we all packed and ready to go?"_

_None of them answered him. Uncle Vernon was still staring appalled at the bulge in Dedalus's waistcoat pocket._

Fabian and Gideon sniggered

_"Perhaps we should wait outside in the hall, Dedalus," murmured Hestia. She clearly felt that it would be tactless for them to remain the room while Harry and the Dursleys exchanged loving, possibly tearful farewells._

_"There's no need," Harry muttered, but Uncle Vernon made any further explanation unnecessary by saying loudly,_

_"Well, this is good-bye then boy."_

Dora tutted at the coldness towards their own nephew.

_He swung his right arm upward to shake Harry's hand, but at the last moment seemed unable to face it, and merely closed his fist and began swinging it backward and forward like a metronome._

_"Ready, Duddy?" asked Petunia, fussily checking the clasp of her handbag so as to avoid looking at Harry altogether._

Everyone frowned.

_Dudley did not answer but stood there with his mouth slightly ajar._

_"Come along, then," said Uncle Vernon._

_He had already reached the living room door when Dudley mumbled, "I don't understand."_

"You're leaving," Gideon chuckled

"So you need to walk," Fabian laughed.

_"What don't you understand, popkin?" asked Petunia looking up at her son._

_Dudley raised a large, hamlike hand to point at Harry._

_"Why isn't he coming with us?_

Everyone's frowned turned into slight smiles

"Oh, I have a_ tiny _job to do," Harry said with the air of discussing the weather.

Ron and Hermione snorted.

_Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze when they stood staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina._

"You shouldn't be so shocked by your own son expressing concern for another person," Lily said, firmly. "Sorry Dudley, it's your parents I'm annoyed at."

"It's all right, Aunt Lily," Dudley smiled, Lily's face transforming into a beaming smile.

_"What?" said Uncle Vernon loudly._

_"Why isn't he coming too?" asked Dudley._

_"Well, he—doesn't want to," said Uncle Vernon, turning to glare at Harry and adding, "You don't want to, do you?"_

"No," everyone said.

_"Not in the slightest," said Harry._

_"There you are," Uncle Vernon told Dudley. "Now come on we're off."_

_He marched out of the room. They heard the front door open, but Dudley did not move and after a few faltering steps Aunt Petunia stopped too._

_"What now?" barked Uncle Vernon, reappearing in the doorway._

_It seemed that Dudley was struggling with concepts too difficult to put into words. After several moments of apparently painful internal struggle he said, "But where's he going to go?"_

"Nowhere in particular," Hermione said bitterly.

_Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked at each other. It was clear that Dudley was frightening them. Hestia Jones broke the silence._

_"But… surely you know where your nephew is going?" she asked looking bewildered._

"Of course they don't," Ron snorted, "because we didn't think they'd care."

_"Certainly we know," said Vernon Dursley. "He's off with some of your lot, isn't he? _

"Uh-oh," Sirius grinned.

_Right, Dudley, let's get in the car, you heard the man, we're in a hurry."_

_Again, Vernon Dursley marched as far as the front door, but Dudley did not follow._

_"Off with some of our lot?"_

_Hestia looked outraged._

_"It's fine," Harry assured her. "It doesn't matter, honestly."_

_"Doesn't matter?" repeated Hestia, her voice rising considerably. "Don't these people realize what you've been through? What danger you are in? The unique position you hold in the hearts of the anti Voldemort movement?"_

"Of course not!" Gideon scoffed.

"His family are gits," Fabian said as if that was an explanation.

_"Er –no, they don't," said Harry. "They think I'm a waste of space, actually but I'm used to –"_

_"I don't think you're a waste of space."_

_As it was, he stared at Dudley for several seconds before accepting that it must have been his cousin who had spoken; for one thing, Dudley had turned red. _

_"Well... er… thanks, Dudley."_

_Again, Dudley appeared to grapple with thoughts too unwieldy for expression before mumbling, "You saved my life."_

_"Not really," said Harry. "It was your soul the Dementor would have taken…"_

"So not the point," Ginny laughed.

"Plus living without a soul is worse than death," Hermione reasoned.

_He looked curiously at his cousin. After opening his mouth once or twice more, Dudley subsided into scarlet-faced silence._

_Aunt Petunia burst into tears. Hestia Jones gave her an approving look that changed to outrage as Aunt Petunia ran forward and embraced Dudley rather than Harry._

Everyone raised their eyebrows wondering how her logic worked.

"Sorry, Harry," Petunia said, softly but Harry just waved a dismissive hand

_"S-so sweet, Dudders…" she sobbed into his massive chest. "S-such a lovely b-boy… s-saying thank you…"._

"He didn't say thank you," Dora corrected.

"Yes but coming from Dudley, what he just said is like I love you," Ginny laughed.

_"But he hasn't said thank you at all!" said Hestia indignantly. "He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space!"_

_"Yea but coming from Dudley that's like 'I love you,'" said Harry,_

Everyone chuckled at how similar Harry and Ginny were.

_torn between annoyance and a desire to laugh as Aunt Petunia continued to clutch at Dudley as if he had just saved Harry from a burning building._

_"Are we going or not?" roared Uncle Vernon, reappearing yet again at the living room door. "I thought we were on a tight schedule!"_

_"Yes –yes, we are," said Dedalus Diggle, who had been watching these exchanged with an air of bemusement and now seemed to pull himself together. "We really must be off. Harry –"_

_He tripped forward and wrung Harry's hand with both of his own._

_"—good luck. I hope we meet again. The hopes of the Wizarding world rest upon your shoulders."_

"Yeah, so no pressure Harry," Gideon laughed

_"Oh," said Harry, "right. Thanks."_

"Not what you wanted to hear, I'm sure," Fabian chuckled

_"Farwell, Harry," said Hestia also clasping his hand. "Our thoughts go with you."_

_"I hope everything's okay," said Harry with a glance toward Aunt Petunia and Dudley._

_"Oh I'm sure we shall end up the best of chums," said Diggle slightly, waving his hat as he left the room._

Most of the wizards snorted.

_Hestia followed him._

_Dudley gently released himself from his mother's clutches and walked toward Harry._

_Then Dudley held out his large, pink hand._

"Is this the reason you went back after the war?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, "and I wanted to make sure they were safe."

_"Blimey, Dudley," said Harry over Aunt Petunia's renewed sobs, "did the dementors blow a different personality into you?"_

"Probably," James chuckled

_"Dunno," muttered Dudley, "See you, Harry."_

_"Yea …" said Harry, raking Dudley's hand and shaking it. "Maybe."_

"Maybe?" Remus asked.

"Well, it wasn't likely I would survive the war was it?" Harry asked amused.

"As much as I wish it wasn't true," Remus sighed

_Take care, Big D."_

_Dudley nearly smiled. They lumbered from the room. Harry heard his heavy footfalls on the graveled drive, and then a car door slammed._

_Aunt Petunia whose face had been buried in her handkerchief looked around at the sound. She did not seem to have expected to find herself alone with Harry. Hastily stowing her wet handkerchief into her pocket, she said, "Well – good-bye" and marched towards the door without looking at him._

"Petunia!" Lily snapped.

_"Good-bye" said Harry._

_She stopped and looked back. For a moment Harry had the strangest feeling that she wanted to say something to him; She gave him an odd, tremulous look and seemed to teeter on the edge of speech, but then, with a little tilt of her head, she hustled out of the room after he husband and son._

"What were you going to say?" Hermione asked.

"Good luck, maybe," Petunia replied. "Maybe that Lily would have been proud, I don't know."

She faltered at the end but her sentence made everyone smile.

_Harry ran back upstairs to his bedroom, arriving at the window just in time to see the Dursleys' car swinging out of the drive and off up the road. Dedalus's top hat was visible between Aunt Petunia and Dudley in the backseat. The car turned right at the end of Privet Drive, its windows burned scarlet for a moment in the now setting sun, and then it was gone._

"Good," James said.

_Harry picked up Hedwig's cage, his Firebolt, and his rucksack, gave his unnaturally tidy bedroom one last sweeping look, and then made his ungainly way back downstairs to the hall, where he deposited cage, broomstick, and bag near the foot of the stairs. The light was fading rapidly, the hall full of shadows in the evening light. _

_"Don't you want to take a last look at the place?" he asked Hedwig, who was still sulking with her head under her wing._

"I don't think she cares mate," Ron chuckled.

_"We'll never be here again. Don't you want to remember all the good times? I mean, look at this doormat. What memories …_

"You've cracked," Neville laughed.

"No, I haven't!"

_Dudley throw up on it after I saved him from the dementors … Turns out he was grateful after all, can you believe it? … And last summer, Dumbledore walked through that front door … "_

"I suppose that's fair enough," Luna smiled.

_Hedwig continued to sit with her head under her wing. Harry turned his back on the front door._

_"And under here, Hedwig" – Harry pulled open a door under the stairs – "is where I used to sleep!_

Everyone but Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Lily, James, Dudley and Petunia went into uproar, landing in the family room due to the anger as had happened last time.

"A cupboard!" Molly shrieked.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you!" Neville yelled trying to reach for his wand but Harry had already taken it and was holding him back; Ginny was doing the same with Luna, who was far angrier than anyone had even seen her.

"You could be arrested for that!" Dora screeched.

Fleur had switched to French so she was probably saying things that Harry and Ginny wouldn't appreciate her saying in front of Teddy.

Teddy himself was frozen with the Prewett twins– how much more would this man be subjected to? The Wesley men clenched their fists in anger and paced. All their ears red, which was always a danger sign.

Sirius had punched the wall while Remus sank into a chair looking rather defeated.

"Are you all finished?" Harry shouted over the noise and everyone nodded after a few minutes. "Thank you. If someone could please deal with Sirius hand and then everyone can re-enter the pensieve."

_You never knew me then – Blimey, it's small, I'd forgotten …"_

Everyone growled.

_Harry looked around at the stacked shoes and umbrellas_

_There was a sudden, deafening roar from somewhere nearby. Harry straightened up with a jerk and smacked the top of his head on the low door frame._

"Ouch," James said.

"Watch your head," Sirius grinned.

_Pausing only to employ a few of Uncle Vernon's choicest swear words,_

"Don't repeat them, Teddy," Harry said sternly as Lily tutted his language.

_he staggered back into the kitchen, clutching his head and staring out of the window into the back garden._

_The darkness seemed to be rippling, the air itself quivering. Then, one by one, figures began to pop into sight as their Disillusionment Charms lifted._

_Dominating the scene was Hagrid, wearing a helmet and goggles and sitting astride an enormous motorbike with a black sidecar attached._

"My bike!" Sirius yelled.

_All around him other people were dismounting from brooms and, in two cases, skeletal, black winged horses._

"Thestrals," Hermione said, shivering.

_Wrenching open the back door, Harry hurtled into their midst. There was a general cry of greeting as Hermione flung her arms around him,_

"Aww," Fabian teased

"Shut up!" they said together.

_Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?"_

_"Definitely," said Harry, beaming around at them all. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you!"_

_"Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."_

Tonks rolled her eyes fondly at her old mentor.

_Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs, sat themselves upon Aunt Petunia's gleaming work surfaces, or leaned up against her spotless appliances; _

"My poor kitchen," Petunia said, looking at Mundungus.

_Ron, long and lanky; Hermione, her bushy hair tied back in a long plait; Fred and George, grinning identically; Bill, badly scarred and long-haired; Mr. Weasley, kind-faced, balding, his spectacles a little awry; Mad-Eye, battle-worn, one-legged, his bright blue magical eye whizzing in its socket; Tonks, whose short hair was her favorite shade of bright pink; Lupin, grayer, more lined; Fleur, slender and beautiful, with her long silvery blonde hair; Kingsley, bald and broad-shouldered; Hagrid, with his wild hair and beard, standing hunchbacked to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling; and Mundungus Fletcher, small, dirty, and hangdog, with his droopy beady hound's eyes and matted hair._

"Traitor!" many who had been alive muttered.

_"Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" he called across the room._

_"He can get along without me for one night," said Kingsley, "You're more important."_

"Show's how important you are," Dudley laughed.

_"Harry, guess what?" said Tonks from her perch on top of the washing machine, and she wiggled her left hand at him; a ring glistened there._

"Woo!" everyone cheered as the Lupins grinned.

_"You got married?" Harry yelped, looking from her to Lupin._

_"I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very quiet."_

"It is a shame," Dora pouted, her hair dropping a few shades.

_"That's brilliant, congrat –"_

_"All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later," roared Moody over the hubbub,_

"Boring!" sang the twins.

_and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry. "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely."_

_"Second problem: You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you."_

"The trace?" Dudley asked.

_"I don't –"_

_"The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! _

"Oh," Dudley nodded

_If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters."_

"Brilliant!" Lily groaned

_"We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short, Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper."_

"I doubt it!" James said.

_"So what are we going to do?"_

_"We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike."_

"Oh yeah, that bike!" Harry said and Sirius perked up. "Arthur um repaired it!"

"It's broken!" Sirius yelled.

"Calm down, he _repaired_ it, Padfoot," Remus chuckled.

"Yes, anyway," Harry said amused. "He then gave it to me."

"You have my bike!" Sirius laughed.

"At Godrics Hollow, I'm guessing you'd like it?" Harry said laughing when Sirius nodded fervently.

_"Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or" – Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen – "you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"_

_Harry nodded._

_"So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen._

_"The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight._

Everyone who knew about this scolded as they remembered the Death Eaters' _had _known.

_We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't rely on him getting the date wrong; he's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in this general area, just in case. So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's – you get the idea."_

"This is a good plan," James nodded.

_"Yeah," said Harry, _

_"You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?"_

_"Er – yes," said Harry. "Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once" – he performed a quick headcount – "fourteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents?"_

"Here comes the part you'll hate," Hermione smiled.

_"Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."_

"How?" Petunia asked.

_From inside his cloak Moody now withdrew a flask of what looked like mud. There was no need for him to say another word; Harry understood the rest of the plan immediately._

_"No!" he said loudly, his voice ringing through the kitchen. "No way!"_

"Calm down," Ginny laughed.

"What is that potion?" Teddy asked, although he had an idea already.

"Polyjuice Potion," Lily said, recognizing it.

"And that does what?" Dudley asked.

"It also a human drink to become the form of another person," Hermione said.

_"I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione with a hint of complacency._

"Yes, we know you know Harry well, Hermione," Neville laughed

_"If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives - !"_

_"—because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron._

"That wouldn't help, you know," Luna said.

_"This is different, pretending to be me –"_

_"Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."_

Many people laughed

_Harry did not smile._

"Aww, come on, Harry!" Fabian chuckled.

_"You can't do it if I don't cooperate; you need me to give you some hair."_

_"Well, that's the plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."_

_"Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred._

"You'd set of the trace if you did," Arthur warned.

_"Funny," said Harry, "really amusing."_

"I think so," Gideon agreed.

_"If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody, his magical eye now quivering a little in its socket as he glared at Harry. "Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk."_

_Mundungus shrugged and grimaced; the magical eye swerved sideways to glance at him out of the side of Moody's head._

Everyone narrowed their eyes even if they had died before then or didn't know what happened – it was dangerous if he wasn't willing.

_"Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now."_

_"But this is mad, there's no need –"_

_"No need!" snarled Moody. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. _

"But he's much smarter," Arthur reasoned.

_They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven."_

Everyone who had been there yesterday shared a look at that.

"What?" Neville asked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly explained all they knew about Horcruxes that they had learned in their sixth year causing the two new comers to look slightly revolted and shocked.

_Harry caught Hermione's eye and looked away at once._

_"So, Potter – some of your hair, if you please."_

_Harry glanced at Ron, who grimaced at him in a just-do-it sort of way._

_"Now!" barked Moody._

_With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to the top of his head, grabbed a hank of hair, and pulled._

_"Good," said Moody, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. "Straight in here, if you please."_

_Harry dropped the hair into the mudlike liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to froth and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold._

"Bright gold!" Lily said, shocked. "Wow."

"What?' Teddy and Fleur asked – Potions had been her worst subject and still was for Teddy.

"The Polyjuice Potion seems to react according to the nature of the person to be imitated, once described as the "essence" of the person. Good-hearted people result in more attractive colours and tastes, while mean people cause the opposite effect," Hermione reeled off.

_"Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry," said Hermione,_

Fabian, Gideon, Fred and George sniggered while the marauders raised their eyebrows and Hermione turned red.

"Are you sure-?" Sirius said pointing a finger between Hermione and Harry.

"There is nothing going on!" Hermione shrieked as her and Harry looked faintly disgusted.

_before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, "Oh, you know what I mean – Goyle's potion tasted like bogies."_

"And 'ow would you know zat?" Fleur asked, looking sternly between the trio.

"We brewed Polyjuice potion second year," Ron said as though it was nothing.

"Second year!" Bill said shocked.

"Hermione," Harry and Ron said, pointing at the women in question, who blushed slightly.

"Urg, how could you do that?" Teddy said. "I'm terrible at potions."

"No you're not," Ginny smiled. "You're just not as good as you are at Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Whatever you say," Teddy rolled his eyes.

_"Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody._

_Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur lined up in front of Aunt Petunia's gleaming sink._

_"We're one short," said Lupin._

"Mundungus," Ginny growled.

_"Here," said Hagrid gruffly, and he lifted Mundungus by the scruff of the neck and dropped him down beside Fleur, who wrinkled her nose pointedly and moved along to stand between Fred and George instead._

"Good idea," Molly said wrinkling her own nose – she never likes Mundungus.

_"I'm a said, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus._

_"Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in person. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them."_

"Cheery," Bill muttered.

_Mundungus did not look particularly reassured, but Moody was already pulling half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one._

_"Altogether, then …"_

_Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur, and Mundungus drank. All of them gasped and grimaced as the potion hit their throats; At once, their features began to bubble and distort like hot wax. Hermione and Mundungus were shooting upward; Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; their hair was darkening, Hermione's and Fleur's appearing to shoot backward into their skulls._

_Moody, quite unconcerned, was now loosening the ties of the large sacks he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potters gasping and panting in front of him._

"How weird," Petunia said.

_Fred and George turned to each other and said together, "Wow – we're identical!"_

"Of course you are," Neville laughed.

_"I dunno, though, I think I'm still better-looking," said Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle._

_"Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, don't look at me – I'm 'ideous."_

"Zat sounded bad," Fleur laughed. "I'm sorry, 'Arry!"

_"Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."_

_He watched as his six doppelgangersrummaged in the sacks, pulling out sets of clothes, putting on glasses, stuffing their own things away._

_"I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking down at his bare chest._

"Of course I was," Ginny laughed

_"Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she put on glasses._

"Well, I don't wear them for fun, Hermione," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, shut up," she grinned.

_Once dressed, the fake Harry's took rucksacks and owl cages, each containing a stuffed snowy owl, from the second sack._

"Won't that be a bit obvious?" Luna asked

"Better than no owl," James reasoned.

_"Good," said Moody, as at last seven dressed, bespectacled, and luggage-laden Harrys faced him. "The pairs will be as follows: Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom –"_

"Good," Sirius said

_"Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest the back door._

"Because you're the most untrustworthy?" Teddy suggested.

_"Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody, and sure enough, his magical eye did not waver from Mundungus as he continued, "Arthur and Fred –"_

_"I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"_

_"Sorry, George –"_

_"I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really –"_

Everyone chuckled, although it was slightly sad.

_"Enough messing around!" snarled Moody._

"No, no," Dudley said. "Continue."

_"The other one – George or Fred or whoever you are – you're with Remus. Miss Delacour –"_

_"I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond of brooms."_

_Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Harry hoped with all his heart would never appear on his face again._

"Sorry," Fleur muttered.

"You're not the only one, Harry," Bill chuckled.

_"Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral –"_

_Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile_

_"Which leaves you and me, Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him._

Remus and Teddy chuckled as Sirius laughed.

_Ron did not look quite as pleased as Hermione._

_"An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'?" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."_

_"That's great," said Harry, not altogether truthfully._

_"We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom," said Moody,_

"Of course they would!" James said, proudly.

_"Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before,_

Everyone growled at the reminder of what Snape did, except the trio and Ginny.

_so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who looks at home on a broomstick. All right then," he went on, tying up the sack with the fake Potters' clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking._

"But it'll keep thieves out," Petunia said.

_Come on …"_

_Harry hurried to gather his rucksack, Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage and followed the group to the dark back garden._

_On every side broomsticks were leaping into hands; Hermione had already been helped up onto a great black thestral by Kingsley, Fleur onto the other by Bill. Hagrid was standing ready beside the motorbike, goggles on._

_"Is this it? Is this Sirius's bike?"_

"Yep!" Sirius yelled.

_"The very same," said Hagrid, beaming down at Harry. "An' the last time yeh was on it, Harry, I could fit yeh in one hand!"_

"Too be honest, that isn't that amazing," Ron chuckled.

_It placed him several feet below everybody else: Ron smirked at the sight of him sitting there like a child in a bumper car._

"Really, Ron?" Ginny asked.

_Harry stuffed his rucksack and broomstick down by his feet and rammed Hedwig's cage between his knees. He was extremely uncomfortable._

_"Arthur's done a bit o' tinkerin'," said Hagrid,_

"So it's even cooler," Sirius said, looking delighted and his commented caused Arthur to smile.

_He settled himself astride the motorcycle, which creaked slightly and sank inches into the ground. "It's got a few tricks up its sleeves now. Tha' one was my idea." He pointed a thick finger at a purple button near the speedometer._

"Oh dear, what does it do?" Dora asked.

_"Please be careful, Hagrid." said Mr. Weasley, who was standing beside them, holding his broomstick. "I'm still not sure that was advisable and it's certainly only to be used in emergencies."_

"Oh Merlin," Ginny sighed.

_"All right, then." said Moody. "Everyone ready, please. I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."_

_Everybody motioned their heads._

_"Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks, and Harry saw Ron throw a forcing, guilty look at Lupin before placing his hands on each side of her waist._

Remus chuckled.

_Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life: It roared like a dragon, and the sidecar began to vibrate._

_"Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow._

Dora flinched slightly – she hadn't seen Mad-Eye after that.

_On the count of three. One … two .. THREE."_

_There was a great roar from the motorbike, and Harry felt the sidecar give a nasty lurch. He was rising through the air fast, his eyes watering slightly, hair whipped back off his face. Around him brooms were soaring upward too; the long black tail of a thestral flicked past. _

_And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded._

"No!" Molly shrieked.

_At least thirty hooded figures, suspended in midair, formed a vast circle in the middle of which the Order members had risen, oblivious –_

"Damn it!" Sirius said.

"Language," Lily said, hitting him.

_Screams, a blaze of green light on every side: Hagrid gave a yell and the motorbike rolled over. Harry lost any sense of where they were. Streetlights above him, yells around him, he was clinging to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage, the Firebolt, and his rucksack slipped from beneath his knees –_

_"No – HELP!"_

_The broomstick spun too, but he just managed to seize the strap of his rucksack_

"Good thing you caught that!" Ron said.

_and the top of the cage as the motorbike swung the right way up again. A second's relief, and then another burst of green light. The owl screeched and fell to the floor of the cage._

"No!" Lily said.

_"No – NO!"_

_The motorbike zoomed forward; Harry glimpsed hooded Death Eaters scattering as Hagrid blasted through their circle._

_"Hedwig – Hedwig –"_

"Oh Harry," Molly sighed.

_But the owl lay motionless and pathetic as a toy on the floor of her cage. He could not take it in, and his terror for the others was paramount. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a mass of people moving, flares of green light, two pairs of people on brooms soaring off into the distance, but he could not tell who they were –_

"This is madness," Petunia said, her eyes wide.

"I thought they were fireworks," Dudley said, as he remembered seeing all the lights flashing across the sky.

"That's a good thing," Hermione said.

_"Hagrid, we've got to go back, we've got to go back!" he yelled._

"You can't," Remus said.

_over the thunderous roar of the engine, pulling out his wand, ramming Hedwig's cage into the floor, refusing to believe that she was dead. "Hagrid, TURN AROUND!"_

_"My job's ter get you there safe, Harry!" bellow Hagrid, and he opened the throttle._

"Good job, Hagrid," Molly nodded.

_"Stop – STOP!" Harry shouted, but as he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: _

"Please not –" Lily began.

"I think it is," Dora said.

_Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid's broad back. Hagrid swerved, but the Death Eaters were keeping up with the bike; more curses shot after them, and Harry had to sink low into the sidecar to avoid them. Wriggling around he cried, "Stupefy!" and a red bolt of light shot from his own wand, cleaving a gap between the four pursuing Death Eaters as they scattered to avoid it._

_"Hold on, Harry, this'll do for 'em!" roared Hagrid, and Harry looked up just in time to see Hagrid slamming a thick finger into a green button near the fuel gauge._

_A wall, a solid black wall, erupted out of the exhaust pipe. Craning his neck, Harry saw it expand into being in midair._

"Cool!" James and Sirius said, smiling a little.

_Three of the Death Eaters swerved and avoided it, but the fourth was not so lucky; He vanished from view and then dropped like a boulder from behind it, his broomstick broken into pieces. One of his fellows slowed up to save him, but they and the airborne wall were swallowed by darkness as Hagrid leaned low over the handlebars and sped up._

_More Killing Curses flew past Harry's head from the two remaining Death Eaters' wands; they were aiming for Hagrid. Harry responded with further Stunning Spells: Red and green collided in midair in a shower of multicolored sparks,_

"Fireworks," Petunia said.

_"Here we go again, Harry, hold on!" yelled Hagrid, and he jabbed at a second button. This time a great net burst from the bike's exhaust, but the Death Eaters were ready for it. Not only did they swerve to avoid it, but the companion who had slowed to save their unconscious friend had caught up. He bloomed suddenly out of the darkness and now three of them were pursuing the motorbike, all shooting curses after it._

_"This'll do it, Harry, hold on tight!" yelled Hagrid, and Harry saw him slam his whole hand onto the purple button beside the speedometer._

"Oh Merlin," Molly fretted.

_With an unmistakable bellowing roar, dragon fire burst from the exhaust, white-hot and blue, and the motorbike shot forward like a bullet with a sound of wrenching metal. Harry saw the Death Eaters swerve out of sight to avoid the deadly trail of flame, and at the same time felt the sidecar sway ominously: Its metal connections to the bike had splintered with the force of acceleration._

"Oh no!" Lily groaned

_"It's all righ', Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, now thrown flat onto the back by the surge of speed; nobody was steering now, and the sidecar was starting to twist violently in the bike's slipstream._

_"I'm on it, Harry, don' worry!" Hagrid yelled, and from inside his jacket pocket he pulled his flowery pink umbrella._

"No!" the wizards yelled.

_"Hagrid! No! Let me!"_

_"REPARO!"_

_There was a deafening bang and the sidecar broke away from the bike completely._

"No!" everyone now yelled this time, with the obvious exception of Harry.

_Harry sped forward, propelled by the impetus of the bike's flight, then the sidecar began to lose height –_

_In desperation Harry pointed his wand at the sidecar and shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!"_

"Clever," Dora nodded.

_The sidecar rose like a cork, unsteerable but at least still airborne. He had but a split second's relief, however, as more curses streaked past him: The three Death Eaters were closing in._

_"I'm comin', Harry!" Hagrid yelled from out of the darkness, but Harry could feel the sidecar beginning to sink again: Crouching as low as he could, he pointed at the middle of the oncoming figures and yelled, "Impedimenta!"_

"And now the sidecar'll fall," Lily moaned.

_The jinx hit the middle Death Eater in the chest; For a moment the man was absurdly spread-eagled in midair as though he had hit an invisible barrier: One of his fellows almost collided with him –_

_Then the sidecar began to fall in earnest, and the remaining Death Eater shot a curse so close to Harry that he had to duck below the rim of the car, knocking out a tooth on the edge of his seat –_

_"I'm comin', Harry, I'm comin'!"_

"Hurry up!" Petunia groaned

_A huge hand seized the back of Harry's robes and hoisted him out of the plummeting sidecar; Harry pulled his rucksack with him as he dragged himself onto the motorbike's seat and found himself back-to-back with Hagrid._

"Easy for spells," Fleur said with an air of clutching at straws.

_As they soared upward, away from the two remaining Death Eaters, Harry spat blood out of his mouth, pointed his wand at the falling sidecar, and yelled, "Confringo!"_

_He felt a dreadful, gut-wrenching pang for Hedwig as it exploded;_

"Poor Hedwig," Remus said.

_the Death Eater nearest it was blasted off his broom and fell from sight; his companion fell back and vanished._

_"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," moaned Hagrid, "I shouldn'ta tried ter repair it meself – yeh've got no room –"_

"Just keep flying!" Bill snapped.

_"It's not a problem, just keep flying!" Harry shouted back, as two more Death Eaters emerged out of the darkness, drawing closer._

_As the curses came shooting across the intervening space again, Hagrid swerved and zigzagged: Harry knew that Hagrid did not dare use the dragon-fire button again, with Harry seated so insecurely. Harry sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell back at their pursuers, barely holding them off. He shot another blocking jinx at them: The closest Death Eater swerved to avoid it and his hood slipped, and by the red light of his next Stunning Spell, Harry saw the strangely blank face of Stanley Shunpike – Stan –  
>"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled.<em>

"Harry!" Lily and James yelled.

_"That's him, it's him, it's the real one!"_

"How did they know that?!" Teddy said, wide-eyed.

"Harry used Expelliarmus in the graveyard remember," Dora sighed.

_The hooded Death Eater's shout reached Harry even above the thunder of the motorbike's engine: Next moment, both pursuers had fallen back and disappeared from view._

_"Harry, what's happened?" bellowed Hagrid. "Where've they gone?"_

"To get Voldemort," Ron groaned.

_"I don't know!"_

_He gazed around at the apparently empty darkness. He clambered around on the seat to face forward and seized hold of the back of Hagrid's jacket._

_"Hagrid, do the dragon-fire thing again, let's get out of here!"_

"No!" Neville said. "Don't."

_"Hold on tight, then, Harry!"_

_There was a deafening, screeching roar again and the white-blue fire shot from the exhaust: Harry felt himself slipping backwards off what little of the seat he had. Hagrid flung backward upon him, barely maintaining his grip on the handlebars –_

_"I think we've lost 'em Harry, I think we've done it!" yelled Hagrid._

"I doubt it," Luna said.

_he looked left and right for pursuers _

_"We're nearly there, Harry, we've nearly made it!" shouted Hagrid._

Everyone sighed in relief.

_Harry felt the bike drop a little, though the lights down on the ground still seemed remote as stars._

_As a Death Eater appeared on either side of the bike, two Killing Curses missed Harry by millimeters, cast from behind –_

"Oh god," Dudley groaned

_And then Harry saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke on the wind, without broomstick or thestral to hold him, his snake-like face gleaming out of the blackness, his white fingers raising his wand again –_

_Hagrid let out a bellow of fear and steered the motorbike into a vertical dive. Clinging on for dear life, Harry sent Stunning Spells flying at random into the whirling night. He saw a body fly past him and knew he had hit one of them, but then he heard a bang and saw sparks from the engine; the motorbike spiraled through the air, completely out of control –_

Everyone tensed, their eyes wide many letting out a shriek of fear.

_Green jets of light shot past them again._

"Green lights," Molly groaned.

_Harry had no idea which way was up, which down: A hooded figure on a broomstick was feet from him, he saw it raise its arm –_

'No!'

_"NO!"_

_With a shout of fury Hagrid launched himself off the bike at the Death Eater;_

"'E really cares about you," Fleur smiled

_to his horror, Harry saw both Hagrid and the Death Eater, falling out of sight, their combined weight too much for the broomstick –_

"Oh Merlin," James said.

_Barely gripping the plummeting bike with his knees, Harry heard Voldemort scream, "Mine!"_

_It was over: He could not see or hear where Voldemort was; he glimpsed another Death Eater swooping out of the way and heard, "Avada –"_

_As the pain from Harry's scar forced his eyes shut, his wand acted of its own accord._

_He felt it drag his hand around like some great magnet, saw a spurt of golden fire through his half-closed eyelids, heard a crack and a scream of fury. The remaining Death Eater yelled; Voldemort screamed, "NO!" Somehow, Harry found his nose an inch from the dragon-fire button. He punched it with his wand-free hand and the bike shot more flames into the air, hurtling straight toward the ground._

_"Hagrid!" Harry called, holding on to the bike for dear life. "Hagrid – Accio Hagrid!"_

"That'll just make you go to Hagrid," Bill groaned.

"That's what I wanted," Harry said.

_The motorbike sped up, sucked towards the earth. Face level with the handlebars, Harry could see nothing but distant lights growing nearer and nearer: He was going to crash and there was nothing he could do about it. Behind him came another scream, "Your wand, Selwyn, give me your wand!"_

_He felt Voldemort before he saw him. Looking sideways, he stared into the red eyes and was sure they would be the last thing he ever saw: Voldemort preparing to curse him once more –_

_And then Voldemort vanished._

"You're in the enchantments," Dora grinned and everyone sighed with relief.

_Harry looked down and saw Hagrid spread-eagled on the ground below him. He pulled hard at the handlebars to avoid hitting him, groped for the brake, but with an earsplitting, ground trembling crash, he smashed into a muddy pond._

"Lovely," Molly said, scrunching her nose up.

_"Hagrid?"_

_Harry struggled to raise himself out of the debris of metal and leather that surrounded him; his hands sank into inches of muddy water as he tried to stand. He could not understand where Voldemort had gone and expected him to swoop out of the darkness at any moment. Something hot and wet was trickling down his chin and from his forehead. _

"You're bleeding," Lily said.

"When's he not?" Ron asked.

_He crawled out of the pond and stumbled toward the great dark mass on the ground that was Hagrid._

_"Hagrid? Hagrid, talk to me –"_

_But the dark mass did not stir._

"Oh Merlin!" Sirius groaned.

_"Who's there? Is it Potter? Are you Harry Potter?"_

_Harry did not recognize the man's voice. Then a woman shouted. "They've crashed. Ted! Crashed in the garden!"_

"My parent's," Dora breathed.

"Yes!" Teddy said

_Harry's head was swimming._

_"Hagrid," he repeated stupidly, and his knees buckled._

_The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on what felt like cushions, with a burning sensation in his ribs and right arm. His missing tooth had been regrown. The scar on his forehead was still throbbing._

_"Hagrid?"_

"Is that all you can say?" Bill chuckled.

_He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar, lamp-lit sitting room. His rucksack lay on the floor a short distance away, wet and muddy. A fair-haired, big-bellied man was watching Harry anxiously._

Dora smiled sadly looking at her father.

_"Hagrid's fine, son," said the man, "the wife's seeing to him now. How are you feeling? Anything else broken? I've fixed your ribs, _

"You broke you ribs?" Lily said, worried.

"Apparently."

_your tooth, and your arm. _

"Stupid bike of yours, Padfoot," James muttered.

_I'm Ted, by the way, Ted Tonks – Dora's father._**"**

Teddy breathed out in awe, staring at his namesake.

"Skipping," Harry said.

_Harry's feet slammed onto hard ground and he fell onto his hands and knees in the yard of the Burrow. He heard screams._

"That's us," Molly laughed.

_Throwing aside the no longer glowing hairbrush, Harry stood up, swaying slightly, and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the back door as Hagrid, who had also collapsed on landing, clambered laboriously to his feet._

_"Harry? You are the real Harry? What happened? Where are the others?" cried Mrs. Weasley._

"Yes, dear, just scare them," Arthur chuckled.

"Sorry, Harry," Molly said.

"It's fine."

_"What d'you mean? Isn't anyone else back?" Harry panted._

_The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasley's pale face._

_"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," Harry told her, "We were surrounded the moment we took off – they knew it was tonight – I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us –"_

_He could hear the self-justifying note in his voice, the plea for her to understand why he did not know what had happened to her sons, but –_

_"Thank goodness you're all right," she said, pulling him into a hug_

Lily and James smiled softly.

_"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" asked Hagrid a little shakily, "Fer medicinal purposes?"_

"Sure, Hagrid," Gideon said slowly.

"Medicinal purposes," Fabian winked.

_She could have summoned it by magic, but as she hurried back toward the crooked house, Harry knew that she wanted to hide her face. He turned to Ginny and she answered his unspoken plea for information at once._

"I knew what you needed," Ginny smiled.

_"Ron and Tonks should have been back first, but they missed their Portkey, it came back without them," she said, pointing at a rusty oil can lying on the ground nearby. "And that one," she pointed at an ancient sneaker, "should have been Dad and Fred's, they were supposed to be second. You and Hagrid were third and," she checked her watch, "if they made it, George and Lupin ought to be back in about a minute."_

"Oh god," Petunia sighed.

_Mrs. Weasley reappeared carrying a bottle of brandy, which she handed to Hagrid. He uncorked it and drank it straight down in one._

"Hagrid," Lily scolded.

_"Mum!" shouted Ginny pointing to a spot several feet away._

_A blue light had appeared in the darkness: It grew larger and brighter, and Lupin and George appeared, spinning and then falling._

"Dad," Teddy grinned.

_Harry knew immediately that there was something wrong: Lupin was supporting George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood._

"This where he lost his ear!" Sirius said, having talked to George the other night, as the smiles slid of everyone's faces.

_Harry ran forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and Lupin carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the living room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Ginny gasped: One of George's ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood._

"Oh my Merlin," Lily and James breathed.

Petunia and Dudley looked faintly sick and others disturbed.

_No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son that Lupin grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen,_

"What are you doing?" James snapped at his friend.

_where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door._

_"Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly, "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"_

_Lupin ignored him._

_"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"_

"Sheesh, Remus, calm down," Lily and Dora said together.

_"A – a Grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?"_

_Lupin released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard._

_"Wha' was tha' about?" roared Hagrid._

_"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," said Lupin tersely_

"Could have been gentler," Molly and Lily huffed

_"We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."_

"But Harry didn't know about the plan until that night," Petunia said.

"I knew the date we were moving," Harry said, "and that's what the Death Eaters knew."

_"So why aren' you checkin' me?" panted Hagrid, still struggling with the door._

"You're half giant," Luna said.

_"You're half-giant," said Lupin, looking up at Hagrid. "The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."_

_"None of the Order would have told Voldemort we were moving tonight," said Harry. "Voldemort only caught up with me toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. If he'd been in on the plan he'd have known from the start I was the one with Hagrid."_

_"Voldemort caught up with you?" said Lupin sharply. "What happened? How did you escape?"_

"That was not the way to tell me," Remus sighed.

"Yeah, sorry," Harry shrugged.

_Harry explained how the Death Eaters pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Voldemort, who had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary of Tonks's parents._

_"They recognized you? But how? What had you done?"_

_"I . . ." Harry tried to remember; the whole journey seemed like a blur of panic and confusion. "I saw Stan Shunpike . . . . You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of – well, he doesn't know what he's doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!"_

_Lupin looked aghast._

_"Harry, the time for Disarming is past! _

"That's a good point," Arthur nodded.

_These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"_

_"We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself, and if I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!_

"But so is that," Teddy chuckled.

"Yes," Remus agreed. "A very good one at that."

Harry smirked at him.

_Expelliarmus saved me from Voldemort two years ago," Harry added defiantly. Lupin was reminding him of the sneering Hufflepuff Zacharias Smith, who had jeered at Harry for wanting to teach Dumbledore's Army how to Disarm._

"Come on, Harry," Ron laughed. "Remus wasn't that bad."

_"Yes, Harry," said Lupin with painful restraint, "and a great number of Death Eaters witnessed that happening! Forgive me, but it was a very unusual move then, under the imminent threat of death. Repeating it tonight in front of Death Eaters who either witnessed or heard about the first occasion was close to suicidal!"_

"That's true," Lily sighed.

_"So you think I should have killed Stan Shunpike?" said Harry angrily._

"Of course, he doesn't," Sirius said. 'He's just wants and is trying to protect you."

_"Of course not," said Lupin, "but the Death Eaters – frankly, most people! – would have expected you to attack back! Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"_

The trio and Ginny shared looks as they remembered the spell Harry had killed Voldemort with.

_Lupin was making Harry feel idiotic, and yet there was still a grain of defiance inside him._

_"I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there," said Harry,_

"Good," Molly nodded

_"That's Voldemort's job."_

Everyone sighed at that – so many innocent people got killed during the wars.

_Lupin's retort was lost: Finally succeeding in squeezing through the door, Hagrid staggered to a chair and sat down; it collapsed beneath him. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed Lupin again._

_"Will George be okay?"_

_All Lupin's frustration with Harry seemed to drain away at the question._

_"I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off –"_

"Cursed," Molly sighed.

_There was a scuffling from outside. Lupin dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard._

_Two figures had appeared in the yard, and as Harry ran toward them he realized they were Hermione, now returning to her normal appearance, and Kingsley, both clutching a bent coat hanger, Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms,_

"You're hugging a lot, tonight," Gideon said.

"I was glad he was safe," Hermione said.

"And the first time?" Fabian asked.

"It was a friendly greeting," Harry said.

"Ah, did you have to put friendly in there?" Gideon smirked.

"Yes, we never said anything was going on," Fabian agreed.

Harry and Hermione let out a noise of frustrations.

"Something wrong?" the twins asked together.

_but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them. Over Hermione's shoulder Harry saw him raise his wand and point it at Lupin's chest._

_"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"_

_"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" said Lupin calmly._

"Stop reminding him," Teddy groaned.

_Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Lupin said, "It's him, I've checked!"_

_"All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak, "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"_

_"So it seems," replied Lupin, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."_

_"Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley. "Who else is back?"_

_"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."_

_Hermione stifled a little moan behind her hand._

"Ron," everyone except Ron and Hermione said knowingly.

_"What happened to you?" Lupin asked Kingsley._

_"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off,_

"He did," Hermione shivered.

"Thestral," Lily nodded.

_"and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can –"_

_"Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."_

_"So that's why he left, to follow you!" said Kingsley, "I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"_

_"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," said Lupin._

_"Stan?" repeated Hermione. "But I thought he was in Azkaban?"_

_Kingsley let out a mirthless laugh._

_"Hermione, there's obviously been a mass breakout which the Ministry has hushed up. Travers's hood fell off when I cursed him, he's supposed to be inside too. But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?"_

_"He lost an ear," said Lupin._

_"lost an - ?" repeated Hermione in a high voice._

_"Snape's work," said Lupin._

"Severus/Snape!" Lily and Petunia screamed

_"Snape?" shouted Harry. "You didn't say –"_

_"He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a speciality of Snape's. I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."_

_Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, obscured by flying friends. _

_"Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again. _

The twins and marauders snickered.

_Glad of something to do, Harry pulled him free, the headed through the empty kitchen and back into the sitting room, where Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were still tending to George. Mrs. Weasley had staunched his bleeding now, and by the lamplight Harry saw a clean gaping hole where George's ear had been._

_"How is he?"_

_Mrs. Weasley looked around and said, "I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could've been so much worse . . . . He's alive."_

_"Yeah," said Harry. "Thank God."_

_"Did I hear someone else in the yard?" Ginny asked._

_"Hermione and Kingsley," said Harry._

_"Thank goodness," Ginny whispered. They looked at each other; Harry wanted to hug her, hold on to her; he did not even care much that Mrs. Weasley was there, but before he could act on the impulse, there was a great crash from the kitchen._

"Couldn't have waited a few minutes, could ya, Dad?" Ginny said. "I could've used a hug right then."

"Sorry," Arthur chuckled.

"I thought you broke up with her," Bill said.

"Friends hug," Harry said, waving a hand to Hermione.

"Plus, it's not as if either of us wanted to break up," Ginny sighed.

_"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"_

"Oh dear, Arthur snappish," Fabian yelled.

"Everyone run for the hills," Gideon shouted.

Molly hit them over the back of the head.

_Harry had never heard Mr. Weasley shout like that before. He burst into the living room, his bald patch gleaming with sweat, his spectacles askew, Fred right behind him, both pale but uninjured._

_"Arthur!" sobbed Mrs. Weasley. "Oh thank goodness!"_

_"How is he?"_

_Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside George. For the first time since Harry had known him, Fred seemed to be lost for words. He gaped over the back of the sofa at his twin's wound as if he could not believe what he was seeing._

_Perhaps roused by the sound of Fred and their father's arrival, George stirred._

_"How do you feel, Georgie?" whispered Mrs. Weasley._

_George's fingers groped for the side of his head._

_"Saintlike," he murmured._

"What?" Dudley said, looking worried.

_"What's wrong with him?" croaked Fred, looking terrified. "Is his mind affected?"_

_"Saintlike," repeated George, opening his eyes and looking up at his brother. "You see. . . I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?"_

Everyone chuckled, although for some people it was rather weakly.

_Mrs. Weasley sobbed harder than ever. Color flooded Fred's pale face._

_"Pathetic," he told George. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"_

"That is bad," Fabian chuckled.

"It's not that bad," Gideon disagreed.

_"Ah well," said George, grinning at his tear-soaked mother. "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."_

"I zink she'd prefer you to 'ave your ear," Fleur said.

_He looked around._

_"Hi, Harry – you are Harry, right?"_

_"Yeah, I am," said Harry, moving closer to the sofa._

_"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George. "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"_

_"They're not back yet, George," said Mrs. Weasley. George's grin faded. Harry glanced at Ginny and motioned to her to accompany him back outside. As they walked through the kitchen she said in a low voice._

_"Ron and Tonks should be back by now. They didn't have a long journey; Auntie Muriel's not that far from here."_

"Stupid women," Arthur said.

His son was late home from battle and she wanted to_ fuss_.

_Harry said nothing. As they walked down the back steps into the dark yard, Ginny took his hand._

The two mothers looked fondly at their children.

_Kingsley was striding backward and forward, glancing up at the sky every time he turned. Hagrid, Hermione, and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing upward in silence. None of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent vigil._

_The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves –_

_And then a broom materialized directly above them and streaked toward the ground –_

_"It's them!" screamed Hermione._

_Tonks landed in a long skid that sent earth and pebbles everywhere._

"Mum," Teddy breathed

_"Remus!" Tonks cried as she staggered off the broom into Lupin's arms. Hisface was set and white: He seemed unable to speak,_

_Ron tripped dazedly toward Harry and Hermione._

_"You're okay," he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and hugged him tightly._

"Right person this time," Sirius teased before getting hit by Lily, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry.

Remus, Teddy, Dora, Neville, Luna and James burst into laughter.

_"I thought – I thought –"_

_"'M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine."_

_"Ron was great," said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom –"_

"Brilliant, son," Arthur smiled.

_"You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron with her arms still around his neck._

_"Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily, breaking free._

The trio grinned at each other: that was said a lot between them.

_"Are we the last back?"_

_"No," said Ginny, "we're still waiting for Bill and Fleur and Mad-Eye and Mundungus. I'm going to tell Mum and Dad you're okay, Ron –"_

_She ran back inside._

_"So what kept you? What happened?" Lupin sounded almost angry at Tonks._

Dora raised her eyebrows

"I was worried," Remus said, Dora kissed his cheek.

_"Bellatrix," said Tonks. "She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, She tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix._

"Please don't go picking battles with that nutter on my account," Sirius said.

_But we definitely injured Rodolphus . . . . _

"Good," Neville said.

_Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us –"_

_A muscle was jumping in Lupin's jaw. He nodded, but seemed unable to say anything else._

_"So what happened to you lot?" Tonks asked, turning to Harry, Hermione, and Kingsley._

_They recounted the stories of their own journeys, but all the time the continued absence of Bill, Fleur, Mad-Eye, and Mundungus seemed to lie upon them like a frost, its icy bite harder and harder to ignore._

_"I'm going to have to get back to Downing Street, I should have been there an hour ago," said Kingsley finally, after a last sweeping gaze at the sky. "Let me know when they're back,."_

_Lupin nodded. With a wave to the others, Kingsley walked away into the darkness toward the gate. Harry thought he heard the faintest pop as Kingsley Disapparated just beyond the Burrow's boundaries._

_Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came racing down the back steps, Ginny behind them. Both parents hugged Ron before turning to Lupin and Tonks._

_"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley, "for our sons."_

"Yes," Arthur said.

"Don't be silly," Dora and Remus said.

_"Don't be silly, Molly," said Tonks at once._

_"How's George?" asked Lupin._

_"What's wrong with him?" piped up Ron._

_"He's lost –"_

_But the end of Mrs. Weasley's sentence was drowned in a general outcry. A thestral_

"You two!" Lily said, relieved.

_had just soared into sight and landed a few feet from them. Bill and Fleur slid from its back, windswept but unhurt._

"Good," James breathed.

_"Bill! Thank God, thank God –"_

_Mrs. Weasley ran forward, but the hug Bill bestowed upon her was perfunctory. Looking directly at his father, he said, "Mad-Eye's dead."_

"No!' everyone who had been dead by this time yelled shocked, Petunia and Dudley also said it.

"Mad-Eye!" Lily said shaking her head in surprise.

_Nobody spoke, nobody moved. _

_"We saw it," said Bill; Fleur nodded, tear tracks glittering on her cheeks in the light from the kitchen window. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort – he can fly – went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated._

"Traitorous scum," Neville growled.

_Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye full in the face, he fell backward off his broom and – there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail –"_

_Bill's voice broke._

_"Of course you couldn't have done anything," said Lupin._

_They all stood looking at each other. _

_At last it seemed to dawn on everyone, though nobody said it, that there was no point of waiting in the yard anymore, and in silence they followed Mr. And Mrs. Weasley back into the Burrow, and into the living room, where Fred and George were laughing together._

"They don't know," Luna sighed.

_"What's wrong?" said Fred, scanning their faces as they entered, "What's happened? Who's -?"_

_"Mad-Eye," said Mr. Weasley, "Dead."_

_The twins' grins turned to grimaces of shock. Nobody seemed to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently into a handkerchief: She had been close to Mad-Eye._

_Hagrid, who had sat down on the floor in the corner where he had most space, was dabbing at his eyes with his tablecloth-sized handkerchief._

_Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of Firewhisky and some glasses._

"Hero shots," Fabian nodded, they'd all, except the Muggles and Teddy, drunk them.

_"Here," he said, and with a wave of his wand, and sent twelve full glasses soaring through the room to each of them, holding the thirteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye."_

_"Mad-Eye," they all said, and drank._

_"Mad-Eye," echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup._

"Hagrid," James said, fondly as they landed back in the family room.

"I can't believe it, Mad-Eye," Gideon said. "I mean …"

"He always seemed unbeatable," Fabian nodded.

Dora nodded, her eyes filled with tears, although she was cheered up by the idea of he might come back, since he was killed by Voldemort.

"Let's continue," Neville said and Harry nodded.

They entered the pensieve as Harry, Ron and Hermione were leading Scrimgeour into the Burrow and followed quickly behind them.

_Scrimgeour did not speak as they all passed through the messed kitchen and into the Burrow's sitting room. Although the garden had been full of soft golden evening light, it was already dark in here; Harry flicked his wand at the oil lamps as he entered and they illuminated the shabby but cozy room. Scrimgeour sat himself in the sagging armchair that Mr. Weasley normally occupied, leaving Harry, Ron, and Hermione to squeeze side by side onto the sofa. Once they had done so, Scrimgeour spoke._

_"I have some questions for the three of you, and I think it will be best if we do it individually. If you two" - he pointed at Harry and Hermione - "can wait upstairs, I will start with Ronald."_

"If he's thinking he can split you three up, he's mad," Neville chuckled.

_"We're not going anywhere," said Harry, while Hermione nodded vigorously. "You can speak to us together, or not at all."_

Everyone nodded firmly.

_Scrimgeour gave Harry a cold, appraising look. Harry had the impression that the Minister was wondering whether it was worthwhile opening hostilities this early._

_"Very well then, together," he said, shrugging. He cleared his throat. "I am here, as I'm sure you know, because of Albus Dumbledore's will."_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another._

"Or not," James laughed.

_"A surprise, apparently! You were not aware then that Dumbledore had left you anything?"_

_"A-all of us?" said Ron, "Me and Hermione too?"_

"Don't say that," Molly sighed.

_"Yes, all of -"_

_But Harry interrupted._

_"Dumbledore died over a month ago. Why has it taken this long to give us what he left us?"_

"They wanted to examine it," Lily said.

_"Isn't it obvious?" said Hermione, before Scrimgeour could answer. "They wanted to examine whatever he's left us. You had no right to do that!" she said, and her voice trembled slightly._

_"I had every right," said Scrimgeour dismissively. "The Decree for Justifiable Confiscation gives the Ministry the power the confiscate the contents of a will-"_

_"That law was created to stop wizards passing on Dark artifacts," said Hermione, "and the Ministry is supposed to have powerful evidence that the deceased's possessions are illegal before seizing them! Are you telling me that you thought Dumbledore was trying to pass us something cursed?"_

_"Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour._

_"No, I'm not," retorted Hermione. "I'm hoping to do some good in the world!"_

"Hermione, you're Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Harry pointed out.

"Yes and don't you forget it," Hermione smiled. "Basically, you work for me!"

_Ron laughed. Scrimgeour's eyes flickered toward him and away again as Harry spoke._

_"So why have you decided to let us have our things now? Can't think of a pretext to keep them?"_

_"No, it'll be because thirty-one days are up," said Hermione at once. "They can't keep the objects longer than that unless they can prove they're dangerous. Right?"_

_"Would you say you were close to Dumbledore, Ronald?" asked Scrimgeour, ignoring Hermione. Ron looked startled._

_"Me? Not - not really... It was always Harry who..."_

"Ron," Remus groaned.

_Ron looked around at Harry and Hermione, to see Hermione giving him a stop-talking-now! sort of look, but the damage was done; Scrimgeour looked as though he had heard exactly what he had expected, and wanted, to hear. He swooped like a bird of prey upon Ron's answer._

_"If you were not very close to Dumbledore, how do you account for the fact that he remembered you in his will? He made exceptionally few personal bequests. The vast majority of his possessions - his private library, his magical instruments, and other personal effects - were left to Hogwarts. Why do you think you were singled out?"_

_"I...dunno," said Ron. "I...when I say we weren't close...I mean, I think he liked me..."_

_"You're being modest, Ron," said Hermione. "Dumbledore was very fond of you."_

"Thank Merlin Hermione's there," Bill teased.

_However, Scrimgeour did not seem to be listening. He put his hand inside his cloak and drew out a drawstring pouch much larger than the one Hagrid had given Harry. From it, he removed a scroll of parchment which he unrolled and read aloud._

_"'The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore'... Yes, here we are... 'To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it.'"_

_Scrimgeour took from the bag an object that Harry had seen before: It looked something like a silver cigarette lighter, but it had, he knew, the power to suck all light from a place, and restore it, with a simple click. Scrimgeour leaned forward and passed the Deluminator to Ron, who took it and turned it over in the fingers looking stunned._

"Cool," the twins said.

_"That is a valuable object," said Scrimgeour, watching Ron. "It may even be unique. Certainly it is of Dumbledore's own design. Why would he have left you and item so rare?"_

_Ron shook his head, looking bewildered._

_"Dumbledore must have taught thousands of students," Scrimgeour persevered. "Yet the only ones he remembered in his will are you three. Why is that? To what use did he think you would put to the Deluminator, Mr. Weasley?"_

_"Put out lights, I s'pose," mumbled Ron. "What else could I do with it?"_

Everyone chuckled but Ron flinched slightly at the slight mention of leaving Harry and Hermione.

_Evidently Scrimgeour had no suggestions. After squinting at Ron for a moment or two, he turned back to Dumbledore's will._

_"'To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive.'"_

"What?" Petunia asked.

"Wizarding fairy tales," Hermione smiled

_Scrimgeour now pulled out of the bag a small book that looked as ancient as the copy of Secrets of the Darkest Art upstairs. Its binding was stained and peeling in places. Hermione took it from Scrimgeour without a word. She held the book in her lap and gazed at it. Harry saw that the title was in runes; he had never learned to read them. As he looked, a tear splashed onto the embossed symbols._

"Oh, Hermione," Molly sighed.

_"Why do you think Dumbledore left you that book, Miss Granger?" asked Scrimgeour._

_"He... he knew I liked books," said Hermione in a thick voice, mopping her eyes with her sleeve._

_"But why that particular book?"_

_"I don't know. He must have thought I'd enjoy it."_

_"Did you ever discuss codes, or any means of passing secret messages, with Dumbledore?"_

_"No, I didn't," said Hermione, still wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "And if the Ministry hasn't found any hidden codes in this book in thirty-one days, I doubt that I will."_

"If anyone can, it would be you, Hermione," Neville chuckled.

_She suppressed a sob. They were wedged together so tightly that Ron had difficulty extracting his arm to put it around Hermione's shoulders. Scrimgeour turned back to the will._

_"'To Harry James Potter,'" he read, and Harry's insides contracted with a sudden excitement, "'I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill.'"_

"A snitch?" Dora asked, skeptically.

_As Scrimgeour pulled out the tiny, walnut-sized golden ball, its silver wings fluttered rather feebly, and Harry could not help feeling a definite sense of anticlimax._

_"Why did Dumbledore leave you this Snitch?" asked Scrimgeour._

_"No idea," said Harry. "For the reasons you just read out, I suppose... to remind me what you can get if you... persevere and whatever it was."_

"Skill," Ginny laughed.

_"You think this a mere symbolic keepsake, then?"_

_"I suppose so," said Harry. "What else could it be?"_

_"I'm asking the questions," said Scrimgeour, shifting his chair a little closer to the sofa. Dusk was really falling outside now; the marquee beyond the windows towered ghostly white over the hedge._

_"I notice that your birthday cake is in the shape of a Snitch," Scrimgeour said to Harry. "Why is that?"_

"Because Harry is a brilliant seeker," Ginny and Teddy grinned.

_Hermione laughed derisively._

_"Oh, it can't be a reference to the fact Harry's a great Seeker, that's way too obvious," she said. "There must be a secret message from Dumbledore hidden in the icing!"_

The twins chuckled.

_"I don't think there's anything hidden in the icing," said Scrimgeour, "but a Snitch would be a very good hiding place for a small object. You know why, I'm sure?"_

_Harry shrugged, Hermione, however, answered: Harry thought that answering questions correctly was such a deeply ingrained habit she could not suppress the urge._

"Git," Hermione said, hitting him.

_"Because Snitches have flesh memories," she said._

_"What?" said Harry and Ron together; both considered Hermione's Quidditch knowledge negligible._

"Prats," Hermione said this time, hitting them both.

_"Correct," said Scrimgeour. "A Snitch is not touched by bare skin before it is released, not even by the maker, who wears gloves. It carries an enchantment by which it can identify the first human to lay hands upon it, in case of a disputed capture. This Snitch" - he held up the tiny golden ball - "will remember your touch, Potter. _

"Cool," James said.

_It occurs to me that Dumbledore, who had prodigious magical skill, whatever his other faults, might have enchanted this Snitch so that it will open only for you."_

"But if that's so," Lily said. "You don't want to take it in front of the minister."

_"You don't say anything," said Scrimgeour. "Perhaps you already know what the Snitch contains?"_

_"No," said Harry._

_"Take it," said Scrimgeour quietly._

_Harry met the Minister's yellow eyes and knew he had no option but to obey. He held out his hand, and Scrimgeour leaned forward again and place the Snitch, slowly and deliberately, into Harry's palm._

_Nothing happened. As Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch, its tired wings fluttered and were still. Scrimgeour, Ron, and Hermione continued to gaze avidly at the now partially concealed ball, as if still hoping it might transform in some way._

_"That was dramatic," said Harry coolly. Both Ron and Hermione laughed._

As did everyone else in the room.

"How come you don't show this side more often?" Teddy laughed – he had seen his godfather's dry wit a lot these last few days in the memory's but he didn't show it very often.

"It's for people I dislike," Harry chuckled.

_"That's all, then, is it?" asked Hermione, making to raise herself off the sofa._

_"Not quite," said Scrimgeour, who looked bad tempered now._

"It's not going to plan," Bill laughed.

_"Dumbledore left you a second bequest, Potter."_

_"What is it?" asked Harry, excitement rekindling._

_Scrimgeour did not bother to read from the will this time._

_"The sword of Godric Gryffindor," he said._

"Wicked!" the twins yelled

_Hermione and Ron both stiffened. Harry looked around for a sign of the ruby-encrusted hilt, but Scrimgeour did not pull the sword from the leather pouch._

_"So where is it?" Harry asked suspiciously._

_"Unfortunately," said Scrimgeour, "that sword was not Dumbledore's to give away. The sword of Godric Gryffindor is an important historical artifact, and as such, belongs-"_

_"It belongs to Harry!" said Hermione hotly. "It chose him, he was the one who found it, it came to him out of the Sorting Hat-"_

Harry caught Neville's eye for a minute but then they both looked away quickly.

_"According to reliable historical sources, the sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor," said Scrimgeour._

_"That does not make it the exclusive property of Mr. Potter, whatever Dumbledore may have decided." Scrimgeour scratched his badly shaven cheek, scrutinizing Harry. "Why do you think-?"_

_"-Dumbledore wanted to give me the sword?" said Harry, struggling to keep his temper. "Maybe he thought it would look nice on my wall."_

Everyone chuckled again.

_"This is not a joke, Potter!" growled Scrimgeour. "Was it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he believed, as do many, that you are the one destined to destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"_

_"Interesting theory," said Harry. "Has anyone ever tried sticking a sword in Voldemort?_

"They'd be dead before they raised the sword," Luna said. "So I wouldn't have suggested it."

_Maybe the Ministry should put some people onto that, instead of wasting their time stripping down Deluminators or covering up breakouts from Azkaban. So this is what you've been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, trying to break open a Snitch? People are dying – I was nearly one of them – Voldemort chased me across three countries, he killed Mad-Eye Moody, but there's no word about any of that from the Ministry, has there? And you still expect us to cooperate with you!"_

"Yep," Dudley said.

_"You go too far!" shouted Scrimgeour, standing up: Harry jumped to his feet too. Scrimgeour limped toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with the point of his wand; It singed a hole in Harry's T-shirt like a lit cigarette._

"Oi!" everyone said.

_"Oi!" said Ron, jumping up and raising his own wand, but Harry said,_

_"No! D'you want to give him an excuse to arrest us?"_

"Urg, that's why he came today," James groaned.

_"Remembered you're not at school, have you?" said Scrimgeour breathing hard into Harry's face. "Remembered that I am not Dumbledore, who forgave your insolence and insubordination? You may wear that scar like a crown, Potter, but it is not up to a seventeen-year-old boy to tell me how to do my job! It's time you learned some respect!"_

"It's time you earned it," Lily said, angrily.

_"It's time you earned it." said Harry._

Everyone chuckled as Harry and Lily grinned at each other.

_The floor trembled; there was a sound of running footsteps, then the door to the sitting room burst open and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran in._

"Thank god," Petunia said.

_"We - we thought we heard -" began Mr. Weasley, looking thoroughly alarmed at the sight of Harry and the Minister virtually nose to nose._

_"—raised voices," panted Mrs. Weasley._

_Scrimgeour took a couple of steps back from Harry, glancing at the hole he had made in Harry's T-shirt. He seemed to regret his loss of temper._

_"It – it was nothing," he growled. "I … regret your attitude," he said,_

"And I yours," Bill said

_looking Harry full in the face once more. "You seem to think that the Ministry does not desire what you – what Dumbledore – desired. _

"Because they don't," Dora said.

_We ought to work together."_

_"I don't like your methods, Minister," said Harry. "Remember?"_

_For the second time, he raised his right fist and displayed to Scrimgeour the scar that still showed white on the back of it, spelling I must not tell lies ._

_Scrimgeour's expression hardened. He turned away without another word and limped from the room. Mrs. Weasley hurried after him; Harry heard her stop at the back door. After a minute or so she called, "He's gone!"_

"Yes!" everyone cheered causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to laugh.

"Skipping," Harry chuckled.

_"Muffiato," Hermione whispered, waving her wand in the direction of the stairs._

_"Thought you didn't approve of that spell?" said Ron._

"What does it do?" Dudley asked

"Make's it so people can't hear," Ron said.

"And why didn't you approve of it?" Petunia asked Hermione.

"I didn't like the source."

_"Times change," said Hermione. "Now, show us that Deluminator."_

_Ron obliged at once. Holding it up in front of him, he clicked it. The solitary lamp they had lit went out at once._

_"The thing is," whispered Hermione through the dark, "we could have achieved that with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."_

"True," Arthur nodded.

_There was a small click, and the ball of light from the lamp flew back to the ceiling and illuminated them all once more._

_"Still, it's cool," said Ron, a little defensively._

"Damn straight," Sirius nodded.

_"And from what they said, Dumbledore invented it himself!"_

"That makes it even cooler," James said.

_"I know but, surely he wouldn't have singled you out in his will just to help us turn out the lights!"_

_"D'you think he knew the Ministry would confiscate his will and examine everything he'd left us?" asked Harry._

"Yes," Lily said, frowning.

_"Definitely," said Hermione. "He couldn't tell us in the will why he was leaving us these things, but that will doesn't explain…"_

_"… why he couldn't have given us a hint when he was alive?" asked Ron._

_"Well, exactly," said Hermione, now flicking through The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "If these things are important enough to pass on right under the nose of the Ministry, you'd think he'd have left us know why… unless he thought it was obvious?"_

"I doubt it," Petunia said.

_"Thought wrong, then, didn't he?" said Ron. "I always said he was mental. Brilliant and everything, but cracked._

Everyone grinned and nodded their agreement.

_Leaving Harry an old Snitch – what the hell was that about?"_

_"I've no idea," said Hermione. "When Scrimgeour made you take it, Harry, I was so sure that something was going to happen!"_

"Me too," most muttered.

_"Yeah, well," said Harry, his pulse quickened as he raised the Snitch in his fingers. "I wasn't going to try too hard in front of Scrimgeour was I?"_

"What?" Remus asked. "You know how to open it?"

_"What do you mean?" asked Hermione._

_"The Snitch I caught in my first ever Quidditch match?" said Harry. "Don't you remember?"_

"The one you almost swallowed," Neville laughed.

_Hermione looked simply bemused. Ron, however, gasped, pointing frantically from Harry to the Snitch and back again until he found his voice._

_"That was the one you nearly swallowed!"_

"Wicked!" the twins said.

_"Exactly," said Harry, and with his heart beating fast, he pressed his mouth to the Snitch._

_It did not open. He lowered the golden sphere, but then Hermione cried out._

_"Writing! There's writing on it, quick, look!" He nearly dropped the Snitch in surprise and excitement. Hermione was quite right. Engraved upon the smooth golden surface, where seconds before there had been nothing, were five words written in the thin, slanted handwriting that Harry recognized as Dumbledore's_

"He wrote on it?" Molly asked, shocked.

_I open at the close._

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dora asked, annoyed they were getting so many questions.

"Death?" Luna suggested but no one looked as if they agreed with her.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were trying to keep straight faces at how perceptive Luna was.

_He had barely read them when the words vanished again._

_"I open at the close…." What's that supposed to mean?"_

_Hermione and Ron shook their heads, looking blank._

_"I open at the close… at the close… I open at the close…"_

_But no matter how often they repeated the words, with many different inflections, they were unable to wring any more meaning from them._

_"And the sword," said Ron finally, when they had at last abandoned their attempts to divine meaning in the Snitch's inscription._

_"Why did he want Harry to have the sword?"_

Everyone but Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny shock their heads looking confused.

_"And why couldn't he just have told me?" Harry said quietly. "I was there, it was right there on the wall of his office during all our talks last year! If he wanted me to have it, why didn't he just give it to me then?"_

_"And as for this book." Said Hermione, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard … I've never even heard of them!"_

"You haven't!" Bill exclaimed.

"She's Muggle-born, Bill," Fleur smiled as her husband looked sheepish

_"You've never heard of The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" said Ron incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"_

_"No, I'm not," said Hermione in surprise. "Do you know them then?"_

_"Well, of course I do!"_

_Harry looked up, diverted. The circumstance of Ron having read a book that Hermione had not was unprecedented._

"So true," Teddy chuckled as Harry dodged a punch from Ron but whacked round the head by Hermione.

_Ron, however, looked bemused by their surprise._

_"Oh come on! All the old kids' stories are supposed to be Beedle's aren't they? 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' … 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot'… 'Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump'…"_

"What was that?" Petunia laughed as Dudley chuckled.

_"Excuse me?" said Hermione giggling. "What was the last one?"_

_"Come off it!" said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. "You must've heard of Babbitty Rabbitty –"_

_"Ron, you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!" said Hermione. _

Lily and James looked sadden at the reminder they hadn't been there to raise their own son.

_"We didn't hear stories like that when we were little, we heard 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' and 'Cinderella' –"_

_"What's that, an illness?" asked Ron._

All the muggle-borns and half-blood's laughed.

'It's a story,' Dora giggled.

_"So these are children's stories?" asked Hermione, bending against over the runes._

_"Yeah." Said Ron uncertainly. "I mean, just what you hear, you know, that all these old stories came from Beedle. I dunno what they're like in the original versions."_

_"But I wonder why Dumbledore thought I should read them?"_

_Something cracked downstairs._

_"Probably just Charlie, now Mum's asleep, sneaking off to regrow his hair," said Ron nervously._

The twins and Bill snickered knowing that was probably true as they appeared in the family room.

"What's next?" Fleur asked, smiling slightly.

"Something you'll love to watch from someone else's view," Harry chuckled.

"Our wedding," Fleur said excitedly to Bill who grinned.

_Three o'clock on the following afternoon found Harry, Ron, Fred and George standing outside the great white marquee in the orchard, awaiting the arrival of the wedding guests. _

_All four of them were clutching seating plans, so that they could help show people to the right seats. A host of white-robed waiters had arrived an hour earlier, along with a golden jacketed band, and all of these wizards were currently sitting a short distance away under a tree. Harry could see a blue haze of pipe smoke issuing from the spot. Behind Harry, the entrance to the marquee revealed rows and rows of fragile golden chairs set on either side of a long purple carpet. The supporting poles were entwined with white and gold flowers. Fred and George had fastened an enormous bunch of golden balloons over the exact point where Bill and Fleur would shortly become husband and wife. Outside, butterflies and bees were hovering lazily over the grass and hedgerow._

"That looks beautiful," Lily said, causing Fleur to beam at her.

"Eet was," she said.

_"When I get married," said Fred, tugging at the collar of his own robes, "I won't be bothering with any of this nonsense. You can all wear what you like, and I'll put a full Body Bird Curse on Mum until it's all over."_

Molly smiled slightly as she remembered Fred now had a chance to marry which she had thought he'd lost.

_"Not so fast, Your Holeyness," said Fred,_

The twins chuckled.

_and darting past the gaggle of middle-aged witches heading for the procession, he said, "Here – permetiez moi to assister vous," to a pair of pretty French girls, who giggled and allowed him to escort them inside._

"Zat was terrible," Fleur grinned.

_George was left to deal with the middle-aged witches and Ron took charge of Mr. Weasley's old Ministry-colleague Perkins, while a rather deaf old couple fell to Harry's lot._

"Fleur's grandparents," Bill chuckled.

_"Wotcher," said a familiar voice _

"Dora/Mum," everyone chuckled.

_as he came out of the marquee again and found Tonks and Lupin at the front of the queue. She had turned blonde for the occasion. "Arthur told us you were the one with the curly hair. Sorry about last night," she added in a whisper as Harry led them up the aisle. "The Ministry's being very anti-werewolf at the moment_

Some people growled – stupid ministry.

_and we thought our presence might not do you any favors."_

_"It's fine, I understand," said Harry, speaking more to Lupin than Tonks. Lupin gave him a swift smile, but as they turned away Harry saw Lupin's face fall again into lines of misery._

"What's wrong with you?" James asked.

"Nothing," Remus said, looking at Harry.

He smiled softly and shook his head causing Remus to deflate with relief.

_Hagrid was causing a certain amount of disruption. Having misunderstood Fred's directions as he had sat himself, not upon the magically enlarged and reinforced seat set aside for him in the back row, but on five sets that now resembled a large pile of golden matchsticks._

"Oh, Hagrid," Neville chuckled.

_While Mr. Weasley repaired the damage and Hagrid shouted apologies to anybody who would listen, Harry hurried back to the entrance to find Ron face-to-face with a most eccentric-looking wizard. Slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, he wore a cap whose tassel dangled in front of his nose and robes of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow. An odd symbol, rather like a triangular eye, glistened from a golden chain around his neck._

"My dad," Luna beamed.

_"Xenophilius Lovegood," he said, extending a hand to Harry, "my daughter and I live just over the hill, so kind of the good Weasleys to invite us. But I think you know my Luna?" he added to Ron._

"Oh yes, we know Luna," Ron and Harry beamed over at the women in questioned.

_"Yes," said Ron. "Isn't she with you?"_

_"She lingered in that charming little garden to say hello to the gnomes, such a glorious infestation! How few wizards realize just how much we can learn from the wise little gnomes – or, to give them their correct name, the Gernumbli gardensi."_

_"Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words," said Ron, "but I think Fred and George taught them those."_

"Wait till I see them," Molly said.

"Actually that was me, dear," Arthur said sheepishly causing everyone to chuckle and even Molly to have an amused smile on her face.

_He led a party of warlocks into the marquee as Luna rushed up._

_"Hello, Harry!" she said._

"How did you know that?" Dudley asked.

"Harry's face has very little to do with features," Luna said.

Everyone shared confused looks at that. Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny also chuckled fondly.

_"Er –my name's Barry," said Harry, flummoxed._

_"Oh, have you changed that too?" she asked brightly._

_"How did you know -?"_

_"Oh, just your expression," she said._

_Like her father, Luna was wearing bright yellow robes, which she had accessorized with a large sunflower in her hair. _

_"_How lovely," Petunia said after blinking a bit,

_Xenophilius, who was deep in conversation with an acquaintance, had missed the exchange between Luna and Harry._

_Biding the wizard farewell, he turned to his daughter, who held up her finger and said, "Daddy, look – one of the gnomes actually bit me."_

_"How wonderful! _

"Sorry?" Bill asked.

_Gnome saliva is enormously beneficial." Said Mr. Lovegood, seizing Luna's outstretched fingers and examining the bleeding puncture marks._

_"Luna, my love, if you should feel any burgeoning talent today – perhaps an unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaims in Mermish_

"Mermish?" Dudley asked.

"Mermaid language," Hermione said offhand.

_do not repress it! You may have been gifted by the Gernumblies!"_

_Ron, passing them in the opposite direction let out a loud snort._

_"Ron can laugh," said Luna serenely as Harry led her and Xenophilius toward their seats, "but my father has done a lot of research on Gernumbli magic."_

_"Really?" said Harry. "Are you sure you don't want to put anything on that bite, though?"_

"I wish you had let me check it, dear," Molly sighed.

"It was fine, Mrs Weasley," Luna smiled

_"Oh, it's fine," said Luna, sucking her finger in a dreamy fashion and looking Harry up and down. "You look smart. I told Daddy most people would probably wear dress robes, but he believes you ought to wear sun colors to a wedding, for luck, you know."_

"Well, zen zank you," Fleur said.

_As she drifted off after her father, Ron reappeared with an elderly witch clutching his arm. Her beaky nose, red-rimmed eyes, and leathery pink hat gave her the look of a bad-tempered flamingo._

"Muriel," the Weasley's and the two Potters who had met her groaned.

_"…and your hair's much too long, Ronald, for a moment I thought you were Ginevra._

"It's not that bad!" Ron huffed.

"Does she have to call us by our full names?" Ginny groaned.

_Merlin's beard, what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet. _

Everyone laughed, even Luna.

_And who are you?" she barked at Harry._

"How rude," Petunia said.

_"Oh yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny."_

_"Another Weasley? You breed like gnomes._

The twins sniggered.

_Isn't Harry Potter here? I was hoping to meet him. I thought he was a friend of yours, Ronald, or have you merely been boasting?"_

_"No – he couldn't come –"_

_"Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Not as gormless as he looks in press photographs, then. I've just been instructing the bride on how best to wear my tiara," she shouted at Harry. "Goblin-made, you know, and been in my family for centuries. She's a good-looking girl, but still – French._

Fleur huffed.

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Bill snapped.

_Well, well, find me a good seat, Ronald, I am a hundred and seven and I ought not to be on my feet too long."_

"Dumbledore was older and he never complained," Ron grumbled.

_Ron gave Harry a meaningful look as he passed and did not reappear for some time. When next they met at the entrance, Harry had shown a dozen more people to their places. The Marquee was nearly full now and for the first time there was no queue outside._

_"Nightmare, Muriel is," said Ron, mopping his forehead on his sleeve. "She used to come for Christmas every year, then, thank God, she took offense because Fred and George set off a Dungbomb under her chair at diner._

"Brilliant!" the twins and Marauders cheered.

_Dad always says she'll have written them out of her will – like they care, they're going to end up richer than anyone in the family, rate they're going… _

"Is George?" James asked.

"Ginny as you should know," Molly said. "Not that it matters."

"Just wondering," James said defensively.

_Wow," he added, blinking rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying toward them. "You look great!"_

_"Always the tone of surprise," said Hermione, though she smiled._

_She was wearing a floaty, lilac-colored dress with matching high heels; her hair was sleek and shiny._

"You do look magnifique (gorgeous)," Fleur said.

_"Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree, I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, 'Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"_

_"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone," said Ron._

"Really?" Dudley chuckled.

"It's annoying," Ginny said. "I chucked her out of our house once after she insulted Teddy."

"Nice," the twins yelled while others chuckled.

"Yes, she came to talk to me about that," Molly smiled. "I spent the whole conversation trying not to laugh or look too proud."

Ginny giggled.

_"Talking about Muriel?" inquired George, reemerging from the marquee with Fred._

"Who else?" Dora laughed.

_"Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided._

"Stupid women," Arthur muttered.

_Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at weddings."_

_"Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" asked Hermione._

_"Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end," conceded George._

_"But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party," said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his –"_

"Lovely," Lily said sarcastically as the boys roared with laugher.

_"Yes, he sounds a real charmer," said Hermione, while Harry roared with laughter._

_"Never married, for some reason," said Ron._

The women shook their heads, smiling.

_"You amaze me," said Hermione._

_They were all laughing so much that none of them noticed the latecomer, a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows, until he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his eyes on Hermione, "You look vunderful."_

"Krum," Ginny laughed.

_"Viktor!" she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate to its size._

Everyone but the trio raised their eyebrows even Ginny but they said nothing.

_As she scrambled, blushing, to pick it up, she said "I didn't know you were – goodness – it's lovely to see – how are you?"_

_Ron's ears had turned bright red again. After glancing at Krum's invitation as if he did not believe a word of it, he said, much too loudly, "how come you're here?"_

"I invited 'im," Fleur said.

_"Fleur invited me," said Krum, eyebrows raised._

_Harry, who had no grudge against Krum, shook hands; then feeling that it would be prudent to remove Krum from Ron's vicinity, offered to show him his seat._

"Yes, get him away from Ron and Hermione," Bill laughed.

_"Your friend is not pleased to see me," said Krum, as they entered the now packed marquee. "Or is he a relative?" he added with a glance at Harry's red curly hair._

_"Cousin." Harry muttered, but Krum was not really listening. His appearance was causing a stir, particularly amongst the veela cousins: he was, after all, a famous Quidditch player._

_While people were still craning their necks to get a good look at him, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George came hurrying down the aisle._

_"Time to sit down," Fred told Harry, "or we're going to get run over by the bride."_

"Yes, you would," Fleur nodded, nothing would have stopped her getting to Bill.

_Harry, Ron and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Hermione looked rather pink and Ron's ears were still scarlet. "Why were you blushing?" Ron couldn't stop himself from asking._

_After a few moments he muttered to Harry, "Did you see he's grown a stupid little beard?"_

Bill and Harry snorted

_Harry gave a noncommittal grunt._

_A sense of jittery anticipation had filled the warm tent, the general murmuring broken by occasional spurts of excited laughter. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives; Mrs. Weasley was wearing a brand-new set of amethyst colored robes with a matching hat._

_A moment later Bill and Charlie stood up at the front of the marquee, both wearing dress robes, with larger white roses in their buttonholes; Fred wolf-whistled_

"Should have none it was one of them," Bill muttered to Fleur

_and there was an outbreak of giggling from the veela cousins._

_Then the crowd fell silent as music swelled from what seemed to be the golden balloons._

_"Ooooh!" said Hermione, swiveling around in her seat to look at the entrance._

_A great collective sigh issued from the assembled witches and wizards as Monsieur Delacour and Fleur came walking up the aisle, Fleur gliding, Monsieur Delacour bouncing and beaming. Fleur was wearing a very simple white dress and seemed to be emitting a strong, silvery glow. While her radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it beautified everybody it fell upon. Ginny and Gabrielle, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual and once Fleur had reached for him, Bill did not look as though he had ever met Fenrit Greyback._

Bill and Fleur were beaming as they watched their wedding through a guests view.

_"Ladies and gentlemen," said a slightly singsong voice, and with a slight shock, Harry saw the same small, tufty-hired wizard who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral, now standing in front of Bill and Fleur. "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls…"_

_"Yes, my tiara set off the whole thing nicely," said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. "But I must say, Ginevra's dress is far too low cut."_

"No it wasn't," Ginny and Fleur huffed.

"She said that about my wedding dress," Ginny complained. "Well that and it was too short!"

"But wasn't your dress –?" Petunia began, not having attended the wedding herself.

"Yeah, it was to the floor," Ginny shook her head as some of the boys chuckled or sniggered.

_Ginny glanced around, grinning, winked at Harry, then quickly faced the front again. _

_"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle…?"_

_In the front row, Mrs. Weasley and Madame Delacour were both sobbing quietly into scraps of lace. Trumpetlike sounds from the back of the marquee told everyone that Hagrid had taken out one of his own tablecloth-sized handkerchiefs._

Lily giggled

_Hermione turned around and beamed at Harry; her eyes too were full of tears._

"What is it with girls and crying at weddings?" the twins asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Shut up," all the women snapped and Molly hit them both round the head.

_"…then I declare you bonded for life."_

Fleur kissed Bill cheek and he turned to beam at her.

_The tufty-haired wizard waved his hand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiraling around their now entwined figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, the golden balloons overhead burst. Birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their songs and chimes to the din._

"That's amazing!" Petunia and Lily breathed.

"It is beautiful," Luna said.

_"Ladies and gentlemen!" called the tufty-haired wizard. "If you would please stand up!"_

_They all did so, Auntie Muriel grumbling audibly; he waved his wand again. The scars on which they had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the center of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped themselves around small, white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth round it, and the golden-jacketed hand trooped toward a podium._

_"Smooth," said Ron approvingly as the waiters popped up on all sides, some hearing silver trays of pumpkin juice, butterbeer, and firewhisky, others tottering piles of tarts and sandwiches._

"That is brilliant," Neville said.

_"We should go and congratulate them!" said Hermione, standing on tiptoe to see the place where Bill and Fleur had vanished amid a crowd of well-wishers._

_"We'll have time later," shrugged Ron, snatching three Butterbeers from a passing tray and handing one to Harry._

Bill and Fleur shared a look – they didn't have time.

_"Hermione, cop hold, let's grab a table…. Not there! Nowhere near Muriel –"_

"Steer clear," Fabian advised.

The Weasley's all nodded, as did Ginny and Harry.

_Ron led the way across the empty dance floor, glancing left and right as he went._

"Looking for Krum," Sirius teased.

"Shut up."

_. By the time they had reached the other side of the marquee, most of the tables were occupied: The emptiest was the one where Luna sat alone._

_"All right if we join you?" asked Ron._

_"Oh yes," she said happily. "Daddy's just gone to give Bill and Fleur our present."_

_"What is it, a lifetime's supply of Gurdyroots?" asked Ron._

_Hermione aimed a kick at him under the table, but caught Harry instead._

"Sorry, Harry," Hermione frowned.

_Eyes watering in pain, Harry lost track of the conversation for a few moments._

_The band had begun to play, Bill and Fleur took to the dance floor first, to great applause; after a while, Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, followed by Mrs. Weasley and Fleur's father._

_"I like this song," said Luna, swaying in time to the waltzlike tune, and a few seconds later she stood up and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her arms._

_"She's great isn't she?" said Ron admiringly. "Always good value."_

"Thank you, Ron," Luna smiled.

_But the smile vanished from his face at once: Viktor Krum had dropped into Luna's vacant seat._

_Hermione looked pleasurably flustered but this time Krum had not come to compliment her. With a scowl on his face he said, "Who is that man in the yellow?"_

_"That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours," said Ron. His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation._

_"Come and dance," he added abruptly to Hermione._

"Smooth," Teddy laughed.

"Yes because what I saw of you at the party with my daughter –" Bill said but stopped at the look on Teddy's face and the colour of his hair laughing.

_She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up. They vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor._

_"Ah, they are together now?" asked Krum, momentarily distracted._

"That's a good question," Sirius said, grinning.

"Nope," Ron said as Hermione shook her head.

_"Er – sort of," said Harry._

They raised their eyebrows at Harry.

"What?" he said, raising his own eyebrows and grining. "Oh, come on, everyone knew it was going to happen eventually – it was just making sure Krum kept away from Hermione, he's bad news."

"What makes you say that?" Hermione asked but there was something knowing in her smile.

"Nothing," Harry said.

_"Who are you?" Krum asked._

_"Barny Weasley."_

_They shook hands._

_"You, Barny – you know this man Lovegood well?"_

_"No, I only met him today. Why?"_

_Krum glowered over the top of his drink, watching Xenophilius, who was chatting to several warlocks on the other side of the dance floor._

_"Because," said Krum, "If he vus not a guest of Fleur's I vould duel him, here and now, for veering that filthy sign upon his chest."_

"The Deathly Hallows?" Luna asked.

_"Sign?" said Harry, looking over at Xenophilius too. The strange triangular eye was gleaming on his chest. "Why? What's wrong with it?"_

_"Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald's sign."_

"No, it's not," Luna said.

_"Grindelwald… the Dark wizard Dumbledore defeated?"_

_"Exactly."_

_Krum's jaw muscles worked as if he were chewing, then he said, "Grindelvald killed many people, my grandfather, for instance. Of course, he vos never powerful in this country, they said he feared Dumbledore – and rightly, seeing how he vos finished. But this" – he pointed a finger at Xenophilius – "this is his symbol, I recognized it at vunce: Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Durmstrang ver he vos a pupil there. Some idiots copied it onto their books and clothes thinking to shock, make themselves impressive – until those of us who had lost family members to Grindelvald taught them better."_

_Krum cracked his knuckles menacingly and glowered at Xenophilius. _

_"Are you – er – quite sure it's Grindelwald's -?"_

_"I am not mistaken," said Krum coldly. "I walked past that sign for several years, I know it vell."_

_"Well, there's a chance," said Harry, "that Xenophilius doesn't actually know what the symbol means, the Lovegoods are quite… unusual. He could have easily picked it up somewhere and think it's a cross section of the head of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or something."_

_"The cross section of a vot?"_

_"Well, I don't know what they are, but apparently he and his daughter go on holiday looking for them…."_

"Oh we did," Luna beamed.

_Harry felt he was doing a bad job explaining Luna and her father._

_"That's her," he said, pointing at Luna, who was still dancing alone, waving her arms around her head like someone attempting to beat off midges._

_"Vy is she doing that?" asked Krum._

_"Probably trying to get rid of a Wrackspurt," said Harry, who recognized the symptoms._

"Correct, Harry," she smiled

_Krum did not seem to know whether or not Harry was making fun of him. He drew his hand from inside his robe and tapped it menacingly on his thighs; sparks flew out of the end._

_"Gregorovitch!" said Harry loudly,_

"Huh?" James asked.

"Voldemort was after him," Ron said. "We couldn't figure out who he was."

"But I thought this guys name was Vickor Krum," Lily said confused.

"It is," Hermione nodded.

_and Krum started_

_"Vot about him?" asked Krum suspiciously._

_"He's a wandmaker!"_

_"I know that," said Krum._

_"He made your wand! That's why I thought – Quidditch –"_

"Harry, shut up," Neville chuckled.

_Krum was looking more and more suspicious._

_"How do you know Gregorovitch made my wand?"_

_"I…I read it somewhere, I think," said Harry. "In a – a fan magazine," he improvised wildly and Krum looked mollified. _

_"I had not realized I ever discussed my vand with fans," he said._

"Zat's because you 'aven't," Fleur laughed. "Arry remembers it from ze tournament."

_"So… er… where is Gregorowitch these days?"_

_Krum looked puzzled._

_"He retired several years ago. I was one of the last to purchase a Gregorovitch vand. They are the best –although I know, of course, that your Britons set much store by Ollivander."_

"That's because he's amazing," Sirius smirked.

_Harry did not answer. He pretended to watch the dancers, like Krum, but he was thinking hard. So Voldemort was looking for a celebrated wandmaker and Harry did not have to search far for a reason. It was surely because of what Harry's wand had done on the night that Voldemort pursued him across the skies. The holly and phoenix feather wand had conquered the borrowed wand, some thing that Ollivander had not anticipated or understood. Would Gregorowitch know better? Was he truly more skilled than Ollivander, did he know secrets of wands that Ollivander did not?_

Everyone shrugged.

_"This girl is very nice-looking," Krum said, recalling Harry to his surroundings. Krum was pointing at Ginny,_

Ginny wrinkled her nose.

_who had just joined Luna. "She is also a relative of yours?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry, suddenly irritated, "and she's seeing someone. Jealous type. Big bloke. You wouldn't want to cross him."_

Ginny and Hermione giggled, as James and Arthur grinned and Molly and Lily rolled their eyes, smiling.

_Krum grunted._

_"Vot," he said, draining his goblet and getting to his feet again, "is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?"_

"The sport," Dudley said a bit irritated himself.

_And he strode off leaving Harry to take a sandwich from a passing waiter and make his way around the edge of the crowded dance floor. He wanted to find Ron, to tell him about Gregorovitch, but he was dancing with Hermione out in the middle of the floor._

Everyone smiled.

_Harry leaned up against one of the golden pillars and watched Ginny, who was now dancing with Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan._

"Why didn't you ask me to dance?" Ginny whispered to Harry.

"Ron told me to stay away from you," Harry told her. "Hey, where are you going?"

Ginny had walked away from him towards Ron, who eyes flickered between her and Harry, and wacked him round the head.

"When are you going to learn to stay out of my life?" Ginny said.

"Um, never?" Ron said.

"Urg."

_He had never been to a wedding before, so he could not judge how Wizarding celebrations differed from Muggle ones, though he was pretty sure that the latter would not involve a wedding cake topped with two model phoenixes that took flight when the cake was cut, or bottles of champagne that floated unsupported through the crowd. As the evening drew in, and moths began to swoop under the canopy, now lit with floating golden lanterns, the revelry became more and more uncontained. Fred and George had long since disappeared into the darkness with a pair of Fleur's cousins; Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing "Odo the Hero" in the corner._

"Sorry, everyone, Charlie's a horrible singer," Bill said.

"Hagrid's no better," Harry chuckled.

_Wandering through the crowd so as to escape a drunken uncle of Ron's who seemed unsure whether or not Harry was his son, Harry spotted an old wizard sitting alone at a table. His cloud of white hair made him look rather like an aged dandelion clock and was topped by a moth-eaten fez._

_Harry approached him._

_"May I sit down?"_

_"Of course, of course," said Doge; he had a rather high-pitched, wheezy voice._

_Harry leaned in._

_"Mr. Doge, I'm Harry Potter."_

"Is that really clever?" Lily asked.

"It was fine," Harry said. "He was an old friend on Dumbledore's."

_Doge gasped._

_"My dear boy! Arthur told me you were here, disguised…. I am so glad, so honored!"_

Everyone chuckled.

_In a flutter of nervous pleasure Doge poured Harry a goblet of champagne._

_"I thought of writing to you," he whispered, "after Dumbledore… the shock… and for you, I am sure…"_

_Doge's tiny eyes filled with sudden tears._

"Oh," Molly sighed. "The poor man."

"That was nice of him," Luna said.

_"I saw the obituary you wrote for the Daily Prophet," said Harry. "I didn't realize you knew Professor Dumbledore so well."_

_"As well as anyone," said Doge, dabbing his eyes with a napkin. "Certainly I knew him longest, if you don't count Aberforth – and somehow, people never do seem to count Aberforth."_

"Poor Aberforth," some muttered.

_"Speaking of the Daily Prophet… I don't know whether you saw, Mr. Doge -?"_

_"Oh, please call me Elphias, dear boy."_

_"Elphias, I don't know whether you saw the interview Rita Skeeter gave about Dumbledore?"_

_Doge's face flooded with angry color._

_"Oh yes, Harry, I saw it. That woman, or vulture might be a more accurate term, _

"Definitely," Fleur, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione said.

_positively pestered me to talk to her, I am ashamed to say that I became rather rude, _

"Don't be ashamed," Dora exclaimed.

_called her an interfering trout,_

"Nice!" the twins chuckled.

_which resulted, as you my have seen, in aspersions cast upon my sanity."_

_"Well, in that interview," Harry went on, "Rita Skeeter hinted that Professor Dumbledore was involved in the Dark Arts when he was young."_

_"Don't believe a word of it!" said Doge at once. "Not a word, Harry! Let nothing tarnish your memories of Albus Dumbledore!"_

Everyone nodded in agreement.

_Harry looked into Doge's earnest, pained face, and felt, not reassured, but frustrated. Did Doge really think it was that easy, that Harry could simply choose not to believe? Didn't Doge understand Harry's need to be sure, to know everything?"_

_Perhaps Doge suspected Harry's feelings, for he looked concerned and hurried on, "Harry, Rita Skeeter is a dreadful –"_

_But he was interrupted by a shrill cackle._

_"Rita Skeeter? Oh, I love her, always read her!"_

"Muriel!" everyone groaned.

_Harry and Doge looked up to see Auntie Muriel standing there, the plumes dancing on her hair, a goblet of champagne in her hand. "She's written a book about Dumbledore, you know!"_

"Sadly," Remus growled.

_"Hello, Muriel," said Doge, "Yes, we were just discussing –"_

_"You there! Give me your chair, I'm a hundred and seven!"_

_Another redheaded Weasley cousin jumped off his seat, looking alarmed,_

"Don't blame you," Dudley frowned.

_and Auntie Muriel swung it around with surprising strength and plopped herself down upon it between Doge and Harry._

_"Hello again, Barry or whatever your name is," she said to Harry, "Now what were you saying about Rita Skeeter, Elphias? You know, she's written a biography of Dumbledore? I can't wait to read it._

"You're mad," Sirius said.

_I must remember to place an order at Flourish and Blotts!"_

_Doge looked stiff and solemn at this but Auntie Muriel drained her goblet and clicked her bony fingers at a passing waiter for a replacement. She took another large gulp of champagne, belched and then said, "There's no need to look like a pair of stuffed frogs! Before he became so respected and respectable and all that tosh, there were some mighty funny rumors about Albus!"_

_"Ill-informed sniping," said Doge, turning radish-colored again._

_"You would say that, Elphias," cackled Auntie Muriel. "I noticed how you skated over the sticky patches in that obituary of yours!"_

_"I'm sorry you think so," said Doge, more coldly still. "I assure you I was writing from the heart."_

_"Oh, we all know you worshipped Dumbledore; I daresay you'll still think he was a saint even if it does turn out that he did away with his Squib sister!"_

_"Muriel!" exclaimed Doge._

_"What do you mean?" he asked Muriel. "Who said his sister was a Squib? I thought she was ill?"_

"She was," Molly sighed.

_"Thought wrong, then, didn't you, Barry!" said Auntie Muriel, looking delighted at the effect she had produced. "Anyway, how could you expect to know anything about it! It all happened years and years before you were even thought of, my dear, and the truth is that those of us who were alive then never knew what really happened. That's why I can't wait to find out what Skeeter's unearthed! Dumbledore kept that sister of his quiet for a long time!"_

Everyone was looking extremely annoyed at Muriel already

_"Untrue!" wheezed Doge, "Absolutely untrue!"_

_"He never told me his sister was a Squib," said Harry, without thinking, still cold inside._

"Harry!" Hermione said.

"Ariana wasn't a squib," Lily sighed.

_"And why on earth would he tell you?" screeched Muriel, swaying a little in her seat as she attempted to focus upon Harry._

_"The reason Albus never spoke about Ariana," began Elphias in a voice stiff with emotion, "is, I should have thought, quite clear. He was so devastated by her death –"_

Harry nodded.

_"Why did nobody ever see her, Elphias?" squawked Muriel, "Why did half of us never even know she existed, until they carried the coffin out of the house and held a funeral for her? Where was saintly Albus while Ariana was locked in the cellar?_

"I doubt that," Arthur frowned.

_Off being brilliant at Hogwarts, and never mind what was going on in his own house!"_

_"What d'you mean, locked in the cellar?" asked Harry. "What is this?"_

_Doge looked wretched. Auntie Muriel cackled again and answered Harry._

_"Dumbledore's mother was a terrifying woman, simply terrifying. Muggle-born, though I heard she pretended otherwise-"_

_"She never pretended anything of the sort! Kendra was a fine woman," whispered Doge miserably, but Auntie Muriel ignored him._

_"- proud and very domineering, the sort of witch who would have been mortified to produce a Squib-"_

_"Ariana was not a Squib!" wheezed Doge._

_"So you say, Elphias, but explain, then, why she never attended Hogwarts!" said Auntie Muriel. She turned back to Harry. "In our day, Squibs were often hushed up, though to take it to the extreme of actually imprisoning a little girl in the house and pretending she didn't exist –"_

_"I tell you, that's not what happened!" said Doge, but Auntie Muriel steamrollered on, still addressing Harry._

_"Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrate into the Muggle community… much kinder than trying to find them a place in the Wizarding world, where they must always be second class, but naturally Kendra Dumbledore wouldn't have dreamed of letting her daughter go to a Muggle school –"_

_"Ariana was delicate!" said Doge desperately. "Her health was always too poor to permit her –"_

Everyone nodded.

_"- to permit her to leave the house?" cackled Muriel. "And yet she was never taken to St. Mungo's and no Healer was ever summoned to see her!"_

"So she didn't have to stay in St. Mungo's all her life," Molly said angrily.

_"Really, Muriel, how can you possibly know whether –"_

_"For your information, Elphias, my cousin Lancelot was a Healer at St. Mungo's at the time, and he told my family in strictest confidence that Ariana had never been seen there. All most suspicious, Lancelot thought!"_

_Doge looked to be on the verge of tears. Auntie Muriel, who seemed to be enjoying herself hugely, snapped her fingers for more champagne. Numbly Harry thought of how the Dursleys had once shut him up, locked him away, kept him out of sight, all for the crime of being a wizard. Had Dumbledore's sister suffered the same fate in reverse: imprisoned for her lack of magic? And had Dumbledore truly left her to her fate while he went off to Hogwarts to prove himself brilliant and talented?_

"Shut up," many snapped.

_"Now, if Kendra hadn't died first," Muriel resumed, "I'd have said that it was she who finished off Ariana –"_

"How can she say that?" James asked.

_"How can you, Muriel!" groaned Doge. "A mother kill her own daughter? Think what you're saying!"_

_"If the mother in question was capable of imprisoning her daughter for years on end, why not?" shrugged Auntie Muriel. "But as I say, it doesn't fit, because Kendra died before Ariana – of what, nobody ever seemed sure-"_

_"Yes, Ariana might have made a desperate bid for freedom and killed Kendra in the struggle," said Auntie Muriel thoughtfully. "Shake your head all you like, Elphias. You were at Ariana's funeral, were you not?"_

_"Yes I was," said Doge, through trembling lips," and a more desperately sad occasion I cannot remember. Albus was heartbroken-"_

"Of course he was," Ginny said, fiercely.

_"His heart wasn't the only thing. Didn't Aberforth break Albus' nose halfway through the service?"_

"Oh dear," Dudley said.

_If Doge had looked horrified before this, it was nothing to how he looked now. Muriel might have stabbed him. She cackled loudly and took another swig of champagne, which dribbled down her chin._

_"How do you -?" croaked Doge._

_"My mother was friendly with old Bathilda Bagshot," said Auntie Muriel happily. "Bathilda described the whole thing to mother while I was listening at the door. A coffin-side brawl. The way Bathilda told it, Aberforth shouted that it was all Albus' fault that Ariana was dead and then punched him in the face._

"This is horrible," Sirius growled.

_According to Bathilda, Albus did not even defend himself, and that's odd enough in itself. Albus could have destroyed Aberforth in a duel with both hands tied behind his back."_

"That's true," Remus chuckled.

_Muriel swigged yet more champagne. The recitation of those old scandals seemed to elate her as much as they horrified Doge. Harry did not know what to think, what to believe. He wanted the truth and yet all Doge did was sit there and bleat feebly that Ariana had been ill. Harry could hardly believe that Dumbledore would not have intervened if such cruelty was happening inside his own house, and yet there was undoubtedly something odd about the story._

_"And I'll tell you something else," Muriel said, hiccupping slightly as she lowered her goblet. "I think Bathilda has spilled the beans to Rita Skeeter. All those hints in Skeeter's interview about an important source close to the Dumbledores – goodness knows she was there all through the Ariana business, and it would fit!"_

_"Bathilda, would never talk to Rita Skeeter!" whispered Doge._

"Exactly," James nodded.

_"Bathilda Bagshot?" Harry said. "The author of A History of Magic?"_

"You remembered!" Hermione beamed.

"Only because you kept saying it," Harry grumbled, low enough for her not to hear.

_The name was printed on the front of one of Harry's textbooks, though admittedly not one of the ones he had read more attentively._

_"Yes," said Doge, clutching at Harry's question like a drowning man at a life heir. "A most gifted magical historian and an old friend of Albus's."_

_"Quite gaga these days, I've heard," said Auntie Muriel cheerfully._

_"If that is so, it is even more dishonorable for Skeeter to have taken advantage of her," said Doge, "and no reliance can be placed on anything Bathilda may have said!"_

_"Oh, there are ways of bringing back memories, and I'm sure Rita Skeeter knows them all," said Auntie Muriel "But even if Bathilda's completely cuckoo, I'm sure she'd still have old photographs, maybe even letters. She knew the Dumbledores for years…. Well worth a trip to Godric's Hollow, I'd have thought."_

_Harry, who had been taking a sip of butterbeer, choked. _

"Oh Harry," Lily sighed.

_Doge banged him on the back as Harry coughed, looking at Auntie Muriel through streaming eyes. Once he had control of his voice again, he asked, "Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric's Hollow?"_

"Yes, she's a fascinating old women," Lily said, cheerfully.

_"Oh yes, she's been there forever! The Dumbledores moved there after Percival was imprisoned, and she was their neighbor."_

_"The Dumbledores lived in Godric's Hollows?"_

_"Yes, Barry, that's what I just said," said Auntie Muriel testily._

_Harry felt drained, empty. Never once, in six years, had Dumbledore told Harry that they had both lived and lost loved ones in Godric's Hollow. Why? Were Lily and James buried close to Dumbledore's mother and sister?_

Hermione and Harry nodded, as everyone tried to not to look at Harry with anything like pity on their faces.

_Had Dumbledore visited their graves, perhaps walked past Lily's and James's to do so? _

This time they shook their heads.

_And why it was so important, Harry could not explain even to himself. He stared ahead of him, barely noticing what was going on around him, and did not realize that Hermione had appeared out of the crowd until she drew up a chair beside him._

_"I simply can't dance anymore," she panted, slipping of one of her shoes and rubbing the sole of her foot. "Ron's gone looking to find more butterbeers. It's a bit odd. I've just seen Viktor storming away from Luna's father, it looked like they'd been arguing –" She dropped her voice, staring at him. "Harry, are you okay?"_

"Now you ask," Ginny huffed.

_At that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor._

_Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. _

"Kingsley's," Sirius muttered.

_Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt._

_"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."_

"Oh my God/Merlin," Lily and Petunia shrieked as James and Sirius paled.

_Everything seemed fuzzy, slow. Harry and Hermione jumped to their feet and drew their wands. Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward the silver cat as it vanished. Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. Then somebody screamed._

Everyone jumped.

_Harry and Hermione threw themselves into the panicking crowd. Guests were sprinting in all directions; many were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken._

"Oh Merlin," James groaned.

"How strong were they?" Dudley asked.

"The best," Arthur sighed, causing everyone to groan.

_"Ron!" Hermione cried. "Ron, where are you?"_

_As they pushed their way across the dance floor, Harry saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in the crowd; then he saw Lupin and Tonks, their wands raised, and heard both of them shout, "Protego!", a cry that was echoed on all sides –_

_"Ron! Ron!" Hermione called, half sobbing as she and Harry were buffered by terrified guests: Harry seized her hand to make sure they weren't separated as a streak of light whizzed over their heads, whether a protective charm or something more sinister he did not know –_

_And then Ron was there. He caught hold of Hermione's free arm, and Harry felt her turn on the spot; sight and sound were extinguished as darkness pressed in upon him; all he could feel was Hermione's hand as he was squeezed through space and time, away from the Burrow, away from the descending Death Eaters, away, perhaps, from Voldemort himself. . . _

"Thank Merlin/God," everyone breathed.

"And now we don't hear from you for months," Ginny sighed - that had been torture for her.

_"Where are we?" said Ron's voice._

_Harry opened his eyes. For a moment he thought they had not left the wedding after all; They still seemed to be surrounded by people._

_"Tottenham Court Road," panted Hermione. "Walk, just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to change."_

"Good," Bill said. "You'll be safer in the Muggle world."

"They won't expect you to be there," Neville nodded.

"What happened at the Burrow?" Lily asked.

"They tortured Mum and Dad," Ginny said shuddering. "And Bill."

"Great way to end your wedding," the twins grimaced.

"They seemed to leave Ginny alone, which was strange," Bill frowned. "I swear I heard, 'Leave the girl or Harry Potter won't be very happy with us'"

Harry flinched and Ginny squeezed his hand comfortingly.

"But I thought that would make them go for her," Molly said, confused but everyone just shrugged.

"Skipping," Hermione said.

_"Let's sit down somewhere," Hermione said hastily as Ron opened his mouth to shout back across the road. "Look, this will do, in here!"_

"Yes, get inside," Remus nodded.

_It was a small and shabby all-night café. A light layer of grease lay on all the Formica-topped tables,_

Petunia scrunched up her nose.

_but it was at least empty. Harry slipped into a booth first_

"Are you under the cloak?" Teddy asked Harry. "You're all blurry."

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

_and Ron sat next to him opposite Hermione, who had her back to the entrance and did not like it: She glanced over her shoulder so frequently she appeared to have a twitch._

"That's really suspicious," Luna commented.

"I couldn't help it," Hermione admitted.

_his hands returning to their usual length and shape. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and put them on again._

"Wait a minute you've changed," Petunia said. "How?"

"Hermione had everything we needed in the little bag she's holding," Harry chuckled

"What?" Dudley asked. "How?"

"Undetectable extension charm," Hermione said. "Remus taught me it during the summer."

_After a minute or two, Ron said, "You know, we're not far from the Leaky Cauldron here, it's only in Charing Cross –"_

"You can't," Dora said.

"Ze odd places aren't safe," Fleur said

_"Ron, we can't!" said Hermione at once._

_"Not to stay there, but to find out what's going on!"_

_"We know what's going on! Voldemort's taken over the Ministry, what else do we need to know?"_

_"Okay, okay, it was just an idea!" They relapsed into a prickly silence. The gum-chewing waitress shuffled over and Hermione ordered two cappuccinos: As Harry was invisible, it would have looked odd to order him one. A pair of burly workmen entered the café and squeezed into the next booth. Hermione dropped her voice to a whisper._

_"I say we find a quiet place to Disapparate and head for the countryside. Once we're there, we could send a message to the Order."_

"Brilliant," James said.

_Can you do that talking Patronus thing, then?" asked Ron._

_"I've been practicing and I think so," said Hermione._

"Good," Neville nodded.

_"Well, as long as it doesn't get them into trouble, though they might've been arrested already. God, that's revolting," Ron added after one sip of the foamy, grayish coffee. _

"It looks it," Petunia and Dudley said.

_The waitress had heard; she shot Ron a nasty look as she shuffled off to take the new customers' orders. The larger of the two workmen, who was blond and quite huge, now that Harry came to look at him, waved her away. She stared, affronted._

Sirius and Remus narrowed their eyes.

_"Let's get going, then, I don't want to drink this muck," said Ron. "Hermione, have you got Muggle money to pay for this?"_

_"Yes, I took out all my Building Society savings before I came to the Burrow. I'll bet all the change is at the bottom," sighed Hermione, reaching for her beaded bag._

_The two workmen made identical movements, and Harry mirrored them without conscious thought: all three of them drew their wands._

"You're good," Fabian said.

"He's Head Auror," Gideon pointed out to his twin.

"But he wasn't then."

_Ron, a few seconds late in realizing what was going on, lunged across the table, pushing Hermione sideways onto her bench. The force of the Death Eaters' spells shattered the tiled wall where Ron's head had just been, as Harry, still invisible, yelled, "Stupefy!"_

"You have an advantage," Arthur said, looking worried.

_The great blond Death Eater was hit in the face by a jet of red light: He slumped sideways, unconscious._

"One down," Fleur said.

_His companion, unable to see who had cast the spell, fired another at Ron: Shining black ropes flew from his wand-tip and bound Ron head to foot_

"Mmm," Molly shrieked, pressing her lips together.

_The waitress screamed and ran for the door – Harry sent another Stunning Spell at the Death Eater with the twisted face who had tied up Ron, but the spell missed, rebounded on the window, and hit the waitress, who collapsed in front of the door._

"That's probably a good thing," Dora pointed out. "Don't want her running down the street screaming."

_"Expulso!" bellowed the Death Eater, and the table behind which Harry was standing blew up: The force of the explosion slammed him into the wall and he felt his wand leave his hand as the Cloak slipped off him._

_"Petrificus Totalus!" screamed Hermione from out of sight, and the Death Eater fell forward like a statue to land with a crunching thud on the mess of broken china, table, and coffee. Hermione crawled out from underneath the bench, shaking bits of glass ashtray out of her hair and trembling all over._

"Hermione," Ginny sighed, Hermioen was brilliant and all, but fighting wasn't her strongest suit.

_"D-diffindo," she said, pointing her wand at Ron, who roared in pain as she slashed open the knee of his jeans, leaving a deep cut. _

"Ouch," the twins said.

"Sorry," Hermione muttered to Ron

_"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ron, my hand's shaking! Diffindo!"_

_The severed ropes fell away. Ron got to his feet, shaking his arms to regain feeling in them. Harry picked up his wand and climbed over all the debris to where the large blond Death Eater was sprawled across the bench._

_"I should've recognized him, he was there the night Dumbledore died," he said. He turned over the darker Death Eater with his foot; the man's eyes moved rapidly between Harry, Ron and Hermione._

"Careful with what you say," Teddy warned.

_"That's Dolohov," said Ron. "I recognize him from the old wanted posters. I think the big one's Thorfinn Rowle."_

_"Never mind what they're called!" said Hermione a little hysterically. "How did they find us? What are we going to do?"_

_Somehow her panic seemed to clear Harry's head._

"Always knew you were weird, mate," Ron chuckled.

"No, he's just a good leader," Ginny defended her husband.

_"Lock the door," he told her, "and Ron, turn out the lights."_

_He looked down at the paralyzed Dolohov, thinking fast as the lock clicked and Ron used the Deluminator to plunge the café into darkness. Harry could hear the men who had jeered at Hermione earlier, yelling at another girl in the distance._

_"What are we going to do with them?" Ron whispered to Harry through the dark; then, even more quietly, "Kill them? They'd kill us. They had a good go just now."_

"You can't kill them," Arthur said softly.

_Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. Harry shook his head._

_"We just need to wipe their memories," said Harry. "It's better like that, it'll throw them off the scent. If we killed them it'd be obvious we were here."_

"Brilliant, Harry," Sirius beamed at his godson.

_"You're the boss," said Ron, sounding profoundly relieved. _

"I didn't want to kill them," Ron sighed.

_"But I've never done a Memory Charm."_

_"Nor have I," said Hermione, "but I know the theory."_

"Surely you wiped your parent's memories," Neville said.

"It's a different charm," Hermione "The difference is small but extrememly important."

_She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov's forehead and said, "Obliviate."_

_At once, Dolohov's eyes became unfocused and dreamy._

"Fantastic, Hermione," Lily beamed.

_"Brilliant!" said Harry, clapping her on the back. "Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up."_

_"Clear up?" said Ron, looking around at the partly destroyed café. "Why?"_

"Ron," Bill said, clearly exasperated at the question but then he sighed. "Well, Mum did always say you wouldn't clean to save your life."

Ron glared at him while others chuckled

_"Don't you think they might wonder what's happened if they wake up and find themselves in a place that looks like it's just been bombed?"_

"Yes," Petunia said.

_"Oh right, yeah . . ."_

_Ron struggled for a moment before managing to extract his wand from his pocket._

_"It's no wonder I can't get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they're tight."_

_"Oh, I'm so sorry," hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows, Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron could stick his wand instead._

"Hermione!" Molly said. "You're supposed to be the good one."

"Sorry, Molly," Hermione laughed

"Boys, you've really have corrupted her," Fabian said.

"Good job," Gideon winked

_Once the café was restored to its previous condition, they heaved the Death Eaters back into their booth and propped them up facing each other. "But how did they find us?" Hermione asked, looking from one inert man to the other. "How did they know where we were?"_

_She turned to Harry._

_"You – you don't think you've still got your Trace on you, do you, Harry?"_

"Not possible," Luna said.

_"He can't have," said Ron. "The Trace breaks at seventeen, that's Wizarding law, you can't put it on an adult."_

_"As far as you know," said Hermione. "What if the Death Eaters have found a way to put it on a seventeen-year-old?"_

"'Arry, 'asn't been near any Death Eaters," Fleur pointed out.

_"But Harry hasn't been near a Death Eater in the last twenty-four hours. Who's supposed to have put a Trace back on him?"_

_Hermione did not reply._

_"If I can't use magic, and you can't use magic near me, without us giving away our position – " he began._

"You're not splitting up," James said firmly.

_"We're not splitting up!" said Hermione firmly._

_"We need a safe place to hide," said Ron. "Give us time to think things through."_

_"Grimmauld Place," said Harry._

"No," Bill said.

_The other two gaped._

_"Don't be silly, Harry, Snape can get in there!"_

_"Ron's dad said they've put up jinxes against him – and even if they haven't worked," he pressed on as Hermione began to argue "so what? I swear, I'd like nothing better than to meet Snape!"_

Sirius sighed.

_"But –"_

_"Hermione, where else is there? It's the best chance we've got. Snape's only one Death Eater. If I've still got the Trace on me, we'll have whole crowds of them on us wherever else we go."_

"That's a good point," Neville said, reluctantly.

_She could not argue, though she looked as if she would have liked to. While she unlocked the café door, Ron clicked the Deluminator to release the café's light. Then, on Harry's count of three, they reversed the spells upon their three victims, and before the waitress or either of the Death Eaters could do more than stir sleepily, Harry, Ron and Hermione had turned on the spot and vanished into the compressing darkness once more._

_Seconds later Harry's lungs expanded gratefully and he opened his eyes: They were now standing in the middle of a familiar small and shabby square. Tall, dilapidated houses looked down on them from every side._

Most people wrinkled their noses at the sight of that old house

_Number twelve was visible to them, for they had been told of its existence by Dumbledore, its Secret-Keeper, and they rushed toward it, checking every few yards that they were not being followed or observed._

_They raced up the stone steps, and Harry tapped the front door once with his wand. They heard a series of metallic clicks and the clatter of a chain, then the door swung open with a creak and they hurried over the threshold._

_As Harry closed the door behind them, the old-fashioned gas lamps sprang into life, casting flickering light along the length of the hallway. It looked just as Harry remembered it: eerie, cobwebbed, the outlines of the house-elf heads on the wall throwing odd shadows up the staircase. Long dark curtains concealed the portrait of Sirius's mother._

_The only thing that was out of place was the troll's leg umbrella stand, which was lying on its side as if Tonks had just knocked it over again._

"Someone's been in there," Dora said. "I wouldn't leave it like that."

_"I think somebody's been in here," Hermione whispered, pointing toward it._

_"That could've happened as the Order left," Ron murmured back._

_"So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked._

_"Maybe they're only activated if he shows up?" suggested Ron._

_Yet they remained close together on the doormat, backs against the door, scared to move farther into the house._

Some people sniggered as they looked at the Golden Trio cowering in a door way.

_"Well, we can't stay here forever," said Harry, and he took a step forward._

_"Severus Snape?"_

_Mad-Eye Moody's voice whispered out of the darkness, making all three of them jump back in fright._

_"We're not Snape!" croaked Harry._

_The other two seemed to have experienced the same unpleasant sensation. Ron was making retching noises; Hermione stammered, "That m-must have b-been the T-Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for Snape!"_

_Gingerly Harry took another step forward. Something shifted in the shadows at the end of the hall, and before any of them could say another word, a figure had risen up out of the carpet, tall, dust-colored, and terrible; Hermione screamed and so did Mrs. Black, her curtains flying open; the gray figure was gliding toward them, faster and faster, its waist-length hair and beard streaming behind it, its face sunken, fleshless, with empty eye sockets: Horribly familiar, dreadfully altered, it raised a wasted arm, pointing at Harry._

"Dumbledore!" everyone screamed or shouted,

_"No!" Harry shouted, and though he had raised his wand no spell occurred to him. "No! It wasn't us! We didn't kill you –"_

_On the word kill, the figure exploded in a great cloud of dust: Coughing, his eyes watering, Harry looked around to see Hermione crouched on the floor by the door with her arms over her head, and Ron, who was shaking from head to foot, patting her clumsily on the shoulder and saying, "It's all r-right. . . . It's g-gone. . . ."_

_Dust swirled around Harry like mist, catching the blue gaslight, as Mrs. Black continued to scream._

_"Mudbloods, filth, stains of dishonor, taint of shame on the house of my fathers –"_

_"SHUT UP!" Harry bellowed, directing his wand at her, and with a bang and a burst of red sparks, the curtains swung shut again, silencing her._

"What a lovely welcome," Dudley said sarcastically.

_"That . . . that was . . . " Hermione whimpered, as Ron helped her to her feet._

"Fantastic," Sirius grinned. "No one's even shut my dear old mum up so quickly."

_"Yeah," said Harry, "but it wasn't really him, was it? Just something to scare Snape." _

_He led the other two up the hall, half-expecting some new terror to reveal itself, but nothing moved except for a mouse skittering along the skirting board._

_"Before we go any farther, I think we'd better check," whispered Hermione, and she raised her wand and said, "Homenum revelio."_

_Nothing happened._

"Thank Merlin," all the wizards breathed, apart from the trio.

_"Well, you've just had a big shock," said Ron kindly. "What was that supposed to do?"_

_"It did what I meant it to do!" said Hermione rather crossly. "That was a spell to reveal human presence, and there's nobody here except us!"_

"Good," Petunia and Dudley said, catching on to what the wizards had already realized.

_"And old Dusty," said Ron, glancing at the patch of carpet from which the corpse-figure had risen._

_"Let's go up," said Hermione with a frightened look at the same spot, and she led the way up the creaking stairs to the drawing room on the first floor._

_Hermione waved her wand to ignite the old gas lamps, then, shivering slightly in the drafty room, she perched on the sofa, her arms wrapped tightly around her. Ron crossed to the window and moved the heavy velvet curtains aside an inch._

_"Can't see anyone out there," he reported. "And you'd think, if Harry still had a Trace on him, they'd have followed us here._

"So that just proves he doesn't," Lily said. "But we already knew that."

_I know they can't get in the house, but – what's up, Harry?"_

_Harry had given a cry of pain: His scar had burned against as something flashed across his mind like a bright light on water. _

_"What did you see?" Ron asked, advancing on Harry. "Did you see him at my place?"_

_"No, I just felt anger – he's really angry –"_

_"But that could be at the Burrow," said Ron loudly. "What else? Didn't you see anything? Was he cursing someone?"_

"Ron, he's not a television aeriel," Ginny said.

_"No, I just felt anger – I couldn't tell –"_

_Harry felt badgered, confused, and Hermione did not help as she said in a frightened voice, "Your scar, again? But what's going on? I thought that connection had closed!"_

_"It did, for a while," muttered Harry; his scar was still painful, which made it hard to concentrate. "I – I think it's started opening again whenever he loses control, that's how it used to –"_

_"But then you've got to close your mind!" said Hermione shrilly. "Harry, Dumbledore didn't want you to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it down, that's why you were supposed to use Occlumency! Otherwise Voldemort can plant false images in your mind, remember –"_

"Hermione!" Sirius growled.

_"Yeah, I do remember, thanks," said Harry through gritted teeth; he did not need Hermione to tell him that Voldemort had once used this selfsame connection between them to lead him into a trap, nor that it had resulted in Sirius's death._

"Sorry, Harry," Hermione said as Sirius said, "it's not your fault."

_He turned his back on Ron and Hermione, pretending to examine the old tapestry of the Black family tree on the wall. Then Hermione shrieked:_

_Harry drew his wand again and spun around to see a silver Patronus soar through the drawing room window and land upon the floor in front of them,_

"Sorry," Hermione said again.

"You nearly gave us a heart attack," Ron muttered annoyed.

_where it solidified into the weasel that spoke with the voice of Ron's father._

_"Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched."_

"Thank God/Merlin," everyone who hadn't been there sighed.

_The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped onto the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm._

_"They're all right, they're all right!" she whispered, and Ron half laughed and hugged her._

_"Harry," he said over Hermione's shoulder, "I –"_

_"It's not a problem," said Harry, sickened by the pain in his head. "It's your family, 'course you were worried. I'd feel the same way." He thought of Ginny. "I do feel the same way."_

Ginny beamed at him.

_The pain in his scar was reaching a peak, burning as it had back in the garden of the Burrow. Faintly he heard Hermione say "I don't want to be on my own. Could we use the sleeping bags I've brought and camp in here tonight?"_

_He heard Ron agree._

_"I didn't want to be away from you either," Ron said._

"Aww," Molly said as the landed in the family room.

"Mum," Ron groaned, with red ears as the twins snickered.

"Well, now we get to see what you three got up to," Remus said, in a forced happy voice.

"It's not pleasant," the trio said together, resulting in everyone groaning.

"What did you expect?" Hermione laughed.

"Yeah, we were living in the palace for the year," Ron chucked.

"This the next day" Harry said as they all entered the pensieve.

Do Not Enter

Without the Express Permission of

Regulus Arcturus Black

"I think Percy had one of them on his door," Bill chuckled.

"Until the twins edited it to say Priscilla," Ginny laughed.

_He read the sign again. Hermione was already a flight of stairs below him._

_"Hermione," he said, and he was surprised that his voice was so calm. "Come back up here."_

"What?" James asked.

_"What's the matter?"_

_"R.A.B. I think I've found him."_

_There was a gasp, and then Hermione ran back up the stairs._

_"In your mum's letter?_

"Huh?" Lily asked.

"The letter you wrote to Sirius a few days after my first birthday," Harry said.

"Oh that one," Lily beamed to her it felt like she'd wrote it a few months ago.

_But I didn't see –"_

_Harry shook his head, pointing at Regulus's sign. She read it, then clutched Harry's arm so tightly that he winced._

_"Sirius's brother?" she whispered._

"What about him?" Sirius asked.

"R.A.B," James said. "Regulus Arcturus Black."

"But Reg was a Death Eater," Sirius muttered, though this sentace seemed to pain him. "Although I suppose if he wanted to leave…"

"Wait for it," Ron muttered to Hermione.

_"He was a Death Eater," said Harry. "Sirius told me about him, he joined up when he was really young and then got cold feet and tried to leave – so they killed him."_

"Not exactly," Hermione said.

_"That fits!" gasped Hermione. "If he was a Death Eater he had access to Voldemort, and if he became disenchanted, then he would have wanted to bring Voldemort down!"_

_She released Harry, leaned over the banister, and screamed, "Ron! RON! Get up here, quick!"_

_Ron appeared, panting, a minute later, his wand ready in his hand._

_"What's up? If it's massive spiders again I want breakfast before I –"_

"Again?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, that house was full of them," Ron shivered.

_He frowned at the sign on Regulus's door, in which Hermione was silently pointing._

_"What? That was Sirius's brother, wasn't it? Regulus Arcturus … Regulus … R.A.B.! The locket – you don't reckon - ?"_

_"Let's find out," said Harry. He pushed the door: It was locked. Hermione pointed her wand at the handle and said, "Alohamora." There was a click, and the door swung open._

_They moved over the threshold together, gazing around. _

_The Slytherin colors of emerald and silver were everywhere, draping the bed, the walls, and the windows. The Black family crest was painstakingly painted over the bed, along with its motto, TOUJOURS PUR._

"Always Pure," Fleur said in distaste.

_Beneath this was a collection of yellow newspaper cuttings, all stuck together to make a ragged collage. Hermione crossed the room to examine them._

_"They're all about Voldemort," she said. "Regulus seems to have been a fan for a few years before he joined the Death Eaters …"_

"Yep," Sirius nodded sadly.

_A little puff of dust rose from the bedcovers as she sat down to read the clippings. Harry, meanwhile, had noticed another photograph: a Hogwarts Quidditch team was smiling and waving out of the frame. He moved closer and saw the snakes emblazoned on their chests: Slytherins. Regulus was instantly recognizable as the boy sitting in the middle of the front row: He had the same dark hair and slightly haughty look of his brother, though he was smaller, slighter, and rather less handsome than Sirius had been._

_"He played Seeker," said Harry._

_"What?" said Hermione vaguely; she was still immersed in Voldemort's press clippings._

_"He's sitting in the middle of the front row, that's where the Seeker … Never mind," said Harry, realizing that nobody was listening._

Everyone snickered.

_Ron was on his hands and knees, searching under the wardrobe. Harry looked around the room for likely hiding places and approached the desk. Yet again, somebody had searched before them. The drawers' contents had been turned over recently, the dust disturbed, but there was nothing of value there: old quills, out-of-date textbooks that bore evidence of being roughly handled, a recently smashed ink bottle, its sticky residue covering the contents of the drawer._

_"There's an easier way," said Hermione, as Harry wiped his inky fingers on his jeans. She raised her wand and said, "Accio Locket!"_

_Nothing happened. Ron, who had been searching the folds of the faded curtains, looked disappointed._

_"Is that it, then? It's not here?"_

_"Oh, it could still be here, but under counter-enchantments," said Hermione. "Charms to prevent it from being summoned magically, you know."_

_"Like Voldemort put on the stone basin in the cave," said Harry, remembering how he had been unable to Summon the fake locket._

_"How are we supposed to find it then?" asked Ron._

_"We search manually," said Hermione._

_"That's a good idea," said Ron, rolling his eyes, and he resumed his examination of the curtains._

"Shaking down the curtains?" Petunia asked amused.

_They combed every inch of the room for more than an hour, but were forced, finally, to conclude that the locket was not there._

_The sun had risen now; its light dazzled them even through the grimy landing windows._

_"It could be somewhere else in the house, though," said Hermione in a rallying tone as they walked back downstairs. As Harry and Ron had become more discouraged, she seemed to have become more determined._

_"Whether he'd manage to destroy it or not, he'd want to keep it hidden from Voldemort, wouldn't he? Remember all those awful things we had to get rid of when we were here last time?_

"Crap," Molly swore.

"Mum!" Bill, Ron and Ginny said shocked while everyone else stared at her in shock.

"What?" Sirius asked.

_That clock that shot bolts at everyone and those old robes that tried to strangle Ron; Regulus might have put them there to protect the locket's hiding place, even though we didn't realize it at … at … "_

_Harry and Ron looked at her. She was standing with one foot in midair, with the dumbstruck look of one who had just been Obliviated: her eyes had even drifted out of focus._

_"…at the time," she finished in a whisper._

_"Something wrong?" asked Ron._

_"There was a locket."_

"What?" everyone but the Trio and Molly said.

"We couldn't open it," Ginny realized.

"…So we threw it away…" Dora breathed.

"Damn it," everyone else said.

"We touched that," Bill groaned after a few seconds, causing everyone to chuckle weakly.

_"What?" said Harry and Ron together._

_"In the cabinet in the drawing room. Nobody could open it. And we … we … "_

_"Kreacher nicked loads of things back from us," said Harry._

"Oh please say he did," Neville muttered.

_It was the only chance, the only slender hope left to them, and he was going to cling to it until forced to let go. "He had a whole stash of stuff in his cupboard in the kitchen. C'mon."_

_He ran down the stairs taking two steps at a time, the other two thundering along in his wake. _

_They made so much noise that they woke the portrait of Sirius's mother as they passed through the hall._

_"Filth! Mudbloods! Scum!" she screamed after them_

"Oh shut up," the twins said together

_as they dashed down into the basement kitchen and slammed the door behind them. Harry ran the length of the room, skidded to a halt at the door of Kreacher's cupboard, and wrenched it open. There was the nest of dirty old blankets in which the house-elf had once slept, but they were not longer glittering with the trinkets Kreacher had salvaged. The only thing there was an old copy of Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. Refusing to believe his eyes, Harry snatched up the blankets and shook them. A dead mouse fell out and rolled dismally across the floor._

"Ew," Petunia said.

_Ron groaned as he threw himself into a kitchen chair; Hermione closed her eyes._

_"It's not over yet," said Harry, and he raised his voice and called, "Kreacher!"_

_There was a loud crack and the house elf that Harry had so reluctantly inherited from Sirius appeared out of nowhere in front of the cold and empty fireplace: tiny, half human-sized, his pale skin hanging off him in folds, white hair sprouting copiously from his batlike ears. He was still wearing the filthy rag in which they had first met him, and the contemptuous look he bent upon Harry showed that his attitude to his change of ownership had altered no more than his outfit._

_"Master," croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, and he bowed low; muttering to his knees, "back in my Mistress's old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood –"_

"Don't call them that," everyone snapped.

_"I forbid you to call anyone 'blood traitor' or 'Mudblood,'" growled Harry. _

_"I've got a question for you," said Harry, his heart beating rather fast as he looked down at the elf, "and I order you to answer it truthfully. Understand?"_

_"Yes, Master," said Kreacher, bowing low again. Harry saw his lips moving soundlessly, undoubtedly framing the insults he was now forbidden to utter._

_"Two years ago," said Harry, "there was a big gold locket in the drawing room upstairs. We threw it out. Did you steal it back?"_

_There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look Harry full in the face. Then he said, "Yes."_

"Yes!" everyone either cheered or breathed in relief.

_"Where is it now?" asked Harry jubilantly as Ron and Hermione looked gleeful._

_Kreacher closed his eyes as though he could not bear to see their reactions to his next word._

_"Gone."_

"Gone?" everyone know echoed.

_"Gone?" echoed Harry, elation floating out of him, "What do you mean, it's gone?"_

_The elf shivered. He swayed._

_"Kreacher," said Harry fiercely, "I order you –"_

_"Mundungus Fletcher," croaked the elf, his eyes still tight shut._

"Damn that man to hell!" Sirius yelled.

_"Mundungus Fletcher stole it all; Miss Bella's and Miss Cissy's pictures, my Mistress's gloves, the Order of Merlin, First Class, the goblets with the family crest, and – and – "_

_Kreacher was gulping for air: His hollow chest was rising and falling rapidly, then his eyes flew open and he uttered a bloodcurdling scream._

_"—and the locket, Master Regulus's locket. Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!"_

"What orders?" Remus asked.

_Harry reacted instinctively: As Kreacher lunged for the poker standing in the grate, he launched himself upon the elf, flattening him._

_Hermione's scream mingled with Kreacher's but Harry bellowed louder than both of them: "Kreacher, I order you to stay still!"_

_He felt the elf freeze and released him. Kreacher lay flat on the cold stone floor, tears gushing from his sagging eyes._

"Poor Kreacher," Teddy said, he'd never dealt with the Kreacher in the memories but he liked the elf he knew.

_"Harry, let him up!" Hermione whispered._

"As much as I disagree with what's happening," Lily sighed. "It's for the best."

_"So he can beat himself up with the poker?" snorted Harry, kneeling beside the elf. "I don't think so. Right. Kreacher, I want the truth: How do you know Mundungus Fletcher stole the locket?"_

_"Kreacher saw him!" gasped the elf as tears poured over his snout and into his mouth full of graying teeth. "Kreacher saw him coming out of Kreacher's cupboard with his hands full of Kreacher's treasures. Kreacher told the sneak thief to stop, but Mundungus Fletcher laughed and r-ran … "_

_"You called the locket 'Master Regulus's,'" said Harry. "Why? Where did it come from? What did Regulus have to do with it? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about that locket, and everything Regulus had to do with it!"_

_The elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen._

_"Master Sirius ran away, good riddance,_

"Good riddance to you too," Sirius muttered but it was half-hearted.

_for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper order; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns … and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve …_

"Idiot," some muttered quietly.

_And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said … he said …"_

_The old elf rocked faster than ever._

_"… he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."_

"Voldemort wanted an elf?" the twins asked shocked.

_"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry repeated, looking around at Ron and Hermione, who looked just as puzzled as he did._

_"Oh yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do … and then to c-come home."_

_Kreacher rocked still faster, his breath coming in sobs._

_"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake … "_

_The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood up. Kreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to him from across the dark water. He saw what had happened as clearly as though he had been present._

_"… There was a boat …"_

"Of course there was," Fleur shuddered remembering

_"There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it …"_

"Oh," Dora said, her eyes misting slightly.

_The elf quaked from head to foot._

_"Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing … Kreacher's insides burned … Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed … He made Kreacher drink all the potion … He dropped a locket into the empty basin … He filled it with more potion."_

_"And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island …"_

"That's sick," Bill spat.

_"Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake … and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface …"_

_"How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering._

_Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes._

_"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said._

_"I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?"_

_Kreacher did not seem to understand._

_"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated._

_"I know, but – "_

_"Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" said Ron. "He Disapparated!"_

_"But … you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore – "_

"Elf magic's different," Arthur said.

_"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."_

_There was a silence as Harry digested this. Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy._

_"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice … It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't."_

_"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home …"_

_"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly. "You didn't disobey orders at all!"_

_Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever._

_"So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked. "What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?"_

_"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then … it was a little while later … Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord … "_

"No," Sirius breathed, his voice breaking slightly.

_And so they had set off. Harry could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius … Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat: this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison …_

_"And he made you drink the poison?" said Harry, disgusted._

_But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Hermione's hands leapt to her mouth: She seemed to have understood something._

Everyone who had already figured it out either looked disgusted, pained or their eyes were filled with tears.

_"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets …"_

_Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him._

_"And he order – Kreacher to leave – without him. And he told Kreacher – to go home – and never to tell my Mistress – what he had done – but to destroy – the first locket. And he drank – all the potion – and Kreacher swapped the lockets – and watched … as Master Regulus … was dragged beneath the water … and …"_

"Reg," Sirius groaned, burying his face in his hands as James and Remus tried to comfort him.

Regulus was the only one in the family he'd even vaguely liked, the only one he felt bad about leaving. He felt bad about leaving him to mercy of their parents - if he'd stayed he might have been able to prevent this, somehow.

Nearly everyone crying now or looked extremely sad and pained.

_"Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was crying. She dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug him. At once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed._

_"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?"_

_"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himself. He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor._

_"Stop him – stop him!" Hermione cried. "Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"_

Lily nodded sadly but she kept on eye on Sirius.

_"Kreacher – stop, stop!" shouted Harry._

_The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. Harry had never seen anything so pitiful._

_"So you brought the locket home," he said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story. "And you tried to destroy it?"_

_"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work … So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open …Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave …"_

"The poor elf," Luna sobbed.

_Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Tears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again. Even Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubled. Harry sat back on his heels and shook his head, trying to clear it._

_"I don't understand you, Kreacher," he said finally. "Voldemort tried to kill you, Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to Voldemort through them …"_

"House elves don't think like that, mate," Neville said.

_"Harry, Kreacher doesn't think like that," said Hermione, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "He's a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn't that far out of the common way._

"That's sick," Dudley spat.

_What do wizard wars mean to an elf like Kreacher? He's loyal to people who are kind to him, and Mrs. Black must have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served them willingly and parroted their beliefs. I know what you're going to say," she went on as Harry began to protest, "that Regulus changed his mind … but he doesn't seem to have explained that to Kreacher, does he?" And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus's family were all safest if they kept to the old pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all."_

Most of the wizards nodded in agreement to what Hermione was saying

_"Sirius – "_

_"Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it's no good looking like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I'm sure 'Miss Cissy' and 'Miss Bella' were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to know. I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did … and so did Sirius."_

Sirius sighed, having gained a bit of control over himself.

_"Kreacher," said Harry after a while, "when you feel up to it, er … please sit up."_

Lily, Ginny and Hermione smiled.

_It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silence. Then he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child._

_"Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something," said Harry. He glanced at Hermione for assistance. He wanted to give the order kindly, but at the same time, he could not pretend that it was not an order. However, the change in his tone seemed to have gained her approval: She smiled encouragingly._

_"Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to find out where the locket – where Master Regulus's locket it. It's really important. We want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to – er – ensure that he didn't die in vain."_

_Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry._

_"Find Mundungus Fletcher?" he croaked._

"Yes," Remus smiled.

_"And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place," said Harry. "Do you think you could do that for us?"_

_As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, Harry had a sudden inspiration. He pulled out Hagrid's purse and took out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in which Regulus had placed the note to Voldemort._

_"Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this," he said, pressing the locket into the elf's hand._

"He'll go mad," Sirius warned.

_"This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you—"_

_"Overkill, mate," said Ron as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and threw himself back onto the ground._

"Much better," Arthur smiled.

"Does this mean I don't have to hate Kreacher anymore?" Teddy asked causing everyone to look at him. "What? I like that elf!"

Harry chuckled before saying, "we're skipping a few days."

_He was in the process of lowering the newspaper when a deafening crack echoed around the kitchen._

"Kreacher's back!" Dudley grinned.

_For a split second, he did not take in the mass of struggling limbs that had appeared out of thin air right beside his chair. He hurried to his feet as Kreacher disentangled himself and, bowing low to Harry, croaked, "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master."_

_Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand; Hermione, however, was too quick for him._

_"Expelliarmus!"_

_Mundungus's wand soared into the air, and Hermione caught it. Wild-eyed, Mundungus dived for the stairs. Ron rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone floor with a muffled crunch._

Everyone chuckled.

"Muggle style!" the twins yelled.

_"What?" he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free himself from Ron's grip. "Wha've I done? Setting a bleedin' 'house-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha've I done, lemme go, lemme go, of – "_

_"You're not in much of a position to make threats," said Harry. He threw aside the newspaper, crossed the kitchen in a few strides, and dropped to his knees beside Mundungus, who stopped struggling and looked terrified._

"Am I that scary?" Harry asked amused.

"When you're angry?" Bill chuckled.

"Yes," he, Fleur, Ron, Ginny, Teddy, Neville, Luna, Dudley and Hermione said.

_Ron got up, panting, and watched as Harry pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus's nose. Mundungus stank of stale sweat and tobacco smoke. His hair was matted and his robes stained._

_"Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Master," croaked the elf. "Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end."_

_"You've done really well, Kreacher," said Harry, and the elf bowed low._

_"Right, we've got a few questions for you," Harry told Mundungus, who shouted at once._

_"I panicked, okay?_

"Huh?" James asked.

_I never wanted to come along, no offense, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, an' that was bleedin' You-Know-Who come flying at me, anyone woulda got outta there. I said all along I didn't wanna do it –"_

_"For your information, none of the rest of us Disapparated," said Hermione._

_"Well, you're a bunch of bleedin' 'eroes then, aren't you, _

"Yes, they are," Petunia said.

_but I never pretended I was up for killing meself –"_

_"We're not interested in why you ran out on Mad-Eye," said Harry, moving his wand a little closer to Mundungus's baggy, bloodshot eyes. "We already knew you were an unreliable bit of scum."_

Everyone smirked.

"You know, I feel sorry for the Auror's working under you," Dora chuckled.

"Why?" Harry laughed.

"Don't worry," she smiled.

"You may end up being one of them," he chuckled and her smile dropped.

_"Well then, why the 'ell am I being 'unted down by 'ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I ain't got none of 'em left, or you could 'ave 'em –"_

_"It's not about the goblets either, although you're getting warmer," said Harry. "Shut up and listen."_

"And you're authoritive," Dora grinned.

_It felt wonderful to have something to do, someone of whom he could demand some small portion of truth. Harry's wand was now so close to the bridge of Mundungus's nose that Mundungus had gone cross-eyed trying to keep it in view._

_"When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable," Harry began, but Mundungus interrupted him again._

_"Sirius never cared about any of the junk –"_

_There was the sound of pattering feet, a blaze of shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of agony; Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and hit him over the head with a saucepan._

_"Call 'im off, call 'im off, 'e should be locked up!" screamed Mundungus, cowering as Kreacher raised the heavy-bottomed pan again._

Everyone laughed.

"I like this elf!" the twins yelled.

_"Kreacher, no!" shouted Harry._

_Kreacher's thin arms trembled with the weight of the pan, still held aloft._

_"Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?"_

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Sirius muttered, "…but he's brilliant."

_Ron laughed._

_"We need him conscious, Kreacher, but if he needs persuading, you can do the honors," said Harry._

_"Thank you very much, Master," said Kreacher with a bow, and he retreated a short distance, his great pale eyes still fixed upon Mundungus with loathing._

_"When you stripped this house of all the valuables you could find," Harry began again, "you took a bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was a locket there." Harry's mouth was suddenly dry: He could sense Ron and Hermione's tension and excitement too. "What did you do with it?"_

_"Why?" asked Mundungus. "Is it valuable?"_

_"You've still got it!" cried Hermione._

"No. he hasn't," Neville sighed.

_"No, he hasn't," said Ron shrewdly. "He's wondering whether he should have asked more money for it."_

_"More?" said Mundungus. "That wouldn't have been effing difficult . . .bleedin' gave it away, di'n' I? No choice."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I was selling in Diagon Alley and she come up to me and asks if I've got a license for trading in magical artifacts. Bleedin' snoop. She was gonna fine me, but she took a fancy to the locket an' told me she'd take it and let me off that time, and to fink meself lucky."_

_"Who was this woman?" asked Harry._

_"I dunno, some Ministry hag."_

_Mundungus considered for a moment, brow wrinkled._

_"Little woman. Bow on top of 'er head." He frowned and then added, "Looked like a toad."_

"Oh please no!" Luna exclaimed, sounding unlike herself.

"Umbridge," Ginny and Neville groaned.

_Harry dropped his wand: It hit Mundungus on the nose and shot red sparks into his eyebrows, which ignited._

_"Aquamenti!" screamed Hermione, and a jet of water streamed from her wand, engulfing a spluttering and choking Mundungus._

_Harry looked up and saw his own shock reflected in Ron's and Hermione's faces. _

"Oh, this is bad," Petunia murmured as she sank into a seat in the family room.

"Bad!' Molly said. 'It's terrible!"

"Wait, so you really did break into the Ministry," Remus said shocked.

"Yep," the trio smirked.

"You amaze me," Dora said, staring at them with wide-eyes.

"How do you think they'll react when they find out we broke into Gringotts?" Ron chuckled quietly to Harry and Hermione.

"Can we eat?" Teddy said, shaking his head – he had just come to the conclusion that his godfather was mad.

"Sure, let's go get lunch," Ginny said.

_The usual low whisper of "Severus Snape" greeted him, the chill wind swept him, and his tongue rolled up for a moment._

"You have that every time you come in," Luna said. "How annoying."

_"I didn't kill you," he said, once it had unrolled, then held his breath as the dusty jinx-figure exploded. He waited until he was halfway down the stairs to the kitchen, out of earshot of Mrs. Black and clear of the dust cloud, before calling, "I've got news, and you won't like it."_

"Oh great," Dudley said.

_The kitchen was almost unrecognisable. Every surface now shone; Copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow; the wooden tabletop gleamed; the goblets and plates already laid for dinner glinted in the light from a merrily blazing fire, on which a cauldron was simmering. Nothing in the room, however, was more dramatically different than the house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, dressed in a snowy-white towel, his ear hair as clean and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus's locket bouncing on his thin chest._

"That's all it took?" Sirius asked in shock. "A bit of kindness."

The trio nodded and he looked appropriately abashed.

_"Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands washed before dinner," croaked Kreacher, seizing the Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned robes that had been freshly laundered._

_"What's happened?" Ron asked apprehensively. He are Hermione had been pouring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment._

Lily and James shared a look, it looked like their study had, sheets sprewed all over the place and people bringing in the latest news.

_A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, black-haired man stared up at them all, beneath a headline that read:_

_SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER_

"No!" everyone who had been dead yelled in shock and anger.

_"No!" said Ron and Hermione loudly._

_Hermione was quickest; she snatched up the newspaper and began to read the accompanying story out loud._

_"Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."_

"That was terrible," Neville, Luna and Ginny shuddered.

"What was it like?" Lily asked.

"Not Hogwarts," Luna said.

_"'I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values –' Like committing murder and cutting off people's ears, I suppose! Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore's study – Merlin's pants!" she shrieked,_

"Merlin's pants?" Petunia repeated.

_making both Harry and Ron jump. She leapt up from the table and hurtled from the room, shouting as she went, "I'll be back in a minute!"_

"What's going on?" Dudley asked.

_"'Merlin's pants'?" repeated Ron, looking amused. "She must be upset." He pulled the newspaper toward him and perused the article about Snape._

_"The other teachers won't stand for this, McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout all know the truth, they know how Dumbledore died. They won't accept Snape as headmaster._

"They won't have a choice," Remus sighed.

_And who are these Carrows?"_

"Death Eaters," Dora spat.

_"Death Eaters," said Harry. "There are pictures of them inside. They were at the top of the tower when Snape killed Dumbledore,_

"Oh, so they're all together," Teddy scowled.

_so it's all friends together._

Everyone chuckled at the similarity.

"You know," Ginny chuckled. "I've never noticed how similar you two are."

"Me neither," Hermione laughed. "But I suppose it makes sense."

_And," Harry went on bitterly, drawing up a chair, "I can't see that the other teachers have got any choice but to stay. If the Ministry and Voldemort are behind Snape it'll be a choice between staying and teaching, or a nice few years in Azkaban – and that's if they're lucky. I reckon they'll stay to try and protect the students."_

"Definitely," Lily nodded.

_Kreacher came bustling to the table with a large curcen in his hands, and ladled out soup into pristine bowls, whistling between his teeth as he did so._

"He really had changed," Sirius sighed.

_"Thanks, Kreacher," said Harry, flipping over the Prophet so as not to have to look at Snape's face. "Well, at least we know exactly where Snape is now."_

"Good point," Bill nodded.

"Snape wasn't that bad, either," Ginny said. "It was the Carrows you had to watch for."

_He began to spoon soup into his mouth. _

_"There are still a load of Death Eaters watching this house," he told Ron as he ate, "more than usual. It's like they're hoping we'll march out carrying our school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express."_

"So eet's ze first of September," Fleur said. "What 'ad you been doing?"

"I'm sure it'll come up," Harry smirked. "But if it doesn't, spying."

_Ron glanced at his watch._

_"I've been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn't it?"_

_"They nearly saw me coming back in just now," Harry said, "I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak slipped."_

"Oh be careful," Molly fretted

_"I do that every time. Oh, here she is," Ron added, craning around in his seat to watch Hermione re-entering the kitchen. "And what in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y Fronts was that about?"_

"Ron," Arthur said, unusually stern as the twins snickered.

_"I remembered this," Hermione panted._

_She was carrying a large, framed picture,_

"Phineas," Remus said.

_which she now lowered to the floor before seizing her small, beaded bag from the kitchen sideboard. Opening it, she proceeded to force the painting inside and despite the fact that it was patently too large to fit inside the tiny bag, within a few seconds it had vanished, like so much ease, into the bag's capacious depths._

_"Phineas Nigellus," Hermione explained as she threw the bag onto the kitchen table with the usual sonorous, clanking crash._

_"Sorry?" said Ron, but Harry understood. _

_"Snape could send Phineas Nigellus to look inside this house for him," Hermione explained to Ron as she resumed her seat. "But let him try it now, all Phineas Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my handbag."_

"Brilliant," Dora beamed.

_"Good thinking!" said Ron, looking impressed._

_"Thank you," smiled Hermione, pulling her soup toward her. "So, Harry, what else happened today?"_

_"Nothing," said Harry. "Watched the Ministry entrance for seven hours._

"What fun," Bill said, sarcastically.

_No sign of her. Saw your dad though, Ron. He looks fine."_

Arthur smiled

_Ron nodded his appreciation of this news. _

_It wasreassuring to catch these glimpses of him, even if he did look very strained and anxious._

_"Dad always told us most Ministry people use the Floo Network to get to work," Ron said. "That's why we haven't seen Umbridge, she'd never walk, she'd think she's too important."_

"True," Neville nodded.

_"And what about that funny old witch and that little wizard in the navy robes?" Hermione asked._

"Magical Maintenance," Bill said causing Hermione to huff..

_"Oh yeah, the bloke from Magical Maintenance," said Ron._

_"How do you know he works for Magical Maintenance?" Hermione asked, her soup spoon suspended in mid-air._

_"Dad said everyone from Magical Maintenance wears navy blue robes."_

"Good thing about having a dad who works for the ministry," James chuckled.

_"But you never told us that!"_

_Hermione dropped her spoon and pulled toward her the sheaf of notes and maps that she and Ron had been examining when Harry had entered the kitchen._

_"There's nothing in here about navy blue robes, nothing!" she said, flipping feverishly through the pages._

_"Well, does it really matter?"_

_"Ron, it all matters! If we're going to get into the Ministry and not give ourselves away when they're bound to be on the lookout for intruders, every little detail matters! We've been over and over this, I mean, what's the point of all these reconnaissance trips if you aren't even bothering to tell us –"_

_"Blimey, Hermione, I forget one little thing – "_

_"You do realize, don't you, that there's probably no more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be right now than the Ministry of –"_

_"I think we should do it tomorrow," said Harry._

_Hermione stopped dead, her jaw hanging; Ron choked a little over his soup._

Everyone even chuckled or giggled.

_"Tomorrow?" repeated Hermione. "You aren't serious, Harry?"_

"No, I am," Sirius smirked.

"Shut up, Padfoot," James said, whacking him over the head. "The joke got old second year."

"First," Remus corrected.

_"I am," said Harry. "I don't think we're going to be much better prepared than we are now even if we skulk around the Ministry entrance for another month. The longer we put it off, the farther away that locket could be. There's already a good chance Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn't open."_

_"Unless," said Ron, "she's found a way of opening it and she's now possessed."_

"Wouldn't make any difference to her," Ginny said darkly.

_"Wouldn't make any difference to her, she was so evil in the first place," Harry shrugged._

They grinned but rolled their eyes.

_Hermione was biting her lip, deep in thought._

_"We know everything important," Harry went on, addressing Hermione. "We know they've stopped Apparition in and out of the Ministry; We know only the most senior Ministry members are allowed to connect their homes to the Floo Network now, because Ron heard those two Unspeakable complaining about it. And we know roughly where Umbridge's office is, because of what you heard the bearded bloke saying to his mate –"_

_"'I'll be up on level one, Dolores wants to see me,'" Hermione recited immediately._

_"Exactly," said Harry. "And we know you get in using those funny coins, or tokens, or whatever they are, because I saw that witch borrowing one from her friend – "_

_"But we haven't got any!"_

_"If the plan works, we will have," Harry continued calmly._

_"I don't know, Harry, I don't know … There are an awful lot of things that could go wrong, so much relies on chance … "_

"That's true with all your plans," Neville chuckled.

_"That'll be true even if we spend another three months preparing," said Harry. "It's time to act."_

_He could tell from Ron's and Hermione's faces that they were scared; he was not particularly confident himself, and yet he was sure the time had come to put their plan into operation._

"Skipping," Harry said.

"I still can't believe you're going to break into the Ministry," Lily said. "Its … it's …"

"Amazing," Fabian suggested.

"Fantastic," Gideon added.

"I was thinking mad," Lily smiled.

"Well,"Bill smirked. "They always ave been a little off in the head, if you know what I mean."

"Hey!" the trio yelled.

"Don't worry," Luna said. "The best people are always a bit mad."

_"You look terrible," was Ron's greeting as he entered the room to wake Harry._

_"Not for long," said Harry, yawning._

"What?" Petunia asked.

_They found Hermione downstairs in the kitchen. She was being served coffee and hot rolls by Kreacher and wearing the slightly manic expression that Harry associated with exam review._

_"Robes," she said under her breath, acknowledging their presence with a nervous nod and continuing to poke around in her beaded bag, "Polyjuice Potion … _

"Oh," Petunia said, her previous question answered – it seemed amazing to her that they had only watched that memory a few hours earlier.

_Invisibility Cloak … Decoy Detonators … You should each take a couple just in case … Puking Pastilles, Nosebleed Nougat, Extendible Ears …"_

_They gulped down their breakfast, then set off upstairs, Kreacher bowing them out and promising to have a steak-and-kidney pie ready for them when they returned._

The trio grimaced slightly knowing they wouldn't come back for that.

_"Bless him," said Ron fondly, "and when you think I used to fantasize about cutting off his head and sticking it on the wall."_

"I think we all did," Arthur chuckled.

_They made their way onto the front step with immense caution. They could see a couple of puffy-eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across the misty square._

_Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, then came back for Harry._

_After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, Harry found himself in the tiny alleyway where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to take place. It was as yet deserted, except for a couple of large bins; the first Ministry workers did not usually appear here until at least eight o'clock._

_"Right then," said Hermione, checking her watch. "she ought to be here in about five minutes. When I've Stunned her –"_

_"Hermione, we know," said Ron sternly. "And I thought we were supposed to open the door before she got here?"_

_Hermione squealed._

_"I nearly forgot! Stand back –"_

_She pointed her wand at the padlocked and heavily graffitied fire door beside them, which burst open with a crash. The dark corridor behind it led, as they knew from their careful scouting trips, into an empty theater. Hermione pulled the door back toward her, to make it look as thought it was still closed._

_"And now," she said, turning, back to face the other two in the alleyway, "we put on the Cloak again –"_

_"—and we wait," Ron finished, throwing it over Hermione's head like a blanket over a birdcage and rolling his eyes at Harry._

_Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny pop and a little Ministry witch with flyaway gray hair Apparated feet from them, blinking a little in the sudden brightness: the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy the unexpected warmth, however, before Hermione's silent Stunning Spell hit her in the chest and she toppled over._

"Poor women," Ginny sighed.

_"Nicely done, Hermione," said Ron, emerging behind a bin beside the theater door as Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak. Together they carried the little witch into the dark passageway that led backstage. Hermione plucked a few hairs from the witch's head and added them to a flask of muddy Polyjuice Potion she had taken from the beaded bag. Ron was rummaging through the little witch's handbag._

_"She's Mafalda Hopkirk," he said, reading a small card that identified their victim as an assistant in the Improper Use of Magic Office._

Bill nearly snorted at the irony that she was polyjuicing someone in an office she would soon be department head of.

_"You'd better take this, Hermione, and here are the tokens."_

_He passed her several small golden coins, all embossed with the letters M.O.M., which he had taken from the witch's purse._

_Hermione drank the Polyjuice Potion, which was now a pleasant heliotrope color, _

"So she's not evil," Luna smiled.

_and within seconds stood before them, the double of Mafalda Hopkirk. As she removed Mafalda's spectacles and put them on, Harry checked his watch._

_"We're running late, Mr. Magical Maintenance will be here any second."_

_They hurried to close the door on the real Mafalda; Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves but Hermione remained in view, waiting. Seconds later there was another pop, and a small, ferrety looking wizard appeared before them._

_"Oh, hello, Mafalda."_

_"Hello!" said Hermione in a quavery voice, "How are you today?"_

_"Not so good, actually," replied the little wizard, who looked thoroughly downcast._

_As Hermione and the wizard headed for the main road, Harry and Ron crept along behind them._

_"I'm sorry to hear you're under the weather," said Hermione, talking firmly over the little wizard and he tried to expound upon his problems; it was essential to stop him from reaching the street. "Here, have a sweet."_

_"Eh? Oh, no thanks –"_

_"I insist!" said Hermione aggressively, shaking the bag of pastilles in his face. Looking rather alarmed, the little wizard took one._

"Never take sweets from a stranger," Dudley said.

_The effect was instantaneous. The moment the pastille touched his tongue, the little wizard started vomiting so hard that he did not even notice as Hermione yanked a handful of hairs from the top of his head._

_"Oh dear!" she said, as he splattered the alley with sick. "Perhaps you'd better take the day off!"_

_"No – no!" He choked and retched, trying to continue on his way despite being unable to walk straight. "I must – today – must go – "_

The trio shared guilty looks.

_"But that's just silly!" said Hermione, alarmed. "You can't go to work in this state – I think you ought to go to St. Mungo's and get them to sort you out."_

_The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still trying to crawl toward the main street._

"He's dedicated…"Teddy said but didn't notice the trio slowly shaking their heads.

_"You simply can't go to work like this!" cried Hermione._

_At last he seemed to accept the truth of her words. Using a reposed Hermione to claw his way back into a standing position, he turned on the spot and vanished, leaving nothing behind but the bag Ron had snatched from his hand as he went and some flying chunks of vomit._

_"Urgh," said Hermione, holding up the skirt of her robe to avoid the puddles of sick. "It would have made much less mess to Stun him too."_

_"Yeah," said Ron, emerging from under the cloak holding the wizard's bag, "but I still think a whole pile of unconscious bodies would have drawn more attention. Keen on his job, though, isn't he? _

The trio sighed and this time Ginny looked at them curiously.

_Chuck us the hair and the potion, then."_

_Within two minutes, Ron stood before them, as small and ferrety as the sick wizard, and wearing the navy blue robes that had been folded in his bag._

_"Weird he wasn't wearing them today, wasn't it, seeing how much he wanted to go? Anyway, I'm Reg Cattermole, according to the label in the back."_

_"Now wait here," Hermione told Harry, who was still under the Invisibility Cloak, "and we'll be back with some hairs for you."_

_He had to wait ten minutes, but it seemed much longer to Harry, skulking alone in the sick-splattered alleyway beside the door concealing the Stunned Mafalda. Finally Ron and Hermione reappeared._

_"We don't know who he is," Hermione said, passing Harry several curly black hairs, "but he's gone home with a dreadful nosebleed! Here, he's pretty tall, you'll need bigger robes …"_

_She pulled out a set of the old robes Kreacher had laundered for them, and Harry retired to take the potion and change._

_Once the painful transformation was complete he was more than six feet tall and, from what he could tell from his well-muscled arms, powerfully built. He also had a beard. Stowing the Invisibility Cloak and his glasses inside his new robes, he rejoined the other two._

_"Blimey, that's scary," said Ron, looking up at Harry, who now towered over him._

Everyone sniggered.

"What?" Ron said. "I'm was used to being taller than you."

_"Take one of Mafalda's tokens," Hermione told Harry, "and let's go, it's nearly nine."_

_They stepped out of the alleyway together. Fifty yards along the crowded pavement there were spiked black railings flanking two flights of stairs, one labeled GENTLEMEN, the other LADIES._

_"See you in a moment, then," said Hermione nervously, and she tottered off down the steps to LADIES. Harry and Ron joined a number of oddly dressed men descending into what appeared to be an ordinary underground public toilet, tiled in grimy black and white._

_"Morning, Reg!" called another wizard in navy blue robes as he let himself into a cubicle by inserting his golden token into a slot in the door. "Blooming pain in the bum, this, eh? Forcing us all to get to work this way! Who are they expecting to turn up, Harry Potter?"_

"The irony," Sirius laughed.

_The wizard roared with laughter at his own wit. Ron gave a forced chuckle._

_"Yeah," he said, "stupid, isn't it?"_

_And he and Harry let themselves into adjoining cubicles._

_To Harry's left and right came the sound of flushing._

"Oh please no," Dudley said, looking sick.

_He crouched down and peered through the gap at the bottom of the cubicle, just in time to see a pair of booted feet climbing into the toilet next door. He looked left and saw Ron blinking at him._

_"We have to flush ourselves in?" he whispered._

Everyone was laughing or giggling at Ron's tone.

_"Looks like it," Harry whispered back; his voice came out deep and gravelly._

_They both stood up. Feeling exceptionally foolish, Harry clambered into the toilet._

_He knew at once that he had done the right thing; thought he appeared to be standing in water, his shoes, feet, and robes remained quite dry._

Teddy then burst out into harder laughter.

"What?" Hermione asked warily.

"Imagine if that wasn't what you were meant to do," Teddy laughed. "Then you'd just be an idiot standing in a toilet."

Everyone else chuckled at that.

_He reached up, pulled the chain, and next moment had zoomed down a short chute, emerging out of a fireplace into the Ministry of Magic._

_He got up clumsily; there was a lot more of his body than he was accustomed to. The great Atrium seemed darker than Harry remembered it. Previously a golden fountain had filled the center of the hall, casting shimmering spots of light over the polished wooden floor and walls. Now a gigantic statue of black stone dominated the scene._

Arthur sighed – it had been sickening walking past that everyday.

_It was rather frightening, this vast sculpture of a witch and a wizard sitting on ornately carved thrones, looking down at the Ministry workers toppling out of fireplaces below them. Engraved in foot-high letters at the base of the statue were the words MAGIC IS MIGHT._

_Harry received a heavy blow on the back of the legs. Another wizard had just flown out of the fireplace behind him._

_"Out of the way, can't y – oh, sorry, Runcorn."_

_Clearly frightened, the balding wizard hurried away. _

"You're obviously important," Luna said.

_Apparently the man who Harry was impersonating, Runcorn, was intimidating._

_"Psst!" said a voice, and he looked around to see a whispy little witch and the ferrety wizard from Magical Maintenance gesturing to him from over beside the statue. Harry hastened to join them._

_"You got in all right, then?" Hermione whispered to Harry._

_"No, he's still stuck in the hog," said Ron._

Several people snickered and laughed.

_"Oh, very funny … It's horrible, isn't it?" she said to Harry, who was staring up at the statue. "Have you seen what they're sitting on?"_

_Harry looked more closely and realized that what he had thought were decoratively carved thrones were actually mounds of carved humans: hundreds and hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted and pressed together to support the weight of the handsomely robed wizards._

"What are they?" Petunia said, looking shocked.

_"Muggles," whispered Hermione, "In their rightful place._

Petunia and Dudley shared a look

_Come on, let's get going."_

_They joined the stream of witches and wizards moving toward the golden gates at the end of the hall, looking around as surreptitiously as possible, but there was no sign of the distinctive figure of Dolores Umbridge._

_They passed through the gates and into a smaller hall, where queues were forming in front of twenty golden grilles housing as many lifts. They had barely joined the nearest one when a voice said, "Cattermole!"_

"Oh no," James muttered.

_They looked around: One of the Death Eaters who had witnessed Dumbledore's death was striding toward them. The Ministry workers beside them fell silent, their eyes downcast; Harry could feel fear rippling through them._

_The man's scowling, slightly brutish face was somehow at odds with his magnificent, sweeping robes, which were embroidered with much gold thread. Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, "Morning, Yaxley!" Yaxley ignored them._

_"I requested somebody from Magical Maintenance to sort out my office, Cattermole. It's still raining in there."_

_Ron looked around as though hoping somebody else would intervene, but nobody spoke._

_"Raining … in your office? That's – that's not good, is it?"_

_Ron gave a nervous laugh. Yaxley's eyes widened._

_"You think it's funny, Cattermole, do you?"_

"Don't get him in trouble!" Lily warned.

_A pair of witches broke away from the queue for the lift and bustled off._

_"No," said Ron, "no, of course –"_

_"You realize that I am on my way downstairs to interrogate your wife, Cattermole?_

'That's why he was so keen to go to work!' Petunia gasped, as the trio shifted again.

_In fact, I'm quite surprised you're not down there holding her hand while she waits. Already given her up as a bad job, have you? Probably wise. Be sure and marry a pureblood next time."_

Everyone scowled at the man.

_Hermione had let out a little squeak of horror. Yaxley looked at her. She cough feebly and turned away._

_"I – I –" stammered Ron._

_"But if my wife were accused of being a Mudblood," said Yaxley, "—not that any woman I married would ever be mistaken for such filth – and the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing,_

"That's my job," Hermione shuddered causing Harry to chuckle.

_I would make it my priority to do this job, Cattermole. Do you understand me?"_

_"Yes," whispered Ron._

_"Then attend to it, Cattermole, and if my office is not completely dry within an hour, your wife's Blood Status will be in even greater doubt than it is now."_

"That's unfair," James frowned.

_The golden grille before them clattered open. With a nod and unpleasant smile to Harry, who was evidently expected to appreciate this treatment of Cattermole, Yaxley swept away toward another lift. Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered theirs, but nobody followed them: It was as if they were infectious. The grilles shut with a clang and the lift began to move upward._

_"What am I going to do?" Ron asked the other two at once; he looked stricken. "If I don't turn up, my wife …_

"Ron, you don't have a wife at this time," the twins chuckled

_I mean, Cattermole's wife – "_

_"We'll come with you, we should stick together –" began Harry, but Ron shook his head feverishly._

_"That's mental, we haven't got much time. You two find Umbridge, I'll go and sort out Yaxley's office – but how do I stop a raining?"_

_"Try Finite Incantatem," said Hermione at once,_

"I doubt it'll be that easy," Remus frowned.

_"that should stop the rain if it's a hex or curse; if it doesn't something's gone wrong with an Atmospheric Charm, which will be more difficult to fix, so as an interim measure try Impervius to protect his belongings – "_

_"Say it again, slowly – " said Ron, searching his pockets desperately for a quill, but at that moment the lift juddered to a halt. A disembodied female voice said, "Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau," and the grilles slid open again, admitting a couple of wizards and several pale violet paper airplanes that fluttered around the lamp in the ceiling of the lift._

_"Morning, Albert," said a bushily whiskered man, smiling at Harry. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione as the lift creaked upward once more; Hermione was now whispering frantic instructions to Ron. The wizard leaned toward Harry, leering, and muttering "Dirk Cresswell, eh? From Goblin Liaison? Nice one, Albert. I'm pretty confident I'll get his job now!"_

_He winked. Harry smiled back, hoping that this would suffice. The lift stopped; the grilles opened once more._

_"Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services," said the disembodied witch's voice._

_Harry saw Hermione give Ron a little push and he hurried out of the lift, followed by the other wizards, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The moment the golden door had closed Hermione said, very fast, "Actually, Harry, I think I'd better go after him, I don't think he knows what he's doing and if he gets caught the whole thing – "_

"Probably be a good idea," Ginny muttered.

_"Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff."_

_The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione gasped. Four people stood before them, two of them deep in conversation: a long-haired wizard wearing magnificent robes of black and gold, and a squat, toadlike witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest._

"Umbridge," everyone snarled.

"Thank Merlin, we don't have to work with her," Hermione said to Harry. "I think I'd murder myself."

"Luckily that isn't necessary," Harry grimaced as he thought about working with Umbridge.

"Thanks to you, Harry," Arthur smiled.

'What did you do?" James asked.

"Chucked her in Azkaban where she belongs," Harry said.

_"Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?"_

_"Y-yes," squeaked Hermione._

_"God, you'll do perfectly well." _

"For what?" Luna asked.

"Probably, something foul," Neville said.

_Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. "That's that problem solved. Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping we shall be able to start straight away." She consulted her clipboard. "Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee!_

"Courtrooms," Ginny sighed.

_Tut, tut… even here, in the heart of the Ministry!" She stepped into the lift besides Hermione, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge's conversation with the Minister. "We'll go straight down, Mafalda, you'll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?"_

_"Yes, of course," said Harry in Runcorn's deep voice._

_Harry stepped out of the life. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry saw Hermione's anxious face sinking back out of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge's velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder._

"Poor dear," Molly sighed.

_"What brings you here, Runcorn?" asked the new Minister of Magic. His long black hair and beard were streaked with silver and a great overhanging forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in the mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock._

_"Needed a quick word with," Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Arthur Weasley. Someone said he was up on level one."_

"That wasn't wise," Arthur said.

"Yeah, but you're the person I could think of on that floor," Harry said.

_"Ah," said Pius Thicknesse. "Has he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?"_

"Harry or a muggle-born," Hermione explained

_"No," said Harry, his throat dry. "No, nothing like that."_

_"Ah, well. It's only a matter of time," said Thicknesse. "If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods._

Everyone scowled

_Good day, Runcorn."_

_"Good day, Minister."_

_Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it over himself, and set off along the corridor in the opposite direction. Runcorn was so tall that Harry was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were hidden._

_As he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it,_

_He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried to decide what to do. The silence pressed upon him: There was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as though the Muffliato charm had been cast over the place._

_He therefore set off along the corridor again, passing nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, scribbling on a trail of parchment._

_Now paying attention to the names on the doors, Harry turned a corner. Halfway along the next corridor he emerged into a wide, open space where a dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks not unlike school desks, though much more highly polished and free from graffiti. Harry paused to watch them, for the effect was quite mesmerizing. They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of coloured paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern and after a few more seconds he realized what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets – that the paper squares were pages, which, when assembled, folded and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard._

_Harry crept closer, although the workers were so intent on what they were doing that he doubted they would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a completed pamphlet from the pile beside a young witch. He examined it beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Its pink cover was emblazoned with a golden title:_

_Mudbloods_

_and the Dangers They Pose to_

_a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society_

_Beneath the title was a picture of a red rose with a simpering face in the middle of its petals, being strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowl._

"That's sick," James

_There was no author's name upon the pamphlet, but again, the scars on the back of his right hand seemed to tingle as he examined it. Then the young witch beside him confirmed his suspicion as she said, still waving and twirling her wand, "Will the old hag be interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?"_

"I half like this woman," the twins said.

"One on hand, she hates Umbridge," Gideon smiled.

"On the other, she said Mudblood," Fabian frowned.

_"Careful," said the wizard beside her, glancing around nervously; one of his pages slipped and fell to the floor._

_"What, has she got magic ears as well as an eye, now?"_

"What?" Petunia asked.

_The witch glanced toward the shining mahogany door facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry looked too, and the rage reared in him like a snake. Where there might have been a peephole on a Muggle front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris had been set into the wood – an eye that was shockingly familiar to anybody who had known Alastor Moody._

"Mad-Eye," breathed Dora, looking upset.

_He strode straight over to the door to examine the eye. It was not moving. It gazed blindly upward, frozen._

"As long as it keeps looking up," Ginny said, "that eye can see through your cloak."

_The plaque beneath it read:_

_Dolores Umbridge_

_Senior Undersecretary to the Minister_

_Below that a slightly shinier new plaque read:_

_Head of the Muggle-Born_

_Registration Commission_

Everyone frowned – typical Umbridge.

_Harry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers. He withdrew from an inner pocket an odd object with little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed horn for a body. Crouching down beneath the Cloak, he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground._

_It scuttled away at once through the legs of the witches and wizards in front of him. A few moments later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon the doorknob, there came a loud bang and a great deal of acrid smoke billowed from a corner. The young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages flew everywhere as she and her fellows jumped up, looking around for the source of the commotion. Harry turned the doorknob, stepped into Umbridge's office, and closed the door behind him._

_The room was exactly like Umbridge's office at Hogwarts: Lace draperies, doilies and dried flowers covered every surface. The walls bore the same ornamental plates, each featuring a highly coloured, beribboned kitten, gambolling and frisking with sickening cuteness. The desk was covered with a flouncy, flowered cloth._

Everyone looked sick as they looked around the room – why was there so much pink?

_Behind Mad-eye's eye, a telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy on the workers on the other side of the door. Harry took a look through it and saw that they were all still gathered around the Decoy Detonator. He wrenched the telescope out of the door, leaving a hole behind, pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in his pocket._

_The he turned to face the room again, raised his wand, and murmured, "Accio Locket."_

_Nothing happened He therefore hurried behind her desk and began pulling open all the drawers. He saw quills and notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted paper clips that coiled snakelike from their drawer and had be beaten back; a fussy little lace box full of spare hair bows and clips; but no sign of a locket._

_There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set to searching it. Like Filch's filing cabinet at Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labeled with a name. It was not until Harry reached the bottommost drawer that he saw something to distract him from the search: Mr. Weasley's file._

"You never said –" Ron began.

"It slipped by mind," Harry cut him off.

_He pulled it out and opened it._

_Arthur Weasley_

_Blood Status:_

_Pureblood, but with unacceptable pro-Muggle leanings. Known member of the Order of the Phoenix._

_Family:_

_Wife (pureblood), seven children, two youngest at Hogwarts. NB: Youngest son currently at home, seriously ill, Ministry inspectors have confirmed._

_Security Status:_

_TRACKED. All movements are being monitored._

"We'll we already knew that," Arthur smiled.

"Yes, didn't you say that it was some ministry employee," Molly said, trying to remember.

"Yes," Arthur replied. "It was … it was Runcorn."

Harry smirked, "couple of years late, Arthur."

"I thought something was odd," he laughed. "Should've known it was you protecting us all, _again._"

_Strong likelihood Undesirable No. 1 will contact (has stayed with Weasley family previously._

_"Undesirable Number One," Harry muttered under his breath as he replaced Mr. Weasley's folder and shut the drawer. He straightened up and glanced around the office for fresh hiding places he saw a poster of himself on the wall, with the words UNDESIRABLE NO. 1 emblazoned across his chest. A little pink note was stuck to it with a picture of a kitten in the corner. Harry moved across to read it and saw that Umbridge had written, "To be punished."_

Everyone growled angrily.

_He proceeded to grope in the bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers. He gave the office one last sweeping look. Dumbledore was staring at him from a small rectangular mirror, propped up on a bookcase beside the desk._

_Harry crossed the room at a run and snatched it up, but realized that the moment he touched it that it was not a mirror at all._

_Dumbledore was smiling wistfully out of the front cover of a glossy book. Harry had not immediately noticed the curly green writing across his hat – The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore – nor the slightly smaller writing across his chest: "by Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?"_

"Urg," Lily said. "She would get that book."

_Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page photograph of two teenage boys, both laughing immoderately with their arms around each other's shoulders. Dumbledore, now with elbow-length hair, had grown a tiny wispy beard that recalled the one on Krum's chin that had so annoyed Ron. The boy who roared in silent amusement beside Dumbledore had a gleeful, wild look about him. His golden hair fell in curls to his shoulders. The door of the office opened._

"Oh god," Dudley muttered.

_If Thicknesse had not been looking over his shoulder as he entered, Harry would not have had time to pull the Invisibility Cloak over himself._

"Lucky," Ginny muttered. "Why did you take it off in the first place?"

Harry shrugged.

_Thicknesse might have caught a glimpse of movement, because for a moment or two he remained quite still, staring curiously at the place where Harry had just vanished._

_Perhaps deciding that that all he had seen was Dumbledore scratching his nose on the front of the book, for Harry had hastily replaced it upon the shelf. Thicknesse finally walked to the desk and pointed his wand at the quill standing ready in the ink pot. It sprang out and began scribbling a note to Umbridge. Very slowly, hardly daring to breathe, Harry backed out of the office into the open area beyond._

_The pamphlet-makers were still clustered around the remains of the Decoy Detonator, which continued to hoot feebly as it smoked. Harry hurried off up the corridor as the young witch said, "I bet it sneaked up here from Experimental Charms, they're so careless, remember that poisonous duck?"_

"Cool," Sirius chuckled.

_The lift was empty when it arrived. Harry jumped in and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak as it started its descent. To his enormous relief, when it rattled to a halt at level two, a soaking-wet and wild-eyed Ron got in._

"Fantastic!" the twins said.

_"M-morning," he stammered to Harry as the lift set off again._

_"Ron, it's me, Harry!"_

_"Harry! Blimey, I forgot what you looked like –_

"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed

_why isn't Hermione with you?"_

_"She had to go down to the courtrooms with Umbridge, she couldn't refuse, and –"_

_But before Harry could finish the lift had stopped again. The doors opened and Mr. Weasley walked inside, talking to an elderly witch whose blonde hair was teased so high it resembled an anthill._

_"… I quite understand what you're saying, Wakanda, but I'm afraid I cannot be party to – "_

_Mr. Weasley broke off; he had noticed Harry._

_It was very strange to have Mr. Weasley glare at him with that much dislike._

"Sorry, Harry," Arthur chuckled. "I don't like Runcorn."

_The lift doors closed and the four of them trundled downward once more._

_"Oh hello, Reg," said Mr. Weasley, looking around at the sound of steady dripping from Ron's robes. "Isn't your wife in for questioning today? Er – what's happened to you? Why are you so wet?"_

_"Yaxley's office is raining," said Ron. He addressed Mr. Weasley's shoulder, and Harry felt sure he was scared that his father might recognize him if they looked directly into each other's eyes. "I couldn't stop it, so they've sent me to get Bernie – Pillsworth, I think they said –"_

_"Yes, a lot of offices have been raining lately," said Mr. Weasley. "Did you try Meterolojinx Recanto? It worked for Bletchley."_

_"Meteolojinx Recanto?" whispered Ron. "No, I didn't. Thanks, D – I mean, thanks, Arthur."_

"Thank Merlin, you didn't call me 'Dad'," Arthur laughed.

_The lift doors opened; the old witch with the anthill hair left, and Ron darted past her out of sight. Harry made to follow him, but found his path blocked as Percy Weasley strode into the lift, his nose buried in some papers he was reading._

"Oh great," Ginny sighed, she was tired of hearing about Percy being a prat.

_For the second time, Harry tried to get out, but this time found his way blocked by Mr. Weasley's arm._

_"One moment, Runcorn."_

"What are you doing?" Molly asked.

_The lift doors closed and as they clanked down another floor, Mr. Weasley said, "I hear you had information about Dirk Cresswell."_

_"Sorry?" he said._

_"Don't pretend, Runcorn," said Mr. Weasley fiercely. "You tracked down the wizard who faked his family tree, didn't you?"_

"Thank god, that's only Harry," Petunia said and Molly nodded glaring at her husband

_"I – so what if I did?" said Harry._

_"So Dirk Cresswell is ten times the wizard you are," said Mr. Weasley quietly, as the lift sank ever lower. "And if he survives Azkaban, you'll have to answer to him, not to mention his wife, his sons, and his friends –"_

_"Arthur," Harry interrupted, "you know you're being tracked, don't you?"_

Everyone laughed or sniggered as that.

_"Is that a threat, Runcorn?" said Mr. Weasley loudly._

"No, eets a fact from 'Arry," Fleur giggled.

_"No," said Harry, "it's a fact! They're watching your every move –"_

"Thank you, Harry," Arthur said.

_The lift doors opened. They had reached the Atrium. Mr. Weasley gave Harry a scathing look and swept from the lift. Harry stood there, looking shaken. The lift doors clanged shut._

_Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and put it back on. He would try to extricate Hermione on his own while Ron was dealing with the raining office. When the doors opened, he stepped out into a torch-lit stone passageway quite different from the wood-paneled and carpeted corridors above. As the left rattled away again, Harry shivered slightly, looking toward the distant black door that marked the entrance to the Department of Mysteries._

Sirius eyes narrowed at that place

_He set off, his destination not the black door, but the doorway he remembered on the left hand side, which opened onto the flight of stairs down to the court chambers._

_His mind grappled with possibilities as he crept down them: He still had a couple of Decoy Detonators, but perhaps it would be better to simply knock on the courtroom door, enter as Runcorn, and ask for a quick word with Mafalda? Of course, he did not know whether Runcorn was sufficiently important to get away with this, and even if he managed it, Hermione's non-reappearance might trigger a search before they were clear of the Ministry…._

_It was becoming colder and colder with every step he took; a cold that reached right down his throat and tore at his lungs. And then he felt that stealing sense of despair, or hopelessness, filling him, expanding inside him…._

"Dementors," Lily breathed.

_And as he reached the foot of the stairs and turned to his right he saw a dreadful scene. The dark passage outside the courtrooms was packed with tall, black-hooded figures, their faces completely hidden, their ragged breathing the only sound in the place. The petrified Muggle-borns brought in for questioning sat huddled and shivering on hard wooden benches. Most of them were hiding their faces in their hands, perhaps in an instinctive attempt to shield themselves from the dementors' greedy mouths. Some were accompanied by families, others sat alone._

"Those poor people," Dora gasped

_The dementors were gliding up and down in front of them, and the cold, and the hopelessness, and the despair of the place laid themselves upon Harry like a curse…._

_Fight it, he told himself, but he knew that he could not conjure a Patronus here without revealing himself instantly. So he moved forward as silently as he could, and with every step he took numbness seemed to steal over his brain, but he forced himself to think of Hermione and of Ron, who needed him._

The Trio smiled at each other

_Moving through the towering black figures was terrifying: The eyeless faces hidden beneath their hoods turned as he passed, and he felt sure that they sensed him, sensed, perhaps, a human presence that still had some hope, some resilience…._

"They probably did," Remus nodded.

_And then, abruptly and shockingly amid the frozen silence, one of the dungeon doors on the left of the corridor was flung open and screams echoed out of it._

_"No, no, I'm half-blood, I'm half-blood, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he was, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you – get your hands off me, get your hands off –"_

_"This is your final warning," said Umbridge's soft voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man's desperate screams. "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."_

_The man's screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed through the corridor._

_"Take him away," said Umbridge._

_Two dementors appeared in the doorway of the courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. They glided away down the corridor with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight._

"Oh my Merlin/God," everyone said.

_"Next – Mary Cattermole," called Umbridge._

"Here she is," Bill frowned.

_A small woman stood up; she was trembling from head to foot. Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun and she wore long plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless. As she passed the dementors, Harry saw her shudder._

"Don't blame you," Dudley muttered.

_He did it instinctively, without any sort of plan, because he hated the sight of her walking alone into the dungeon: As the door began to swing closed, he slipped into the courtroom behind her._

"Good, now you're in," Luna said.

_It was not the same room in which he had once been interrogated for improper use of magic. This one was much smaller, though the ceiling was quite as high it gave the claustrophobic sense of being stuck at the bottom of a deep well._

_There were more dementors in here, casting their freezing aura over the place; they stood like faceless sentinels in the corners farthest from the high, raised platform. Here, behind a balustrade, sat Umbridge, with Yaxley on one side of her, and Hermione, quite as white-faced as Mrs. Cattermole, on the other._

"Oh Hermione," Molly sighed.

"It was horrible," Hermione nodded.

_At the foot of the platform, a bight-silver, long-haired cat prowled up and down, up and down, and Harry realized that it was there to protect the prosecutors from the despair that emanated from the dementors: That was for the accused to feel, not the accusers._

_"Sit down," said Umbridge in her soft, silky voice._

_Mrs. Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there._

_"You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" asked Umbridge._

_Mrs. Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod._

_"Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical Maintenance Department?"_

_Mrs. Cattermole burst into tears._

_"I don't know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!"_

_Umbridge ignored her._

_"Mother to Maisie, Ellie and Alfred Cattermole?" Mrs. Cattermole sobbed harder than ever._

_"They're frightened, they think that I might not come home –"_

_"Spare us," spat Yaxley. "The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies."_

"They do ours," James muttered.

_Mrs. Cattermole's sobs masked Harry's footsteps as he made his way carefully toward the steps that led up to the raised platform. The moment he had passed the place where the Patronus cat patrolled, he felt the change in temperature: It was warm and comfortable here. The Patronus, he was sure, was Umbridge's, and it glowed brightly because she was so happy here, in her element, upholding the twisted laws she had helped to write. Slowly and very carefully he edged his way along the platform behind Umbridge, Yaxley, and Hermione, taking a seat behind the latter. He was worried about making Hermione jump. He thought of casting the Muffliato charm upon Umbridge and Yaxley, but even murmuring the word might cause Hermione alarm. Then Umbridge raised her voice to address Mrs. Cattermole, and Harry seized his chance._

_"I'm behind you," he whispered into Hermione's ear._

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Hermione huffed.

"Sorry," Harry chuckled.

_As he had expected, she jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she was supposed to be recording the interview, but both Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs. Cattermole, and this went unnoticed._

_"A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today, Mrs. Cattermole," Umbridge was saying. "Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, unicorn-hair core. Do you recognize the description?"_

_Mrs. Cattermole nodded, mopping her eyes on her sleeve._

_"Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?"_

"What?" Sirius snapped.

"They thought Muggle-borns stole magic," Remus said, wearily.

"That's insane," James snapped.

_"T-took?" sobbed Mrs. Cattermole. "I didn't t-take it from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years old. It – it – it – chose me."_

_She cried harder than ever._

_Umbridge laughed a soft girlish laugh. She leaned forward over the barrier, the better to observe her victim, and something gold swung forward too, and dangled over the void: the locket._

"The locket," everyone breathed.

_Hermione had seen it; she let out a little squeak, but Umbridge and Yaxley, still intent upon their prey, were deaf to everything else._

_"No," said Umbridge, "no, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here – Mafalda, pass them to me."_

_Umbridge held out a small hand: She looked so toadlike at that moment that Harry was quite surprised not to see webs between the stubby fingers. Hermione's hands were shaking with shock. She fumbled in a pile of documents balanced on the chair beside her, finally withdrawing a sheaf of parchment with Mrs. Cattermole's name on it._

_"That's – that's pretty, Dolores," she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Umbridge's blouse._

_"What?" snapped Umbridge, glancing down. "Oh yes – an old family heirloom," she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. "The S stands for Selwyn…. I am related to the Selwyns…._

"I bet she's not even pureblood," Teddy said.

_Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related. …A pity," she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mrs. Cattermole's questionnaire, "that the same cannot be said for you. 'Parents professions: greengrocers'."_

_Yaxley laughed jeeringly. Below, the fluffy silver cat patrolled up and down, and the dementors stood waiting in the corners._

_He raised his wand, not even troubling to keep it concealed beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and said, "Stupefy!"_

_There was a flash of red light; Umbridge crumpled and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade: Mrs. Cattermole's papers slid off her lap onto the floor and, down below, the prowling silver cat vanished. _

"The dementors," Luna said.

_Ice-cold air hit them like an oncoming wind: Yaxley, confused, looked around for the source of the trouble and saw Harry's disembodied hand and wand pointing at him. He tried to draw his own wand, but too late: "Stupefy!"_

_Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor._

_"Harry!"_

_"Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let her pretend –"_

_"Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!"_

_Harry whirled around, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak; down below, the dementors had moved out of their corners; they were gliding toward the woman chained to the chair: Whether because the Patronus had vanished or because they sensed that their masters were no longer in control, they seemed to have abandoned restraint. Mrs. Cattermole let out a terrible scream of fear as a slimy, scabbed hand grasped her chin and forced her face back._

"Do something!" Fleur said.

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

_The silver stag soared from the tip of Harry's wand and leaped toward the dementors, which fell back and melted into the dark shadows again. The stag's light, more powerful and more warming than the cat's protection, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered around the room._

_"Get the Horcrux," Harry told Hermione._

_He ran back down the steps, stuffing the Invisibility Cloak into his back, and approached Mrs. Cattermole._

_"You?" she whispered, gazing into his face. "But – but Reg said you were the one who submitted my name for questioning!"_

_"Did I?" muttered Harry, tugging at the chains binding her arms, "Well, I've had a change of heart._

Several people chuckled.

_Diffindo!" Nothing happened._

_"Hermione, how do I get rid of these chains?"_

_"Wait, I'm trying something up here –"_

_"Hermione, we're surrounded by dementors!"_

_"I know that, Harry, but if she wakes up and the locket's gone – I need to duplicate it – Geminio! There… That should fool her…."_

"Good idea," Arthur grinned.

_Hermione came running downstairs._

_"Let's see…. Relashio!"_

_The chains clinked and withdrew into the arms of the chair. Mrs. Cattermole looked just as frightened as ever before._

_"I don't understand," she whispered._

_"You're going to leave here with us," said Harry, pulling her to her feet. "Go home, grab your children, and get out, get out of the country if you've got to. Disguise yourselves and run. You've seen how it is, you won't get anything like a fair hearing here."_

_"Harry," said Hermione, "how are we going to get out of here with all those dementors outside the door?"_

_"Patronuses," said Harry, pointing his wand at his own. The stag slowed and walked, still gleaming brightly, toward the door. "As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione."_

_"Expec – Expecto patronum," said Hermione. Nothing happened._

_"It's the only spell she ever has trouble with," Harry told a completely bemused Mrs. Cattermole. "Bit unfortunate, really… Come on Hermione…."_

"Not the time for a chat, Harry," Ginny laughed.

_'Expecto patronum!"_

_A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione's wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag._

"He's cute," Petunia laughed.

"They're not meant to be cute," Bill said. "They're meant to protect you."

_"C'mon," said Harry, and he led Hermione and Mrs. Cattermole to the door._

_When the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon there were cries of shock from the people waiting outside. Harry looked around; the dementors were falling back on both sides of them, melding into the darkness, scattering before the silver creatures._

_"It's been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families," Harry told the waiting Muggle-born, who were dazzled by the light of the Patronuses and still cowering slightly._

_"Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That's the – er – new official position._

"Really?" Neville chuckled.

_Now, if you'll just follow the Patronuses, you'll be able to leave the Atrium."_

_They managed to get up the stone stops without being intercepted, but as they approached the lifts Harry started to have misgivings. If they emerged into the Atrium with a silver stag, and otter soaring alongside it, and twenty or so people, half of them accused Muggle-borns, he could not help feeling that they would attract unwanted attention. He had just reached this unwelcome conclusion when the lift clanged to a halt in front of them._

_"Reg!" screamed Mrs. Cattermole, and she threw herself into Ron's arms._

"Ron," everyone cheered.

_"Runcorn let me out, he attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and he's told all of us to leave the country. I think we'd better do it, Reg, I really do, let's hurry home and fetch the children and – why are you so wet?"_

"Water," Arthur smiled.

_"Water," muttered Ron, disengaging himself. "Harry, they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, something about a hole in Umbridge's office door. _

"Mad-Eye's eye," Dudley groaned.

_I reckon we've got five minutes if that –"_

"Damn it," Sirius growled.

_Hermione's Patronus vanished with a pop as she turned a horror struck face to Harry._

_"Harry, if we're trapped here – !"_

_"We won't be if we move fast," said Harry. He addressed the silent group behind them, who were all gawping at him._

_"Who's got wands?"_

_About half of them raised their hands._

_"Okay, all of you who haven't got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We'll need to be fast before they stop us. Come on."_

_They managed to cram themselves into two lifts. Harry's Patronus stood sentinel before the golden grilles as they shut and the lifts began to rise._

_"Level eight," said the witch's cool voice, "Atrium."_

_Harry knew at once that they were in trouble. The Atrium was full of people moving from fireplace to fireplace, sealing them off._

"No," Lily groaned.

_"Harry!" squeaked Hermione. "What are we going to – ?"_

_"STOP!" Harry thundered, and the powerful voice of Runcorn echoed through the Atrium: The wizards sealing the fireplaces froze. _

"It's a good thing you have so much power," the twins said.

_"Follow me," he whispered to the group of terrified Muggle-borns, who moved forward in a huddle, shepherded by Ron and Hermione._

_"What's up, Albert?" said the same balding wizard who had followed Harry out of the fireplace earlier. He looked nervous._

_"This lot need to leave before you seal the exits," said Harry with all the authority he could muster._

_The group of wizards in front of him looked at one another._

_"We've been told to seal all exits and not let anyone –"_

_"Are you contradicting me?" Harry blustered. "Would you like me to have your family tree examined, like I had Dirk Cresswell's?"_

"Good one," Remus nodded.

_"Sorry!" gasped the balding wizard, backing away. "I didn't mean nothing, Albert, but I thought… I thought they were in for questioning and…"_

_"Their blood is pure," said Harry, and his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. "Purer than many of yours, I daresay. Off you go," he boomed to the Muggle-borns, who scurried forward into the fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs. The Ministry wizards hung back, some looking confused, others scared and fearful. Then:_

_"Mary!"_

_Mrs. Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, had just come running out of a lift._

"Oh no," Dora sighed.

_"R- Reg?"_

_She looked from her husband to Ron, who swore loudly._

"Ron!" Molly scolded.

_The balding wizard gaped, his head turning ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other._

_"Hey – what's going on? What is this?"_

_"Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"_

_Yaxley had burst out of another lift and was running toward the group beside the fireplaces, into which all of the Muggle-borns but Mrs. Cattermole had now vanished. As the balding wizard lifted his wand, Harry raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air._

"Ouch," Teddy muttered.

_"He's been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!" Harry shouted._

_The balding wizard's colleagues set up and uproar, under cover of which Ron grabbed Mrs. Cattermole, pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and disappeared. Confused, Yaxley looked from Harry to the punched wizard, while the real Reg Cattermole screamed, "My wife! Who was that with my wife? What's going on?"_

_Harry saw Yaxley's head turn, saw an inkling of truth dawn on that brutish face._

_"Come on!" Harry shouted at Hermione; he seized her hand and they jumped into the fireplace together as Yaxley's curse sailed over Harry's head. They spun for a few seconds before shooting up out of a toilet into a cubicle. Harry flung open the door: Ron was standing there beside the sinks, still wrestling with Mrs. Cattermole._

_"Reg, I don't understand –"_

_"Let go, I'm not your husband, you've got to go home!"_

_There was a noise in the cubicle behind them; Harry looked around; Yaxley had just appeared._

_"LET'S GO!" Harry yelled. He seized Hermione by the hand and Ron by the arm and turned on the stop._

_Darkness engulfed them, along with the sensation of compressing hands, but something was wrong…. Hermione's hand seemed to be sliding out of his grip…._

_He wondered whether he was going to suffocate; he could not breathe or see and the only solid things in the world were Ron's arm and Hermione's fingers, which were slowly slipping away…_

_And then he saw the door to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, with its serpent door knocker, but before he could draw breath, there was a scream and a flash of purple light: Hermione's hand was suddenly vice-like upon his and everything went dark again._

_Harry opened his eyes and was dazzled by gold and green; he had no idea what had happened, he only knew that he was lying on what seemed to be leaves and twigs._

"You got away." Fleur breathed.

"But why aren't you at Grimmauld Place?" Bill asked.

"We couldn't," Harry sighed.

_Struggling to draw breath into lungs that felt flattened, he blinked and realized that the gaudy glare was sunlight streaming through a canopy of leaves far above him. Then an object twitched close to his face. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, ready to face some small, fierce creature, but saw that the object was Ron's foot. Looking around, Harry saw that they and Hermione were lying on a forest floor, apparently alone._

_Ron to give a low groan and Harry started crawling toward him._

_He met Hermione, also on her hands and knees, at Ron's head. The moment his eyes fell upon Ron, all other concerns fled Harry's mind, for blood drenched the whole of Ron's left side and his face stood out, grayish-white, against the leaf-strewn earth._

"Splinched," Molly squeaked.

_The Polyjuice Potion was wearing off now: Ron was halfway between Cattermole and himself in appearance, his hair turning redder and redder as his face drained of the little colour it had left._

_"What's happened to him?"_

_"Splinched," said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest._

_Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron's shirt as Hermione laid bare Ron's upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife._

"Oh my god," Petunia said, looking sick.

_"Harry, quickly, in my bag, there's a small bottle labelled 'Essence of Dittany'– "_

"Good, that'll help," Lily nodded.

_"Bag – right –"_

_Harry sped to the place where Hermione had landed, seized the tiny beaded bag, and thrust his hand inside it. At once, object after object began presenting itself to his touch: He felt the leather spines of books, woolly sleeves of jumpers, heels of shoes –_

_"Quickly!"_

_He grabbed his wand from the ground and pointed it into the depths of the magical bag._

_"Accio Dittany!"_

_A small brown bottle zoomed out of the bag; he caught it and hastened back to Hermione and Ron, whose eyes were now half-closed, strips of white eyeball all that were visible between his lids._

_"He's fainted," said Hermione, who was also rather pale; she no longer looked like Mafalda, though her hair was still gray in places. "Unstopper it for me, Harry, my hands are shaking."_

_Harry wrenched the stopper off the little bottle, Hermione took it and poured three drops of the potion onto the bleeding wound. Greenish smoke billowed upward and when it had cleared, Harry saw that the bleeding had stopped. The wound now looked several days old; new skin stretched over what had just been open flesh._

"That's amazing," Dudley said.

_"Wow," said Harry._

_"It's all I feel safe doing," said Hermione shakily. "There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren't try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage. . . . _

Lily nodded, "healing spells can go seriously wrong."

"How do you know?" Teddy asked curiously.

"I was training to be a healer before we had to go into hiding," she smiled.

_He's lost so much blood already. . . ."_

_"How did he get hurt? I mean" – Harry shook his head, trying to clear it, to make sense of whatever had just taken place – "why are we here? I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?"_

_Hermione took a deep breath. She looked close to tears._

_"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there."_

"Why?" Arthur asked.

_"What d'you – ?"_

_"As we Disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me and I couldn't get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, and then – well, I think he must have seen the door, and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought us here instead!"_

_"But then, where's he? Hang on. . . . You don't mean he's at Grimmauld Place? He can't get in there?"_

_Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she nodded._

_"Harry, I think he can. I – I forced him to let go with a Revulsion Jinx, but I'd already taken him inside the Fidelius Charm's protection. Since Dumbledore died, we're Secret-Keepers, so I've given him the secret, haven't I?"_

"Damn it," the twins yelled.

Molly sighed; she liked the idea that they had had food and comfortable beds all year although that wouldn't happen. When they came back Ron could only eat one helping, she saw far too much of Hermione's spine through her shirt and Harry's cheek bones were far to pronounced.

_"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"_

_"Don't be stupid, it wasn't your fault! If anything, it was mine. . . ."_

_Harry put his hand in his pocket and drew out Mad-Eye's eye. Hermione recoiled, looking horrified._

"Don't blame you," Petunia said, wrinkling her nose.

_"Umbridge had stuck it to her office door, to spy on people. I couldn't leave it there . . . but that's how they knew there were intruders."_

_Before Hermione could answer, Ron groaned and opened his eyes. He was still gray and his face glistened with sweat._

_"How d'you feel?" Hermione whispered._

"Brilliant," Ron said.

_"Lousy," croaked Ron, wincing as he felt his injured arm. "Where are we?"_

_"In the woods where they held the Quidditch World Cup," said Hermione. "I wanted somewhere enclosed, undercover, and this was –"_

_"–the first place you thought of," Harry finished for her, glancing around at the apparently deserted glade. _

_"D'you reckon we should move on?" Ron asked Harry, and Harry could tell by the look on Ron's face that he was thinking the same._

"No, you would put yourself in danger of being hurt more," Arthur said.

_"I dunno." Ron still looked pale and clammy. He had made no attempt to sit up and it looked as though he was too weak to do so. The prospect of moving him was daunting._

_"Let's stay here for now," Harry said._

_Looking relieved, Hermione sprang to her feet._

_"Where are you going?" asked Ron._

_"If we're staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place," she replied, and raising her wand, she began to walk in a wide circle around Harry and Ron, murmuring incantations as she went._

_Harry saw little disturbances in the surrounding air: It was as if Hermione had cast a heat haze upon their clearing._

_"Salvio Hexia . . . Protego Totalum . . . Repello Muggletum . . . __Muffliato . . ._

"Good job, Hermione," Remus smiled.

_You could get out the tent, Harry. . . ."_

"You have a tent?" the twins asked, shocked.

"You have a roof over your head," Lily breathed.

_"Tent?"_

_"In the bag!"_

_"In the . . . of course," said Harry._

"Where else, Harry?" Ginny giggled as the returned to the family room.

"Tell me you have food in that bag," Lily begged Hermione.

"No," Hermione said causing everyone to groan.

"So you basically ate nothing for 9 months," Remus growled.

"No, they came to us for a while, remember, Remus?" Bill said. "We feed them well."

"That's where I went for the next memory," Harry said. "Food. But there was Dementors. Everyone in."

_"But you can make a brilliant Patronus!" protested Ron, when Harry arrived back at the tent empty handed, out of breath, and mouthing the single word, dementors._

_"I couldn't . . . make one." he panted, clutching the stitch in his side. "Wouldn't . . . come."_

"What?" Ginny asked confused.

_"So we still haven't got any food._

"Shut up, Ron," Bill said.

_"Shut up, Ron," snapped Hermione. "Harry, what happened? Why do you think you couldn't make your Patronus? You managed perfectly yesterday!"_

"So this is the next day," Arthur nodded.

_"I don't know."_

_He sat low in one of Perkins's old armchairs. Ron kicked a chair leg._

_"What?" he snarled at Hermione. "I'm starving! All I've had since I bled half to death is a couple of toadstools!"_

"Ron," Molly reprimanded.

_"You go and fight your way through the dementors, then," said Harry, stung._

_"I would, but my arm's in a sling, in case you hadn't noticed!"_

_"That's convenient."_

_"And what's that supposed to — ?"_

_"Of course!" cried Hermione, clapping a hand to her forehead and startling both of them into silence. "Harry, give me the locket! Come on," she said impatiently, clicking her fingers at him when he did not react, "the Horcrux, Harry, you're still wearing it!"_

_She held out her hands, and Harry lifted the golden chain over his head. The moment it parted contact with Harry's skin he felt free and oddly light. He had not even realized that he was clammy or that there was a heavy weight pressing on his stomach until both sensations lifted._

_"Better?" asked Hermione._

_"Yeah, loads better!"_

"What does it do to you?" Lily murmured.

"Prey's on you," Hermione said, shivering. "It made think things, things you were thinking anyway but made them worse."

"Brilliant," James said. "Blood brilliant."

"Language," said Lily.

"Next one shows how difficult it was," Harry sighed, remembering what that Horcrux did.

_"Yeah, let's go to Albania. Shouldn't take more than an afternoon to search an entire country," said Ron sarcastically._

_"There can't be anything there. He'd already made five of his Horcruxes before he went into exile, and Dumbledore was certain the snake is the sixth," said Hermione. "We know the snake's not in Albania, it's usually with Vol—"_

_"Didn't I ask you to stop say that?"_

_"Fine! The snake is usually with You-Know-Who—happy?"_

Harry sighed, thinking how many times Ron had saved him from Snatchers by his fear.

_"Not particularly."_

_"I can't see him hiding anything at Borgin and Burkes." said Harry, who had made this point many times before, but said it again simply to break the nasty silence. "Borgin and Burke were experts at Dark objects, they would've recognized a Horcrux straightaway."_

"Definitely," Sirius nodded.

_Ron yawned pointedly. Repressing a strong urge to throw something at him, _

"You should have," Ron muttered.

_Harry plowed on,_

_"I still reckon he might have hidden something at Hogwarts."_

_Hermione sighed._

_"But Dumbledore would have found it, Harry!"_

"Not necessarily," Ginny said. "Dumbledore doesn't know all of Hogwarts."

_Harry repeated the argument he kept bringing out in favor of this theory._

_"Dumbledore said in front of me that he never assumed he knew all of Hogwarts secrets. I'm telling you, if there was one place Vol—"_

_"Oi!"_

_"YOU-KNOW-WHO, then!" Harry shouted, goaded past endurance. "If there was one place that was really important to You-Know-Who, it was Hogwarts!"_

_"Oh, come on," scoffed Ron. "His school?"_

_"Yeah, his school! It was his first real home, the place that meant he was special: it meant everything to him, and even after he left—"_

_"This is You-Know-Who we're talking about, right? Not you?" inquired Ron._

"Ron!" Molly snapped.

_He was tugging at the chain of the Horcrux around his neck._

"Oh," everyone breathed but they still didn't look very happy with him

_"You told us that You-Know-Who asked Dumbledore to give him a job after he left," said Hermione._

_"That's right," said Harry._

_"And Dumbledore thought he only wanted to come back to try and find something, probably another founder's object, to make into another Horcrux?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry._

_"But he didn't get the job, did he?" said Hermione. "So he never got the chance to find a founder's object there and hide it in the school!"_

_"Okay, then," said Harry, defeated. "Forget Hogwarts."_

"Sorry, Harry," Ron and Hermione said.

"Yep," Harry nodded.

"So there is one at Hogwarts," Dora asked.

"That's why we went there," Hermione nodded.

"Skipping," Harry muttered, the memory stopped with the three of them standing in front of a block of offices.

_"We could try digging in to foundations?" Hermione suggested halfheartedly._

_"He wouldn't have hidden a Horcrux here," Harry said. _

"You have no idea what you're doing," Neville breathed, he always knew that it had been hard but sometimes when he was alone, he had wondered what the hell was taking so long but they really didn't have any idea, no direction, no tool, nothing.

"Next memory," Harry said.

_"My mother," said Ron on night, as they sat in the tent on a riverbank in Wales, "can make good food appear out of thin air."_

"I can not," Molly said.

"No one can," Lily said, frowning. "It's the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration."

Ron paled as he realized what this day was, he had been dreading it since they had agreed to show it this morning.

_He prodded moodily at the lumps of charred gray fish on his plate. Harry glanced automatically at Ron's neck and saw, as he has expected, the golden chain of the Horcrux glinting there. He managed to fight down the impulse to swear at Ron, whose attitude would, he knew, improve slightly when the time came to take off the locket._

_"Your mother can't produce food out of thin air," said Hermione. "no one can. Food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfigura—"_

Lily nodded firmly.

_"Oh, speak English, can't you?" Ron said, prising a fish out from between his teeth._

_"It's impossible to make good food out of nothing! You can Summon it if you know where it is, you can transform it, you can increase the quantity if you've already got some—"_

_"Well, don't bother increasing this, it's disgusting," said Ron._

"Ron!" Bill said.

_"Harry caught the fish and I did my best with it! I notice I'm always the one who ends up sorting out the food, because I'm a girl, I suppose!"_

_"No, it's because you're supposed to be the best at magic!" shot back Ron._

_Hermione jumped up and bits of roast pike slid off her tin plate onto the floor._

_"You can do the cooking tomorrow, Ron, you can find the ingredients and try and charm them into something worth eating, and I'll sit here and pull faces and moan and you can see you—"_

_"Shut up!" said Harry, leaping to his feet and holding up both hands. "Shut up now!"_

"Not a good idea, Harry," Ginny warned.

_Hermione looked outraged._

_"How can you side with him, he hardly ever does the cook—"_

"Hey, I wasn't on either side," Harry said.

_"Hermione, be quiet, I can hear someone!"_

Everyone tensed.

_He was listening hard, his hands still raised, warning them not to talk. Then, over the rush and gush of the dark river beside them, he heard voices again. He looked around at the Sneakoscope. It was not moving._

_"You cast the Muffliato charm over us, right?" he whispered to Hermione._

_"I did everything," she whispered back, "Muffliato, Muggle-Repelling and Disillusionment Charms, all of it. They shouldn't be able to hear of see us, whoever they are."_

"Good," Dora breathed.

_Heavy scuffing and scraping noises, plus the sound of dislodged stones and twigs, told them that several people were clambering down the steep, wooded slope that descended to the narrow bank where they had pitched the tent. They drew their wands, waiting. The enchantments they had cast around themselves ought to be sufficient, in the near total darkness, to shield them from the notice of Muggles and normal witches and wizards. If these were Death Eaters, then perhaps their defenses were about to be tested by Dark Magic for the first time._

_The voices became louder but no more intelligible as the group of men reached the bank. Harry estimated that their owners were fewer than twenty feet away, but the cascading river made it impossible to tell for sure. Hermione snatched up the beaded bag and started to rummage; after a moment she drew out three Extendable Ears and threw one each to Harry and Ron, who hastily inserted the ends of the flesh-colored strings into their ears and fed the other ends out of the tent entrance._

_Within seconds Harry heard a weary male voice._

_"There ought to be a few salmon in here, or d'you reckon it's too early in the season? Accio Salmon!"_

_There were several distinct splashes and then the slapping sounds of fish against flesh._

_Somebody grunted appreciatively. Harry pressed the Extendable ear deeper into his own: Over the murmur of the river he could make out more voices, but they were not speaking English or any human language he had ever heard. It was a rough and unmelodious tongue, a string of rattling, guttural noises, and there seemed to be two speakers, one with a slightly lower, slower voice than the other._

"Goblin," Bill said.

_A fire danced into life on the other side of the canvas, large shadows passed between tent and flames. The delicious smell of baking salmon wafted tantalizingly in their direction. Then came the clinking of cutlery on plates, and the first man spoke again._

_"Here, Griphook, Gornuk."_

_Goblins! Hermione mouthed at Harry, who nodded._

_"Thank you," said the goblins together in English._

_"So, you three have been on the run how long?" asked a new, mellow, and pleasant voice; it was vaguely familiar to Harry, who pictured a round-bellied, cheerful-faced man._

'My dad!' Tonks said, cheerful, a smile breaking out on her face.

_"Six weeks . . . Seven . . . I forget," said the tired man. "Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have a but of company." There was a pause, while knives scraped plates and tin mugs were picked up and replaced on the ground. "What made you leave, Ted?" continued the man._

_"Knew they were coming for me," replied mellow-voiced Ted, and Harry suddenly knew who he was: Tonks's father. "Heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and decided I'd better run for it. Refused to register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knew it was a matter of time, knew I'd have to leave in the end. My wife should be okay, she's pure-blood. And then I net Dean here, what, a few days ago, son?"_

"Our Dean?" Neville asked and the trio nodded.

_"Yeah," said another voice, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other, silent but besides themselves with excitement, sure they recognized the voice of Dean Thomas, their fellow Gryffindor._

_"Muggle-born, eh?" asked the first man._

_"Not sure ," said Dean. "My dad left my mum when I was a kid. I've got no proof he was a wizard, though."_

_There was silence for a while, except for the sounds of munching; then Ted spoke again._

_"I've got to say, Dirk, I'm surprised to run into you. Pleased, but surprised. Word was that you'd been caught."_

_"I was," said Dirk. "I was halfway to Azkaban when I made a break for it. Stunned Dawlish, and nicked his broom. It was easier than you'd think; I don't reckon he's quite right at the moment .Might be Confunded. If so, I'd like to shake the hand of the witch or wizard who did it, probably saved my life."_

_There was another pause in which the fire crackled and the river rushed on. The Ted said, "And where do you two fit in? I, er, had the impression the goblins were for You-Know-Who, on the whole."_

_"You had a false impression," said the higher-voiced of the goblins. "We take no sides. This is a wizards' war."_

_"How come you're in hiding, then?"_

_"I deemed in prudent," said the deeper-voiced goblin. "Having refused what I considered an impertinent request, I could see that my person safety was in jeopardy."_

_"What did they ask you to do?" asked Ted._

_"Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race," replied the goblin, his voice rougher and less human as he said it. "I am not a house-elf."_

_"What about you, Griphook?"_

_"Similar reasons," said the higher voiced goblin. "Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race._

"I bet they didn't like that," James said warily.

_I recognize no Wizarding master."_

_He added something under his breath in Gobbledegook, and Gornuk laughed._

_"What's the joke?" asked Dean._

_"He said," replied Dirk, "that there are things wizards don't recognize, either."_

_There was a short pause._

_"I don't get it," said Dean._

_"I had my small revenge before I left," said Griphook in English._

_"Good man—goblin, I should say," amended Ted hastily. "Didn't manage to lock a Death Eater up in one of the old high-security vaults, I suppose?"_

_"If I had, the sword would not have helped him break out," replied Griphook. Gornuk laughed again and even Dirk gave a dry chuckle._

Everyone except the trio looked confused.

_"Dean and I are still missing something here," said Ted._

_"So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it," said Griphook, and the two goblins roared with malicious laughter. Inside the tent Harry's breathing was shallow with excitement: He and Hermione stared at each other, listening as hard as they could._

_"Didn't you hear about that, Ted?" asked Dirk. "About the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor's sword out of Snape's office at Hogwarts?"_

Neville, Ginny and Luna shared looks.

_An electric current seemed to course through Harry, jangling his every nerve as he stood rooted to the spot._

_"Never heard a word," said Ted, "Not in the Prophet, was it?"_

_"Hardly," chortled Dirk. "Griphook here told me, he heard about it from Bill Weasley who works for the bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was Bill's younger sister."_

_Harry glanced toward Hermione and Ron, both of whom were clutching the Extendable Ears as tightly as lifelines._

_"She and a couple of friends got into Snape's office and smashed open the glass case where he was apparently keeping the sword. Snape caught them as they were trying to smuggle it down the staircase._

"Crap," the twins muttered to low for their sister to hear.

_"Ah, God bless 'em," said Ted. "What did they think, that they'd be able to use the sword on You-Know-Who? Or on Snape himself?_

"As good idea as that would have been in our view," Neville chuckled. "That wasn't the plan."

_"Well, whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided the sword wasn't safe where it was," said Dirk. "Couple of days later, once he'd got the say-so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead."_

_The goblins started to laugh again._

_"I'm still not seeing the joke," said Ted._

_"It's a fake," rasped Griphook._

_"The sword of Gryffindor!"_

_"Oh yes. It is a copy—en excellent copy, it is true—but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armor possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank."_

"Nice," Sirius laughed.

_"I see," said Ted. "And I take it you didn't bother telling the Death Eaters this."_

_"I saw no reason to trouble them with the information," said Griphook smugly, and now Ted and Dean joined in Gornuk and Dirk's laughter._

_Inside the tent, Harry closed his eyes, willing someone to ask the question he needed answered, and after a minute that seemed ten, Dean obliged: he was (Harry remembered with a jolt) an ex-boyfriend of Ginny's too._

"No 'too' about it, Potter," Ginny said.

_"What happened to Ginny and all the others? The ones who tried to steal it?"_

_"Oh, they were punished, and cruelly," said Griphook indifferently._

"No we weren't," Luna said.

Ginny grimaced knowing that Harry and Ron had heard that.

_"They're okay, though?" asked Ted quickly, "I mean, the Weasleys don't need any more of their kids injured, do they?"_

_"They suffered no serious injury, as far as I am aware," said Griphook._

_"Lucky for them," said Ted. "With Snape's track record I suppose we should just be glad they're still alive."_

_"You believe that story, then, do you, Ted?" asked Dirk." You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?_

_"Course I do," said Ted. "You're not going to sit there and tell me you think Potter had anything to do with it?"_

_"Hard to know what to believe these days," muttered Dirk._

_"I know Harry Potter," said Dean. "And I reckon he's the real thing—the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it."_

"I'm not sure whether I should say thanks or not," Harry muttered.

_"Yeah, there's a lot would like to believe he's that, son," said Dirk, "me included. But where is he? Run for it, by the looks of things._

"Have not," Harry huffed.

_You'd think if he knew anything we don't, or had anything special going for him, he'd be out there now fighting, rallying resistance, instead of hiding._

"We were fighting," Hermione said, annoyed.

"Yeah," Ron chuckled. "We were just hiding at the same time."

_And you know, the Prophet made a pretty good case against him—"_

_"This man is a Muggle-born and he still believes in the Prophet!"_

"Idiot," Arthur muttered.

_"The Prophet?" scoffed Ted. "You deserve to be lied to if you're still reading that much, Dirk. You want the facts, try the Quibbler."_

"That's a different tune," Sirius muttered to James.

_There was a sudden explosion of choking and retching, plus a good deal of thumping, by the sound of it. Dirk had swallowed a fish bone. At last he sputtered, "The Quibbler? That lunatic rag of Xeno Lovegood's?"_

"It's not crazy," Luna said, angrily.

_"It's not so lunatic these days," said Ted. "You want to give it a look, Xeno is printing all the stuff the Prophet's ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they'll let him get with it, mind, I don't know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their number-one priority."_

_"Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth," said Dirk._

"At least we achieved that," Ron chuckled.

_"Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement," said Ted. "I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"_

"You have Hermione," Harry said, causing said witch to blush

_"Yeah, well, you've got a point there," said Dirk heavily. "With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him, I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicizing it?"_

"Zat would be front page news," Fleur said.

_"Ah, don't say that, Dirk," murmured Ted._

_There was a long pause filled with more clattering of knives and forks. When they spoke again it was to discuss whether they ought to sleep on the back or retreat back up the wooded slope. Deciding the trees would give better cover, they extinguished their fire, then clambered back up the incline, their voices fading away._

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione reeled in the Extendable Ears. Harry, who had found the need to remain silent increasingly difficult the longer they eavesdropped, now found himself unable to say more then, "Ginny—the sword—"_

_"I know!" said Hermione._

_She lunged for the tiny beaded bag, this time sinking her arm in it right up to the armpit._

_"Here . . . we . . . are . . ." she said between gritted teeth, and she pulled at something that was evidently in the depths of the bag. Slowly the edge of an ornate picture frame came into sight. Harry hurried to help her. As they lifted the empty portrait of Phineas Nigellus free of Hermione's bag, she kept her wand pointing at it, ready to cast a spell at any moment._

_"If somebody swapped the real sword for the fake while it was in Dumbledore's office," she panted, as they propped the painting against the side of the tent, "Phineas Nigellus would have seen it happen, he hangs right beside the case!"_

"Brilliant," Lily said.

_"Unless he was asleep," said Harry, but he still held his breath as Hermione knelt down in front of the empty canvas, her wand directed at its center, cleared her throat, then said:_

_"Er—Phineas? Phineas Nigellus?"_

_Nothing happened._

_"Phineas Nigellus?" said Hermione again. "Professor Black? Please could we talk to you? Please?"_

_"'Please' always helps," said a cold, snide voice, and Phineas Nigellus slid into his portrait. At one, Hermione cried:_

_"Obscura!"_

"He won't like that," Sirius laughed.

_A black blindfold appeared over Phineas Nigellus's clever, dark eyes, causing him to bump into the frame and shriek with pain._

_"What—how dare—what are you—?"_

_"I'm very sorry, Professor Black," said Hermione, "but it's a necessary precaution!"_

_"Remove this foul addition at once! Remove it, I say! You are ruining a great work of art!_

Sirius snorted.

_Where am I? What is going on?"_

_"Never mind where we are," said Harry, and Phineas Nigellus froze, abandoning his attempts to peel off the painted blindfold._

_"Can that possible be the voice of the elusive Mr. Potter?"_

_"Maybe," said Harry._

"Nice," Bill chucked.

_"We've got a couple of questions to ask you—about the sword of Gryffindor."_

_"Ah," said Phineas Nigellus, now turning his head this way and that in an effort to catch sight of Harry, "yes. That silly girl acted most unwisely there—"_

"I'm not silly," Ginny huffed.

_"Shut up about my sister," said Ron roughly, Phineas Nigellus raised supercilious eyebrows._

_"Who else is here?" he asked, turning his head from side to side. _

"That's a bit obvious," Dudley said.

_"Your tone displeases me! The girl and her friends were foolhardily in the extreme. Thieving from the headmaster."_

_"They weren't thieving," said Harry. "That sword isn't Snape's."_

_"It belongs to Professor Snape's school," said Phineas Nigellus. "Exactly what claim did the Weasley girl have upon it? She deserved her punishment, as did the idiot Longbottom and the Lovegood oddity!"_

_"Neville is not an idiot and Luna is not an oddity!" said Hermione._

"Thanks, Hermione," they said.

_"Where am I?" repeated Phineas Nigellus, starting to wrestle with the blindfold again. "Where have you brought me? Why have you removed me from the house of my forebears?"_

_"Never mind that! How did Snape punish Ginny, Neville, and Luna?" asked Harry urgently._

_"Professor Snape sent them into the Forbidden Forest, to do some work for the oaf, Hagrid."_

"That's not bad," Molly breathed.

_"Hagrid's not an oaf!" said Hermione shrilly._

_"And Snape might've though that was a punishment," said Harry, "buy Ginny, Neville, and Luna probably had a good laugh with Hagrid. _

"We did," they laughed.

_The Forbidden Forest . . . they've faced plenty worse than the Forbidden Forest, big deal!"_

_"What we really wanted to know, Professor Black, is whether anyone else has, um, taken out the sword at all? Maybe it's been taken away for cleaning—or something!"_

_Phineas Nigellus paused again in his struggles to free his eyes and sniggered._

_"Muggle-born," he said, "Goblin-made armor does not require cleaning, simple girl. Goblin's silver repels mundane dirt, imbibing only that which strengthens it."_

_"Don't call Hermione simple," said Harry._

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione chuckled.

"Yeah, she's anything but simple," Ron muttered.

_"I grow weary of contradiction," said Phineas Nigellus. "perhaps it is time for me to return to the headmaster's office?"_

"No," Petunia said.

_Still blindfolded, he began groping the side of his frame, trying to feel his way out of his picture and back into the one at Hogwarts. _

_"Dumbledore! Can't you bring us Dumbledore?"_

_"I beg your pardon?" asked Phineas Nigellus._

_"Professor Dumbledore's portrait—couldn't you bring him along, here, into yours?"_

_Phineas Nigellus turned his face in the direction of Harry's voice._

_"Evidently it is not only Muggle-borns who are ignorant, Potter. The portraits of Hogwarts may commune with each other, but they cannot travel outside of the castle except to visit a painting of themselves elsewhere. Dumbledore cannot come here with me, and after the treatment I have received at your hands, I can assure you that I will not be making a return visit!"_

"Because that's a disappointment," Teddy muttered.

_Harry watched Phineas redouble his attempts to leave his frame._

_"Professor Black," said Hermione, "couldn't you just tell us, please, when was the last time the sword was taken out of its case? Before Ginny took it out, I mean?"_

_Phineas snorted impatiently._

_"I believe that the last time I saw the sword of Gryffindor leave its case was when Professor Dumbledore used it to break open a ring."_

"It can destroy Horcruxes," the twins yelled

_Hermione whipped around to look at Harry. Neither of them dared say more in front of Phineas Nigellus, who had at last managed to locate the exit._

_"Well, good night to you," he said a little waspishly, and he began to move out of sight again. Only the edge of his hat brim remained in view when Harry gave a sudden shout._

_"Wait! Have you told Snape you saw this?"_

_Phineas Nigellus stuck his blindfolded head back into the picture._

_"Professor Snape has more important things on his mind that the many eccentricities of Albus Dumbledore. Good-bye, Potter!"_

_And with that, he vanished completely, leaving behind him nothing but his murky backdrop._

_"Harry!" Hermione cried._

_"I know!" Harry shouted. Unable to contain himself, he punched the air;_

Everyone chuckled their happiness was contagious.

_He strode up and down the tent, Hermione was squashing Phineas Nigellus's back into the beaded bag; when she had fastened the clasp she threw the bag aside and raised a shining face to Harry._

_"The sword can destroy Horcruxes! Goblin-made blades imbibe only that which strengthens them—Harry, that sword's impregnated with basilisk venom!"_

"Oh course," Fleur said.

_"And Dumbledore didn't give it to me because he still needed it, he wanted to use it on the locket—"_

_"—and he must have realized they wouldn't let you have it if he put it in his will—"_

_"—so he made a copy—"_

_"—and put a fake in the glass case—"_

_"—and he left the real one—where?"_

"You're good a debating when you're happy," Luna observed.

"But that's the million galleon question," Sirius said.

_They gazed at east other _

_"Think!" whispered Hermione. "Think! Where would he have left it?"_

_"Not at Hogwarts," said Harry, resuming his pacing._

_"Somewhere in Hogsmeade?" suggested Hermione._

_"The Shrieking Shack?" said Harry. "Nobody ever goes in there."_

"I doubt it," Remus said.

_"But Snape knows how to get in, wouldn't that be a bit risky?"_

_"Dumbledore trusted Snape," Harry reminded her._

_"Not enough to tell him that he had swapped the swords," said Hermione._

"Wrong," the trio murmured quietly.

_"Yeah, you're right!" said Harry, and he felt even more cheered at the thought that Dumbledore had had some reservations, however faint, about Snape's trustworthiness. "So, would he have hidden the sword well away from Hogsmeade, then? What d'you reckon, Ron? Ron?"_

_Harry looked around. For one bewildered moment he thought that Ron had left the tent, then realized that Ron was lying in the shadow of a bunk, looking stony._

Everyone tensed and frowned. Ron buried his head in hands – hear it comes, his biggest mistake.

_"Oh, remembered me, have you?" he said._

_"What?"_

_Ron snorted as he stared up at the underside of the upper bunk._

_"You two carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun."_

"What's up with you?" Ginny snapped.

_Perplexed, Harry looked to Hermione for help, but she shook her head, apparently as nonplussed as he was._

_"What's the problem?" asked Harry._

_"Problem? There's no problem," said Ron, still refusing to look at Harry. "Not according to you, anyways."_

_There were several plunks on the canvas over their heads. It had started to rain._

_"Well, you've obviously got a problem," said Harry. "Spit it out, will you?"_

_Ron swung his long legs off the bed and sat up. He looked mean, unlike himself._

"What are you doing?" Teddy asked

"Making the biggest mistake of my life," Ron muttered.

_"__All right, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to skip up and down the tent because there's some other damn thing we've got to find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don't know."_

"_He_ doesn't know?" Neville said. "You're a team!"

_"I don't know?" repeated Harry. "I don't know?"_

_Plunk, plunk, plunk. The rain was falling harder and heavier; it pattered on the leaf-strewn bank all around them and into the river chattering through the dark. _

_"It's not like I'm not having the time of my life here," said Ron, "you know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezing my backside off every night. I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."_

"You found a Horcrux," Petunia said.

_"Ron," Hermione said, but in such a quiet voice that Ron could pretend not to have heard it over the loud tattoo the rain was beating on the tent._

_"I thought you knew what you'd signed up for," said Harry._

_"Yeah, I thought I did too."_

Everyone either looked angry or upset as if they knew where this heading.

_"So what part of it isn't living up to your expectations?" asked Harry. Anger was coming to his defense now. "Did you think we'd be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?"_

_"We thought you knew what you were doing!" shouted Ron, standing up, and his words Harry like scalding knives. "We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!"_

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus looked at him shocked.

_"Ron!" said Hermione, this time clearly audible over the rain thundering on the tent roof, but again, he ignored her._

_"Well, sorry to let you down," said Harry, his voice quite calm even though he felt hollow, inadequate. "I've been straight with you from the start. I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in the case you haven't noticed, we've found one Horcrux—"_

"Exactly," Dudley nodded.

_"Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them—nowhere effing near in other words."_

_"Take off the locket, Ron," Hermione said, her voice unusually high. "Please take it off. You wouldn't be talking like this if you hadn't been wearing it all day."_

Many ears filled with tears – the trio was falling apart.

Hermione had tears streaming down her face, Harry rubbed a hand across his face and Ron had his head still in his head. Both Harry and Hermione looked extremely pained and everyone guessed that Ron did too.

_"Yeah, he would," said Harry, who did not want excuses made for Ron. "D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking this stuff?_

_"Harry, we weren't—"_

_"Don't lie!" Ron hurled at her. "You said it too, you said you were disappointed, you said you'd thought he had a bit more to go on than—"_

_"I didn't say it like that—Harry, I didn't!" she cried._

_The rain was pounding the tent, tears were pouring down Hermione's face._

"The happiness is gone," Ginny said bitterly – she had liked seeing the younger counterpart of her husband so happy.

_"So why are you still here?" Harry asked Ron._

_"Search me," said Ron._

_"Go home then," said Harry._

_"Yeah, maybe I will!" shouted Ron, and he took several steps toward Harry, who did not back away. "Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you don't give a rat's fart, do you,_

"Of course he does!" Ginny cried.

_it's only the Forbidden Forest, Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter doesn't care what happened to her in there—well, I do, all right, giant spiders and mental stuff—"_

If the mood had been lighter the twins would have snorted.

_"I was only saying—she was with the others, they were with Hagrid—"_

_"Yeah, I get it, you don't care! And what about the rest of my family, 'the Weasleys don't need another kid injured,' did you hear that?"_

_"Yeah, I—"_

_"Not bothered what it meant, though?"_

_"Ron!" said Hermione, forcing her way between them. "I don't think it means anything new has happened, anything we don't know about; think, Ron, Bill's already scared, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you're supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit, I'm sure that's all he meant—"_

Molly and Arthur nodded, tears flying from Molly's face at the movement.

_"Oh, you're sure, are you? Right then, well, I won't bother myself about them. It's all right for you, isn't it, with your parents safely out of the way—"_

"Ron!" everyone but the trio yelled.

_"My parents are dead!" Harry bellowed._

_"And mine could be going the same way!" yelled Ron._

_"Then GO!" roared Harry. "Go back to them, pretend you're got over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and—"_

_Ron made a sudden movement: Harry reacted, but before either wand was clear of its owner's pocket, Hermione had raised her own._

_"Protego!" she cried, and an invisible shield expanded between her and Harry on the one side and Ron on the other; all of them were forced backward a few steps by the strength of the spell, and Harry and Ron glared from either side of the transparent barrier as though they were seeing each other clearly for the first time. Harry felt a corrosive hatred toward Ron: Something had broken between them._

Hermione let out a sob.

_"Leave the Horcrux," Harry said._

_Ron wrenched the chain from over his head and cast the locket into a nearby chair. He turned to Hermione._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Are you staying, or what?"_

"Don't drag her down with you," Bill said.

_"I . . ." She looked anguished. "Yes—yes, I'm staying. Ron, we said we'd go with Harry, we said we'd help—"_

_"I get it. You choose him."_

"She's doing the right thing!" Fabian said.

"Sticking by her friend," Gideon added

_"Ron, no—please—come back, come back!"_

_She was impeded by her own Shield Charm; by the time she had removed it he had already stormed into the night. Harry stood quite still and silent, listening to her sobbing and calling Ron's name amongst the trees._

_After a few minutes she returned, her sopping hair plastered to her face._

_"He's g-g-gone! Disapparated!"_

_She threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started to cry._

Too many of the group who had been alive during this time had always seen the Trio as a sign of hope and light in the middle of the consuming darkness that was the war. To see them broken was a repulsive wake up call. It was now that most of them grasped that those three were more than just a symbol. They were more than the invincible soldiers. They were plain old human, teenagers. And Ron leaving was bringing the truth home for them.

_Harry felt dazed. He stooped, picked up the Horcrux, and placed it around his own neck. He dragged blankets off Ron's bunk and threw them over Hermione. Then he climbed onto his own bed and stared up at the dark canvas roof, listening to the pounding of the rain._

"You prat, Ron," Bill frowned.

"I know," Ron said, his voice muffled by his hands.

"But he was with you," Neville said confused. "You two were as thick as thieves as you always were."

"Yeah, he got back," Harry said. "Let's continue."

"Godrics Hollow," Hermione breathed.

_"Hermione, I've been thinking, and –"_

_"Harry, could you help me with something?" Apparently she had not been listening to him. She leaned forward and held out The Tales of Beedle the Bard._

"Polite, Hermione," Ginny tried to joke.

_"Look at that symbol," she said, pointing to the top of a page. Above what Harry assumed was the title of the story (being unable to read runes, he could not be sure), there was a picture of what looked like a triangular eye, its pupil crossed with a vertical line._

_"I never took Ancient Runes, Hermione."_

"I know that, Harry," Hermione laughed.

_"I know that; but it isn't a rune and it's not in the syllabary, either. All along I thought it was a picture of an eye, but I don't think it is! It's been inked in, look, somebody's drawn it there, it isn't really part of the book. Think, have you ever seen it before?"_

_"No . . . No, wait a moment." Harry looked closer. "Isn't it the same symbol Luna's dad was wearing round his neck?"_

_"Well, that's what I thought too!"_

_"Then it's Grindelwald's mark."_

_She stared at him, openmouthed._

_"What?"_

_"Krum told me . . ." He recounted the story that Viktor Krum had told him at the wedding. Hermione looked astonished._

_"Grindelwald's mark?"_

_She looked from Harry to the weird symbol and back again. "I've never heard that Grindelwald had a mark. There's no mention of it in anything I've ever read about him."_

"That's because it's not his mark," Luna said.

_"Well, like I say, Krum reckoned that symbol was carved on a wall at Durmstrang, and Grindelwald put it there." She fell back into the old armchair, frowning._

_"That's very odd. If it's a symbol of Dark Magic, what's it doing in a book of children's stories?"_

_"Yeah, it is weird," said Harry. "And you'd think Scrimgeour would have recognized it. He was Minister, he ought to have been expert on Dark stuff."_

_"I know. . . . Perhaps he thought it was an eye, just like I did. All the other stories have little pictures over the titles." She did not speak, but continued to pour over the strange mark. Harry tried again._

_"Hermione?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"I've been thinking. I – I want to go to Godric's Hollow."_

_She looked up at him, but her eyes were unfocused._

_"Yes," she said. "Yes, I've been wondering that too. I really think we'll have to."_

"Did you hear him right?" Ron asked.

_"Did you hear me right?" he asked._

Several people laughed.

"Just just go with it Uncle Harry," Teddy chuckled.

_"Of course I did. You want to go to Godric's Hollow. I agree. I think we should. I mean, I can't think of anywhere else it could be either. It'll be dangerous, but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems it's there."_

"What's there?" James asked.

_"Er – what's there?" asked Harry._

_At that, she looked just as bewildered as he felt._

_"Well, the sword, Harry! Dumbledore must have known you'd want to go back there, and I mean, Godric's Hollow is Godric Gryffindor's birthplace –"_

_"Really? Gryffindor came from Godric's Hollow?"_

"Really, Harry?" Ginny giggled. "Sometimes you miss the obvious."

_"Harry, did you ever even open A History of Magic?"_

_"Erm," he said, smiling for what felt like the first time in months. "I might've opened it, you know, when I bought it . . . just the once. . . ."_

_"Well, as the village is named after him I'd have thought you might have made the connection," said Hermione. She sounded much more like her old self than she had done of late;_

_"There's a bit about the village in A History of Magic, wait . . ."_

_She opened the beaded bag and rummaged for a while, finally extracting her copy of their old school textbook, A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot, which she thumbed through until finding the page she wanted._

_"'Upon the signature of the International Statute of Secrecy in 1689, wizards went into hiding for good. It was natural, perhaps, that they formed their own small communities within a community. Many small villages and hamlets attracted several magical families, who banded together for mutual support and protection. The villages of Tinworsh in Cornwall, Upper Flagley in Yorkshire, and Ottery St. Catchpole on the south coast of England were notable homes to knots of Wizarding families who lived alongside tolerant and sometimes Confunded Muggles. Most celebrated of these half-magical dwelling places is, perhaps, Godric's Hollow, the West Country village where the great wizard Godric Gryffindor was born, and where Bowman Wright, Wizarding smith, forged the first Golden Snitch. The graveyard is full of the names of ancient magical families, and this accounts, no doubt, for the stories of hauntings that have dogged the little church beside it for many centuries.'_

_"You and your parents aren't mentioned." Hermione said, closing the book, "because Professor Bagshot doesn't cover anything later than the end of the nineteenth century. But you see? Godric's Hollow, Godric Gryffindor, Gryffindor's sword; don't you think Dumbledore would have expected you to make the connection?"_

"I hope it's there," Lily said, missing the looks exchanged between Harry and Hermione,

_"Oh yeah . . ."_

_"Remember what Muriel said?" he asked eventually._

_"Who?"_

_"You know," he hesitated. He did not want to say Ron's name. "Ginny's great-aunt. At the wedding. The one who said you had skinny ankles."_

_"Oh," said Hermione. It was a sticky moment: Harry knew that she had sensed Ron's name in the offing. He rushed on:_

_"She said Bathilda Bagshot still lived in Godric's Hollow."_

_"Bathilda Bagshot," murmured Hermione, running her index finger over Bathilda's embossed name on the front cover of A History of Magic. "Well, I suppose –"_

_She gasped so dramatically that Harry's insides turned over; he drew his wand, looking around at the entrance, half expecting to see a hand forcing its way through the entrance flap, but there was nothing there._

"Hermione," Neville groaned. "You're going to give us a heart attack."

_"What?" he said, half angry, half relieved. "What did you do that for? I thought you'd seen a Death Eater unzipping the tent, at least –"_

_"Harry, what if Bathilda's got the sword? What if Dumbledore entrusted it to her?"_

_"Yeah, he might have done! So, are we going to go to Godric's Hollow?"_

_"Yes, but we'll have to think it through carefully, Harry." She was sitting up now, and Harry could tell that the prospect of having a plan again had lifted her mood as much as his. "We'll need to practice Disapparating together under the Invisibility Cloak for a start, and perhaps Disillusionment Charms would be sensible too, unless you think we should go the whole hog and use Polyjuice Potion? In that case we'll need to collect hair from somebody. I actually think we'd better do that, Harry, the thicker our disguises the better. . . ."_

"These better be strong disguises," Dora said.

_Harry let her talk, nodding and agreeing whenever there was a pause_

"Skipping," Harry said.

_They were standing hand in hand in a snowy lane under a dark blue sky, in which the night's first stars were already glimmering feebly. Cottages stood on either side of the narrow road, Christmas decorations twinkling in their windows. A short way ahead of them, a glow of golden streetlights indicated the center of the village._

_"All this snow!" Hermione whispered beneath the cloak. "Why didn't we think of snow? After all our precautions, we'll leave prints! We'll just have to get rid of them – you go in front, I'll do it –"_

_"Let's take off the Cloak," said Harry, and when she looked frightened, "Oh, come on, we don't look like us and there's no one around."_

_He stowed the Cloak under his jacket and they made their way forward unhampered, the icy air stinging their faces as they passed more cottages. Any one of them might have been the one in which James and Lily had once lived or where Bathilda lived now. Harry gazed at the front doors, their snow-burdened roofs, and their front porches._

_Then the little lane along which they were walking curved to the left and the heart of the village, a small square, was revealed to them._

_Strung all around with colored lights, there was what looked like a war memorial in the middle, partly obscured by a windblown Christmas tree. There were several shops, a post office, a pub, and a little church whose stained-glass windows were glowing jewel-bright across the square._

_The snow here had become impacted: It was hard and slippery where people had trodden on it all day. Villagers were crisscrossing in front of them, their figures briefly illuminated by streetlamps. They heard a snatch of laughter and pop music as the pub door opened and closed; then they heard a carol start up inside the little church._

_"Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve!" said Hermione._

"You think?" Petunia repeated.

"We weren't getting the newpaper, it was too risky," Hermione said, "and it didn't really matter, anyway, everyday was the same was the same for us."

_"Is it?"_

_"I'm sure it is," said Hermione, her eyes upon the church. "They . . . they'll be in there, won't they? Your mum and dad? I can see the graveyard behind it."_

Everyone took a deep breath.

_Hermione reached for his hand and took the lead for the first time, pulling him forward. Halfway across the square, however, she stopped dead._

_"Harry, look!"_

_She was pointing at the war memorial. As they had passed it, it had transformed. Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. _

"Oh," Lily said her eyes-wide and filled with tears.

_Snow lay upon all their heads, like fluffy white caps._

_Harry drew closer, gazing up into his parents' faces. _

_"C'mon," said Harry, when he had looked his fill, and they turned again toward the church. As they crossed the road, he glanced over his shoulder; the statue had turned back into the war memorial._

_The singing grew louder as they approached the church. It reminded him so forcefully of Hogwarts, of Peeves bellowing rude versions of carols from inside suits of armor, of the Great Hall's twelve Christmas trees, of Dumbledore wearing a bonnet he had won in a cracker, of Ron in a hand-knitted sweater. . . ._

Everyone chuckled slightly wistfully, except Teddy, Hogwarts was a place you always missed.

_There was a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard. Hermione pushed it open as quietly as possible and they edged through it. On either side of the slippery path to the church doors, the snow lay deep and untouched. They moved off through the snow, carving deep trenches behind them as they walked around the building, keeping to the shadows beneath the brilliant windows._

_Behind the church, row upon row of snowy tombstones protruded from a blanket of pale blue that was flecked with dazzling red, gold, and green wherever the reflections from the stained glass hit the snow. Keeping his hand closed tightly on the wand in his jacket pocket, Harry moved toward the nearest grave._

_"Look at this, it's an Abbott, could be some long-lost relation of Hannah's!"_

_"Keep your voice down," Hermione begged him._

_They waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, gouging dark tracks into the snow behind them, stooping to peer at the words on old headstones, every now and then squinting into the surrounding darkness to make absolutely sure that they were unaccompanied._

_"Harry, here!"_

_Hermione was two rows of tombstones away; he had to wade back to her, his heart positively banging in his chest._

_"Is it – ?"_

_"No, but look!"_

_She pointed to the dark stone. Harry stooped down and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the words Kendra Dumbledore and, a short way down her dates of birth and death, and Her Daughter Ariana._

"The Dumbledore's," Lily breathed.

_There was also a quotation:_

_Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also._

_Hermione was looking at Harry, and he was glad that his face was hidden in shadow. _

_"Are you sure he never mentioned – ?" Hermione began._

_"No," said Harry curtly, then, "let's keep looking," and he turned away, wishing he had not seen the stone._

_"Here!" cried Hermione again a few moments later from out of the darkness. "Oh no, sorry! I thought it said Potter."_

"Hermione you are going to kill us!" Sirius growled.

_She was rubbing at a crumbling, mossy stone, gazing down at it, a little frown on her face._

_"Harry, come back a moment."_

_He grudgingly made his way back through the snow toward her._

_"What?"_

_"Look at this!" The grave was extremely old, weathered so that Harry could hardly make out the name. Hermione showed him the symbol beneath it._

_"Harry, that's the mark in the book!"_

"Why would that be there?" Teddy wondered.

"The Peverells are the three brothers of the Deathly Hallows," Luna said.

_He peered at the place she indicated: The stone was so worn that it was hard to make out what was engraved there, though there did seem to be a triangular mark beneath the nearly illegible name._

_"Yeah . . . it could be. . . ."_

_Hermione lit her wand and pointed it at the name on the headstone._

_"It says Ig – Ignotus, I think. . . ."_

_"I'm going to keep looking for my parents, all right?" Harry told her, a slight edge to his voice, and he set off again, leaving her crouched beside the old grave._

_Every now and then he recognized a surname that, like Abbott, he had met at Hogwarts. Sometimes there were several generations of the same Wizarding family represented in the graveyard: Harry could tell from the dates that it had either died out, or the current members had moved away from Godric's Hollow. Deeper and deeper amongst the graves he went._

_The darkness and the silence seemed to become, all of a sudden, much deeper. Harry looked around, worried, then realized that the carols had finished, that the chatter and flurry of churchgoers were fading away as they made their way back into the square. Somebody inside the church had just turned off the lights._

_Then Hermione's voice came out of the blackness for the third time, sharp and clear from a few yards away._

_"Harry, they're here . . . right here."_

"Oh Merlin," Sirius groaned.

_And he knew by her tone that it was his mother and father this time: He moved toward her, _

_The headstone was only two rows behind Kendra and Ariana's. It was made of white marble, just like Dumbledore's tomb, and this made it easy to read, as it seemed to shine in the dark. Harry did not need to kneel or even approach very close to it to make out the words engraved upon it._

_JAMES POTTER LILY POTTER_

_BORN 27 MARCH 1960 BORN 30 JANUARY 196_

_DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981 DIED 31 OCTOBER 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

"What does that mean?" Bill asked, holding Fleur who looked slightly tearful.

_Harry read the words slowly and he read the last of them aloud._

_"'The last enemy that shall be defeated is death' . . . Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?"_

_"It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry," said Hermione, her voice gentle. "It means . . . you know . . . living beyond death. Living after death."_

"Something like," James nodded.

_But they were not living, thought Harry. They were gone. _

"No," Lily breathed.

_The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents' moldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together,_

Ginny squeezed Harry's hand as she, and most others, looked pained or had tears running down their faces.

_looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them._

Lily was practically sobbing now as she watched her son stand over his parent's grave.

_Hermione had taken his hand again and was gripping it tightly. He could not look at her, but returned the pressure, now taking deep, sharp gulps of the night air, trying to steady himself, trying to regain control. He should have brought something to give them, and he had not thought of it, and every plant in the graveyard was leafless and frozen. But Hermione raised her wand, moved it in a circle through the air, and a wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents' grave._

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said.

"Yeah," she said, softly, it was obvious to everyone else that they had slipped into memories and were hardly in the room at all, after a while Hermione shook her head. "I guess we don't need to do our trip this year."

"Nope," Harry smiled, glancing at her. "No more Godrics Hollow Graveyard on Christmas Eve."

"What are you two on about?" James asked taking a deep breath.

"These two went to there every Christmas Eve," Ginny said, sadly. "It was tradition."

"It was never discussed either," Ron said. "They never said a thing about it."

"It's true," Hermione said. "It's always the same, why we never brought flowers, we don't know, why I always made them, we don't know because it's discussed."

_As soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: He did not think he could stand another moment there. He put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow, past Dumbledore's mother and sister, back toward the dark church and the out-of-sight kissing gate._

Everyone smiled sadly; it was a nice but sad picture.

_"Harry, stop."_

_"What's wrong?"_

_They had only just reached the grave of the unknown Abbott. "There's someone there. Someone watching us. I can tell. There, over by the bushes."_

"Oh, god," Dudley groaned, speaking for the first time in a while

_They stood quite still, holding on to each other, gazing at the dense black boundary of the graveyard. Harry could not see anything. "Are you sure?"_

_"I saw something move. I could have sworn I did..." She broke from him to free her wand arm._

_"We look like Muggles," Harry pointed out._

_"Muggles who've just been laying flowers on your parents' grave? Harry, I'm sure there's someone over there!" _

_Then he heard a rustle and saw a little eddy of dislodged snow in the bush to which Hermione had pointed. _

_"It's a cat," said Harry, after a second or two, "or a bird. If it was a Death Eater we'd be dead by now._

"Good point but get out of there," Remus said.

_But let's get out of here, and we can put the Cloak back on."_

Everyone nodded their agreement, Lily and James the fastest not wanting their son to get hurt a second time in his home.

_They glanced back repeatedly as they made their way out of the graveyard. Harry, who did not feel as sanguine as he had pretended when reassuring Hermione, was glad to reach the gate and the slippery pavement. They pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over themselves. The pub was fuller than before._

_Many voices inside it were now singing the carol that they had heard as they approached the church. For a moment, Harry considered suggesting they take refuge inside it, but before he could say anything Hermione murmured, "Let's go this way," and pulled him down the dark street leading out of the village in the opposite direction from which they had entered._

"Not this way," James groaned.

_Harry could make out the point where the cottages ended and the lane turned into open country again. They walked as quickly as they dared, past more windows sparkling with multicolored lights, the outlines of Christmas trees dark through the curtains._

_"How are we going to find Bathilda's house?" asked Hermione, who was shivering a little and kept glancing back over her shoulder. "Harry? What do you think? Harry?" She tugged at this arm, but Harry was not paying attention. He was looking toward the dark mass that stood at the very end of this row of houses. Next moment he sped up, dragging Hermione along with him, she slipped a little on the ice. "Harry -"_

_"Look ... Look at it, Hermione ..."_

_"I don't ... oh!" He could see it; the Fidelius Charm must have died with James and Lily._

_The hedge had grown wild in the sixteen years since Hagrid had taken Harry from the rubble that lay scattered amongst the waist-high grass. Most of the cottage was still standing, though entirely covered in the dark ivy and snow, but the right side of the top floor had been blown apart; that, Harry was sure, was where the curse had backfired._

"That's our house?" Teddy asked shocked.

"Yeah, Ted," Harry chuckled. "That's the house."

"As you can see," Ginny smiled. "We repaired it a lot."

_He and Hermione stood at the gate, gazing up at the wreck of what must once have been a cottage just like those that flanked it. "I wonder why nobody's ever rebuilt it?" whispered Hermione._

_"Maybe you can't rebuild it?" Harry replied. "Maybe it's like the injuries from Dark Magic and you can't repair the damage?" He slipped a hand from beneath the Cloak and grasped the snowy and thickly rusted gate, not wishing to open it, but simply so he'd some part of the house._

_"You're not going to go inside? It looks unsafe, it might –_

"I didn't want to go in," Harry smiled.

_oh, Harry, look!" His touch on the gate seemed to have done it. A sign had risen out of the ground in front of them, up thorough the tangles of nettles and weeds, like some bizarre, fast-growing flower, and in golden letters upon the wood it said:_

_On this spot, on this night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family._

The Potters all smiled softly.

_And all around these neatly lettered words, scribbles had been added by other witches and wizards who had come to see the place where the Boy Who Lived had escaped. Some had merely signed their names in Everlasting Ink; others had carved their initials into the wood, still others had left messages. The most recent of these, shining brightly over sixteen years' worth of magical graffiti, all said similar things._

_Good luck, Harry, wherever you are._

_If you read this, Harry, we're all behind you! _

_Long live Harry Potter._

_"They shouldn't have written on the sign!" said Hermione, indignant._

"No," Ginny said. "It's ... it's great."

_But Harry beamed at her. "It's brilliant. I'm glad they did. I ..." He broke off. A heavily muffled figure was hobbling up the lane toward them, silhouetted by the bright lights in the distant square. Harry thought, though it was hard to judge, that the figure was a woman. She was moving slowly, possibly frightened of slipping on the snowy ground._

Harry and Hermione shared a look.

_Her stoop, her stoutness, her shuffling gait all gave an impression of extreme age. They watched in silence as she drew nearer. Harry was waiting to see whether she would turn into any of the cottages she was passing, but he knew instinctively that she would not. At last she came to a halt a few yards from them and simply stood there in the middle of the frozen road, facing them. He did not need Hermione's pinch to his arm. There was next to no chance that this woman was a Muggle: She was standing there gazing at a house that ought to have been completely invisible to her, if she was not a witch. Even assuming that she was a witch, however, it was odd behavior to come out on a night this cold, simply to look at an old ruin._

_By all the rules of normal magic, meanwhile, she ought not to be able to see Hermione and him at all. Nevertheless, Harry had the strangest feeling that she knew that they were there, and also who they were._

_Just as he had reached this uneasy conclusion, she raised a gloved hand and beckoned. Hermione moved closer to him under the Cloak, her arm pressed against his. "How does she know?"_

Everyone shared an uneasy look

_He shook his head. The woman beckoned again, more vigorously. Harry could think of many reasons not to obey the summons, and yet his suspicions about her identity were growing stronger every moment that they stood facing each other in the deserted street. _

_Finally Harry spoke, causing Hermione to gasp and jump. "Are you Bathilda?"_

_The muffled figure nodded and beckoned again._

"That doesn't seem like her," James said.

_Beneath the Cloak Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Harry raised his eyebrows; Hermione gave a tiny, nervous nod._

_They stepped toward the woman and , at once, she turned and hobbled off back the way they had come. Leading them past several houses, she turned in at a gate. They followed her up the front path through a garden nearly as overgrown as the one they had just left. She fumbled for a moment with a key at the front door, then opened it and stepped back to let them pass. She smelled bad,_

Harry and Hermione sighed; they should have known something was wrong.

_or perhaps it was her house; Harry wrinkled his nose as they sidled past her and pulled off the Cloak. Now that he was beside her, he realized how tiny she was; bowed down with age, she came barely level with his chest. She closed the door behind them, her knuckles blue and mottled against the peeling paint, then turned and peered into Harry's face. Her eyes were thick with cataracts and sunken into folds of transparent skin, and her whole face was dotted with broken veins and liver spots. He wondered whether she could make him out at all; even if she could, it was the balding Muggle whose identity he had stolen that she would see._

_The odor of old age, of dust, of unwashed clothes and stale food intensified as the unwound a moth-eaten black shawl, revealing a head of scant white hair through which the scalp showed clearly._

_"Bathilda?" Harry repeated. She nodded again._

"Why isn't she talking?" Petunia asked.

_Bathilda shuffled past them, pushing Hermione aside as though she had not seen her,_

"Watch it," Ron said.

_and vanished into what seemed to be a sitting room._

_"Harry, I'm not sure about this," breathed Hermione._

_"Look at the size of her, I think we could overpower her if we had to," said Harry._

They shared another look – not if she was actually Nagini.

_"Listen, I should have told you, I knew she wasn't all there. Muriel called her 'gaga.'"_

"Hermione, you might want to do the spell again," Harry muttered to her, glad she was next to him.

She nodded and flicked her wand but no one saw.

_"Come!" called Bathilda from the next room._

Hermione shook her head, and then said to Harry "I should have known then, all I heard was hissing."

_Hermione jumped and clutched Harry's arm. "It's okay," said Harry reassuringly, and he led the way into the sitting room. Bathilda was tottering around the place lighting candles, but it was still very dark, not to mention extremely dirty. Thick dust crunched beneath their feet, and Harry's nose detected, underneath the dank and mildewed smell, something worse, like meat gone bad._

_He wondered when was the last time anyone had been inside Bathilda's house to check whether she was coping. She seemed to have forgotten that she could do magic, too, for she lit the candles clumsily by hand, her trailing lace cuff in constant danger of catching fire._

_"Let me do that," offered Harry, and he took the matches from her. She stood watching him as he finished lighting the candle stubs that stood on saucers around the room, perched precariously on stacks of books and on side tables crammed with cracked and moldy cups. The last surface on which Harry spotted a candle was a bow-fronted chest of drawers on which there stood a large number of photographs. When the flame danced into life, its reflection wavered on their dusty glass and silver. He saw a few tiny movements from the pictures. As Bathilda fumbled with logs for the fire, he muttered "Tergeo": The dust vanished from the photographs, and he saw at once that half a dozen were missing from the largest and most ornate frames. Then the sight of a photograph near the back of the collection caught his eye, and he snatched it up. It was the golden-haired, merry-faced thief, the young man who had perched on Gregorovitch's windowsill, smiling lazily up at Harry out of the silver frame._

_And it came to Harry instantly where he had seen the boy before: in The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, arm in arm with the teenage Dumbledore, and that must be where all the missing photographs were: in Rita's book._

_"Mrs. - Miss - Bagshot?" he said, and his voice shook slightly. "Who is this?" Bathilda was standing in the middle of the room watching Hermione light the fire for her. "Miss Bagshot?" Harry repeated, and he advanced with the picture in his hands as the flames burst into life in the fireplace. Bathilda looked up at his voice. "Who is this person?" Harry asked her, pushing the picture forward. She peered at it solemnly, then up at Harry. "Do you know who this is?" he repeated in a much slower and louder voice than usual. "This man? Do you know him? What's he called?" Bathilda merely looked vague._

_"Who is this man?" he repeated loudly._

_"Harry, what are you doing?" asked Hermione._

"You were being rude," Hermione said sheepishly.

_"This picture. Hermione, it's the thief, the thief who stole from Gregorovitch! Please!" he said to Bathilda. "Who is this?" But she only stared at him._

_"Why did you ask us to come with you, Mrs. - Miss - Bagshot?" asked Hermione, raising her own voice. "Was there something you wanted to tell us?"_

_Giving no sign that she had heard Hermione, Bathilda now shuffled a few steps closer to Harry. With a little jerk of her head she looked back into the hall._

_"You want us to leave?" he asked._

_She repeated the gesture, this time pointing firstly at him, then at herself, then at the ceiling._

_"Oh, right... Hermione, I think she wants me to go upstairs with her."_

_"All right," said Hermione, "let's go." But when Hermione moved, Bathilda shook her head with surprising vigor, once more pointing first at Harry, then to herself._

_"She wants me to go with her, alone."_

"No!" everyone said, something was definitely wrong.

_"Why?" asked Hermione, and her voice rang out sharp and clear in the candlelit room, the old lady shook her head a little at the loud noise._

_"Maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, and only to me?"_

_"Do you really think she knows who you are?"_

"Yes," they said together.

_"Yes," said Harry, looking down into the milky eyes fixed upon his own. "I think she does."_

_"Well, okay then, but be quick, Harry."_

_"Lead the way," Harry told Bathilda. She seemed to understand, because she shuffled around him toward the door. Harry glanced back at Hermione with a reassuring smile, but he was not sure she had seen it; she stood hugging herself in the midst of the candlelit squalor, looking toward the bookcase. As Harry walked out of the room, unseen by both Hermione and Bathilda, he slipped the silver-framed photograph of the unknown thief inside his jacket._

_The stairs were steep and narrow; Harry was half tempted to place his hands on stout Bathilda's backside to ensure that she did not topple over backward on top of him, which seemed only too likely. Slowly, wheezing a little, she climbed to the upper landing, turned immediately right, and led him into a low-ceilinged bedroom. It was pitch-black and smelled horrible: Harry had just made out a chamber pot protruding from under the bed before Bathilda closed the door and even that was swallowed by the darkness. "Lumos," said Harry, and his wand ignited. He gave a start: Bathilda had moved close to him in those few seconds of darkness, and he had not heard her approach._

_"You are Potter?" she whispered._

"Why is she talking now?" Bill asked, hating the tension in the room.

_"Yes, I am." She nodded slowly, solemnly. _

_"Have you got anything for me?" Harry asked, but she seemed distracted by his lit wand-tip. "Have you got anything for me?" he repeated._

_Then she closed her eyes and several things happened at once: Harry's scar prickled painfully; the Horcrux twitched so that the front of his sweater actually moved; the dark, fetid room dissolved momentarily. He felt a leap of joy and spoke in a high, cold voice: Hold him!_

"No!" everyone yelled.

"Voldemort," Sirius groaned.

_Harry swayed where he stood: The dark, foul-smelling room seemed to close around him again; he did not know what had just happened._

_"Have you got anything for me?" he asked for a third time, much louder._

"Just get out!" Dora yelled.

_"Over here," she whispered, pointing to the corner. Harry raised his wand and saw the outline of a cluttered dressing table beneath the curtained window._

_This time she did not lead him. Harry edged between her and the unmade bed, his wand raised. _

"Don't look away," Remus advised.

_"What is it?" he asked as he reached the dressing table, which was heaped high with what looked and smelled like dirty laundry._

_"There," she said, pointing at the shapeless mass. And in the instant that he looked away, his eyes taking the tangled mess for a sword hilt, a ruby, she moved weirdly: He saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralyzed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been._

"Oh my Merlin," Hermione shirked. "You didn't tell me that."

"I thought I'd spare you the details," Harry said, looking at everyone's revolted faces

"Thank you," Hermione nodded.

_The snake struck as he raised his wand: The force of the bite to his forearm sent the wand spinning up toward the ceiling;_

"She's poisonous," Arthur groaned.

_its light swung dizzyingly around the room and was extinguished; Then a powerful blow from the tail to his midriff knocked the breath out of him: He fell backward onto the dressing table, into the mound of filthy clothing - He rolled sideways, narrowly avoiding the snake's tail, which thrashed down upon the table where he had been a second earlier. Fragments of the glass surface rained upon him as he hit the floor. From below he heard Hermione call, "Harry?"_

"I was terrified," Hermione squeaked.

_He could not get enough breath into his lungs to call back: Then a heavy smooth mass smashed him to the floor and he felt it slide over him, powerful, muscular - "No!" he gasped, pinned to the floor._

_"Yes," whispered the voice. "Yesss... hold you ... hold you ..."_

Everyone shuddered.

_"Accio ... Accio Wand ..." But nothing happened and he needed his hands to try to force the snake from him as it coiled itself around his torso, squeezing the air from him, pressing the Horcrux hard into his chest, a circle of ice that throbbed with life, inches from his own frantic heart, and his brain was flooding with cold, white light, all thought obliterated, his own breath drowned, distant footsteps,_

"Hermione," Ginny breathed.

_everything going..._ _and now he was flying, flying with triumph in his heart, without need of broomstick or thestral... _

"Stay out of his mind," Neville said, looking scared.

_He was abruptly awake in the sour-smelling darkness; Nagini had released him. He scrambled up and saw the snake outlined against the landing light: It struck, and Hermione dived aside with a shriek;_

"Hermione," everyone now beamed.

_her deflected curse hit the curtained window, which shattered. Frozen air filled the room as Harry ducked to avoid another shower of broken glass and his foot slipped on a pencil-like something - his wand – _

"Fall over your own wand," the twins chuckled.

_He bent and snatched it up, but now the room was full of the snake, its tail thrashing; Hermione was nowhere to be seen and for a moment Harry thought the worst, but then there was a loud bang and a flash of red light, and the snake flew into the air, smacking Harry hard in the face as it went, _

"Sorry, Harry," Hermione managed to giggle.

_coil after heavy coil rising up to the ceiling. Harry raised his wand, but as he did so, his scar seared more painfully, more powerfully than it had done in years._

_"He's coming! Hermione, he's coming!" As he yelled the snake fell, hissing wildly. Everything was chaos: It smashed shelves from the wall, and splintered china flew everywhere as Harry jumped over the bed and seized the dark shape he knew to be Hermione - she shrieked with pain as he pulled her back across the bed: _

"Sorry, Hermione," Harry said this time.

_The snake reared again, but Harry knew that worse than the snake was coming, was perhaps already at the gate, his head was going to split open with the pain from his scar –_

_The snake lunged as he took a running leap, dragging Hermione with him; as it struck, Hermione screamed, "Confringo!" and her spell flew around the room, exploding the wardrobe mirror and ricocheting back at them, bouncing from floor to ceiling._

"There goes your wand," Hermione muttered.

_Glass cut his cheek as, pulling Hermione with him, he leapt from bed to broken dressing table _

"How are you managing that?" Sirius asked

_and then straight out of the smashed window into nothingness, her scream reverberating through the night as they twisted in midair..._

"Yes, Harry just jump out the window," Bill said.

_He was Voldemort and he was running across the fetid bedroom, his long white hands clutching at the windowsill as he glimpsed the bald man and the little woman twist and vanish,_

"'e was that close," Fleur screamed.

_and he screamed with rage, a scream that mingled with the girl's, that echoed across the dark gardens over the church bells ringing in Christmas Day..._

_And his scream was Harry's scream, his pain was Harry's pain... that it could happen here, where it had happened before... here, within sight of that house where he had come so close to knowing what it was to die ... to die ... the pain was so terrible ... ripped from his body ... But if he had no body, why did his head hurt so badly; if he was dead, how cold he feel so unbearably, didn't pain cease with death, didn't it go ..._

_The night wet and windy, two children dressed as pumpkins waddling across the square and the shop windows covered in paper spiders,_

"Halloween…" Ginny frowned. "It's Christmas."

"Crap," Sirius and Remus said.

"Remus/Sirius," Dora and Lily snapped.

"What?" the twins asked.

"It's that night," Bill gulped. "Isn't it?"

Lily, James, Harry, Remus and Sirius nodded.

_all the tawdry Muggle trappings of a world in which they did not believe ... And he was gliding along, that sense of purpose and power and rightness in him that he always knew on these occasions ... Not anger ... that was for weaker souls than he ... but triumph, yes ... He had waited for this, he had hoped for it..._

_"Nice costume, mister!"_

_He saw the small boy's smile falter as he ran near enough to see beneath the hood of the cloak, saw the fear cloud his pained face: Then the child turned and ran away ... Beneath the robe he fingered the handle of his wand ... One simple movement and the child would never reach his mother ..._

"No," Molly shrieked.

_but unnecessary, quite unnecessary..._

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; they didn't need anymore deaths that night.

_And along a new and darker street he moved, and now his destination was in sight at last, the Fidelius Charm broken, though they did not know it yet..._

Lily and James winced.

_And he made less noise than the dead leaves slithering along the pavement as he drew level with the dark hedge, and steered over it ..._

_They had not drawn the curtains; he saw them quite clearly in their little sitting room, the tall black-haired man in his glasses, making puffs of colored smoke erupt from his wand for the amusement of the small black-haired boy in his blue pajamas. The child was laughing and trying to catch the smoke, to grab it in his small fist..._

Some people smiled softly while others looked angry – how dare he witness that, those last moments belonged to James, Lily and Harry.

_A door opened and the mother entered, saying words he cold not hear, her long dark-red hair falling over her face. Now the father scooped up the son and handed him to the mother. He threw his wand down upon the sofa and stretched, yawning..._

_The gate creaked a little as he pushed it open, but James Potter did not hear. His white hand pulled out the wand beneath his cloak and pointed it at the door, which burst open._

"Ted, you sure you want to stay?" Harry asked but Teddy nodded firmly and Harry knew from the look on his face that it would be pointless arguing.

_He was over the threshold as James came sprinting into the hall. It was easy, too easy, he had not even picked up his wand..._

"DAMN IT," James yelled, annoyed at himself, he could have protected them better.

"James, it's not your fault," Lily said, placing a hand on his arm.

_"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" _

_Hold him off, without a wand in his hand! ... He laughed before casting the curse..._

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

Everyone flinched as Lily and some others started to cry. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it.

_The green light filled the cramped hallway, it lit the pram pushed against the wall, it made the banisters glow like lighting rods, and James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut ..._

_He could hear her screaming from the upper floor, trapped, but as long as she was sensible, she, at least, had nothing to fear..._

"I had _everything_ to fear," Lily growled.

_He climbed the steps, listening with faint amusement to her attempts to barricade herself in..._

"It's not funny," Remus growled.

_She had no wand upon her either ... How stupid they were, and how trusting, thinking that their safety lay in friends,_

"Damn you, Peter!" Sirius growled as the marauders eyes flashed.

_that weapons could be discarded even for moments... He forced the door open, cast aside the chair and boxes hastily piled against it with one lazy wave of his wand ... and there she stood, the child in her arms. At the sight of him, she dropped her son into the crib behind her and threw her arms wide, as if this would help, as if in shielding him from sight she hoped to be chosen instead..._

_"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

_"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now."_

_"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -"_

_"This is my last warning -"_

_"Not Harry! Please ... have mercy ... have mercy ... Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything ..."_

_"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"_

_He could have forced her away from the crib, but it seemed more prudent to finish them all..._

James closed his eyes and pulled Lily towards him, wrapping her in his arms.

_The green light flashed around the room and she dropped like her husband. The child had not cried all this time. He could stand, clutching the bars of his crib, and he looked up into the intruder's face with a kind of bright interest, perhaps thinking that it was his father who hid beneath the cloak, making more pretty lights, and his mother would pop up any moment, laughing –_

"Not this time," Lily sighed.

_He pointed the wand very carefully into the boy's face: He wanted to see it happen, the destruction of this one, inexplicable danger._

_The child began to cry: It had seen that he was not James. He did not like it crying, he had never been able to stomach the small ones whining in the orphanage -_

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

Ginny and Hermione squeaked.

_And then he broke. He was nothing, nothing but pain and terror, and he must hide himself, not here in the rubble of the ruined house, where the child was trapped screaming, but far away ... far away ..._

_"No," he moaned._

_The snake rustled on the filthy, cluttered floor, and he had killed the boy, and yet he was the boy ..._

_"No..."_

_And now he stood at the broken window of Bathilda's house, immersed in memories of his greatest loss, and at his feet the great snake slithered over broken china and glass... He looked down and saw something... something incredible..._

_"No..."_

_"Harry, it's all right, you're all right!"_

_He stooped down and picked up the smashed photograph. There he was, the unknown thief, the thief he was seeking..._

"You dropped it," Dudley groaned, wiping a few tears from his cheeks.

_"No... I dropped it... I dropped it ..."_

_"Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"_

'It's over,' Molly breathed. 'You're waking up.'

_He was Harry... Harry, not Voldemort ... and the thing that was rustling was not a snake ... He opened his eyes._

_"Harry," Hermione whispered. "Do you feel all - all right?"_

_"Yes," he lied._

_He was in the tent, lying on one of the lower bunks beneath a heap of blankets. He could tell that it was almost dawn by the stillness and quality of the cold, flat light beyond the canvas ceiling. He was drenched in sweat; he could feel it on the sheets and blankets._

_"We got away."_

_"Yes," said Hermione. "I had to use a Hover Charm to get you into your bunk. I couldn't lift you. You've been ... Well, you haven't been quite ..."_

Hermione shuddered.

_There were purple shadows under her brown eyes and he noticed a small sponge in her hand: She had been wiping his face. "You've been ill," she finished. "Quite ill."_

_"How long ago did we leave?"_

_"Hours ago. It's nearly morning."_

_"And I've been... what, unconscious?"_

_"Not exactly," said Hermione uncomfortably. "You've been shouting and moaning and ... things," she added in a tone that made Harry feel uneasy. _

_"I couldn't get the Horcrux off you," Hermione said, and he knew she wanted to change the subject. "It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it ..._

_He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the half healed puncture marks to his forearm._

Ginny sighed, she knew them marks - she knew all the scars Harry had. She noticed every time he came home from an Auror mission with a new one and yet, she didn't know how he got them all, she stopped asking how he kept on getting hurt and just being glad that he came home in one piece. It was rather how her mother described being a war mother.

_"Where've you put the Horcrux?"_

_"In my bag. I think we should keep it off for a while."_

"I zink you should keep it off forever," Fleur muttered.

_He lay back on his pillows and looked into her pinched gray face._

_"We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow. It's my fault, it's all my fault. Hermione, I'm sorry."_

_"It's not you fault. I wanted to go too; I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you."_

Everyone sighed, they had forgotten all about the sword.

_"Yeah, well ... we got that wrong, didn't we?"_

_"What happened, Harry? What happened when she took you upstairs?_

"I shouldn't have asked," Hermione shivered.

_Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?"_

_"No." he said. "She was the snake ... or the snake was her ... all along."_

_"W-what?"_

_He closed his eyes. He could still smell Bathilda's house on him; it made the whole thing horribly vivid._

_"Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was... was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back."_

_"The snake was inside her?"_

_He opened his eyes again. Hermione looked revolted, nauseated._

_"Lupin said there would be magic we'd never imagined." Harry said._

"When did you see Remus?" Lily asked.

"Um," Harry said, sharing a look with Ron and Hermione. "A little after we left the wedding, while we were in Grimmauld place."

"Oh yeah," Dora smiled. "He was so happy after seeing you three were alright."

Harry and Remus shared a look both knowing it was more than that – it was Harry knocking some sense into him.

_"She didn't want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue,_

"Of course," Neville said, bitterly.

_all Parseltongue, and I didn't realize, but of course I could understand her. Once we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there ... and then ..."_

_He remembered the snake coming out of Bathilda's neck: Hermione did not need to know the details._

"Thanks for that," Hermione smiled

_"...she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked."_

_He looked down at the puncture marks._

_"It wasn't supposed to kill me, just keep me there till You-Know-Who came."_

_He sat up and threw back the covers._

_"Harry, no, I'm sure you ought to rest!"_

"When will that ever happen?" Petunia asked.

_"You're the one who needs sleep. No offense, but you look terrible. I'm fine. I'll keep watch for a while. Where's my wand?"_

_She did not answer, she merely looked at him._

_"Where's my wand, Hermione?"_

_She was biting her lip, and tears swam in her eyes._

_"Harry ..."_

"No," everyone groaned.

_"Where's my wand?"_

_She reached down beside the bed and held it out to him._

_The holly and phoenix wand was nearly severed in two._

"Crap," the twins said.

"There goes a protection," Bill sighed.

_One fragile strand of phoenix feather kept both pieces hanging together. The wood had splintered apart completely. Harry took it into his hands as though it was a living thing that had suffered a terrible injury. He could not think properly: Everything was a blur of panic and fear. Then he held out the want to Hermione._

_"Mend it. Please."_

"You can't," Arthur sighed.

_"Harry, I don't think, when it's broken like this -"_

_"Please, Hermione, try!"_

_"R-Reparo."_

_The dangling half of the wand resealed itself. Harry held it up._

_"Lumos!"_

_The wand sparked feebly, then went out. Harry pointed it at Hermione. "Expelliarmus!"_

_Hermione's wand gave a little jerk, but did not leave her hand. The feeble attempt at magic was too much for Harry's wand, which split into two again. He stared at it, aghast, _

"Great," Molly muttered.

_"Harry." Hermione whispered so quietly he could hardly hear her. "I'm so, so sorry._

"It's not your fault," James said.

"Better his wand than your lives," Remus said.

_I think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have - must have hit -"_

_"It was an accident." said Harry mechanically. "We'll - we'll find a way to repair it."_

'It can't be repaired,' Remus sighed.

"But…" Teddy said, looking at the wand sticking out of Harry's jean pocket, he grabbed it. "It's the same wand."

"What?" Dora asked. "That can't be possible."

Teddy handed her the wand and she stared at it then at Harry.

"Must you do impossible things?" she asked and he grinned.

_"Well," he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, "well, I'll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch."_

_Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed._

"It probably best to get away from her," James said, knowing what he and Lily were like.

"We're moving on to the next memory," Harry said, as a different forest appeared around them.

_A bright silver light appeared right ahead of Harry, moving through the trees. _

"What the -?" Sirius said.

_Whatever the source, it was moving soundlessly. The light seemed simply to drift toward him._

_He jumped to his feet, his voice frozen in his throat, and raised Hermione's wand. He screwed up his eyes as the light became blinding, the trees in front of it pitch black in silhouette, and still the thing came closer..._

_And then the source of the light stepped out from behind an oak. It was a silver white doe, moon-bright and dazzling,_

"Patronus," Luna said.

"Whose it that?" James asked, he knew of one person who had a doe Patronus and that was Lily but she was dead at this time.

"If I didn't know I hadn't sent it, I would have said mine," Ginny sighed.

'I thought your Patronus was a horse," Remus frowned.

'It was," Ginny said. "But sometime during the year it –"

"Changed to a doe," Dora beamed.

"Yeah," Ginny nodded.

_picking her way over the ground, still silent, and leaving no hoof prints in the fine powdering of snow. She stepped toward him, her beautiful head with its wide, long-lashed eyes held high._

_Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not at her strangeness, but her inexplicable familiarity. _

_They gazed at each other for several long moments and then she turned and walked away._

_"No," he said, and his voice was cracked with lack of use. "Come back!"_

Several people chuckled.

_She continued to step deliberately through the trees, and soon the brightness was striped by their thick black trunks. For one trembling second he hesitated. He set off in pursuit._

"Harry," Arthur groaned. "It could be trap."

_Snow crunched beneath his feet, but the doe made no noise as she passed through the trees, for she was nothing but light. Deeper and deeper into the forest she led him, and Harry walked quickly, sure that when she stopped, she would allow him to approach her properly. And then she would speak and the voice would tell him what he needed to know._

Harry, Ron and Hermione laughed.

"What?" the twins asked

"It's just, if it spoke," Ron laughed. "It would have scared the life out of him."

"Why?" Dudley said and he couldn't help chuckling a little.

"You'll see," Harry said causing everyone to huff.

_At last she came to a halt. She turned her beautiful head toward him once more, and he broke into a run, a question burning in him, but as he opened his lips to ask it, she vanished._

"Damn," Bill muttered.

_"Lumos!" he whispered, and the wand-tip ignited._

_He stood there, listening to the sounds of the forest, to distant crackles of twigs, soft swishes of snow. _

_He held the wand higher. Nobody ran out at him, no flash of green light burst from behind a tree. _

"Why are you here?" Neville asked.

_Something gleamed in the light of the wand, and Harry spun about, but all that was there was a small, frozen pool, its black, cracked surface glittering as he raised his wand higher to examine it._

_He moved forward rather cautiously and looked down. The ice reflected his distorted shadow and the beam of wandlight, but deep below the thick, misty gray carapace, something else glinted. A great silver cross..._

"The sword," everyone breathed.

_His heart skipped into his mouth: He dropped to his knees at the pool's edge and angled the wand so as to flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as possible. A glint of deep red...It was a sword with glittering rubies in its hilt...The sword of Gryffindor was lying at the bottom of the forest pool._

"Now just get it and destroy that Horcrux," Sirius said.

_Barely breathing, he stared down at it. _

_Again he directed the wand at the surrounding trees and bushes, searching for a human outline, for the glint of an eye, but he could not see anyone there. All the same, a little more fear leavened his exhilaration as he returned his attention to the sword reposing upon the bottom of the frozen pool._

_He pointed the wand at the silvery shape and murmured, "Accio Sword."_

_It did not stir._

"Of course not," Remus groaned.

"It's the Sword of _Gryffindor,_" Teddy said. "You'll have to do something Gryffindor to get it."

_He set off around the circle of ice._

_"Help," he murmured, but the sword remained upon the pool bottom, indifferent, motionless._

"I think that was the hat, mate," Neville said.

_Harry stopped walking and let out a long sigh, his smoky breath dispersing rapidly upon the frozen air. _

"You have to dive in, don't you?" Petunia groaned.

_He glanced around at the surrounding trees again, but was convinced now that nobody was going to attack him. They had had their chance as he walked alone through the forest, had had plenty of opportunity as he examined the pool. _

_With fumbling fingers Harry started to remove his many layers of clothing. Where "chivalry" entered into this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely sure, unless it counted as chivalrous that he was not calling for Hermione to do it in his stead._

"Good, because I wasn't going to jump in there in my underwear," Hermione said. "Especially not in front of you."

The twins sniggered.

_An owl hooted somewhere as he stripped off. He was shivering now, his teeth chattering horribly, and yet he continued to strip off until at last he stood there in his underwear, barefooted in the snow. He placed the pouch containing his wand, his mother's letter, the shard of Sirius's mirror, and the old Snitch on top of his clothes,_

"The Horcrux, Harry," Bill said but then Harry grimaced. "You didn't take it off. Great."

_then he pointed Hermione's wand at the ice._

_"Diffindo."_

_It cracked with a sound like a bullet in the silence. The surface of the pool broke and chunks of dark ice rocked on the ruffled water. As far as Harry could judge, it was not deep, but to retrieve the sword he would have to submerge himself completely._

"Great," Dudley shivered.

_He stepped to the pool's edge and placed Hermione's wand on the ground still lit. Then he jumped._

_Trembling so violently the water lapped over the edges of the pool, he felt for the blade with his numb feet. _

_Harry put off the moment of total submersion from second to second, gasping and shaking, until he told himself that it must be done, gathered all his courage, and dived._

_He pushed through the dark water to the bottom and reached out, groping for the sword. His fingers closed around the hilt; he pulled it upward._

"Yes!" James grinned.

_Then something closed tight around his neck. He raised his hand to free himself. It was not weed: The chain of the Horcrux had tightened and was slowly constricting his windpipe._

"Oh, my Merlin," Fleur screamed.

"I told you to take it off," Bill said, darkly.

_Harry kicked out wildly, trying to push himself back to the surface, but merely propelled himself into the rocky side of the pool. Thrashing, suffocating, he scrabbled at the strangling chain, his frozen fingers unable to loosen it. Then arms that closed around his chest Choking and retching, soaking and colder than he had ever been in his life, he came to facedown in the snow._

"Oh thank Merlin/God,! everyone breathed.

_Somewhere, close by, another person was panting and coughing and staggering around. _

"Whose there?" Petunia questioned

"Hermione?" some suggested.

_Yet it did not sound like her, not with those deep coughs, no judging by the weight of the footsteps..._

"Ron," the twins said.

_Harry had no strength to lift his head and see his savior's identity. All he could do was raise a shaking hand to his throat and feel the place where the locket had cut tightly into his flesh. It was gone. Someone had cut him free._

_Then a panting voice spoke from over his head._

_"Are - you – mental?"_

_Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could have given Harry the strength to get up. Shivering violently, he staggered to his feet. There before him stood Ron, fully dressed but drenched to the skin, his hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Horcrux dangling from its broken chain in the other._

"Ron!" everyone except the Trio cheered or yelled.

_"Why the hell," panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, "didn't you take the thing off before you dived?"_

"Good question," Ginny said, looking at her husband who shrugged sheepishly.

_Harry could not answer. Shuddering with cold, he caught up the pile of clothes still lying at the water's edge and began to pull them on. As he dragged sweater after sweater over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, _

"That was kinda creepy, mate," Ron chuckled.

_and yet he had to be real: He had just dived into the pool, he had saved Harry's life._

_"It was y-you?" Harry said at last, his teeth chattering, his voice weaker than usual due to his near-strangulation._

_"Well, yeah," said Ron, looking slightly confused._

_"Y-you cast that doe?"_

"Ron's a terrier," Hermione said.

_"What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing it!"_

_"My Patronus is a stag."_

_"Oh yeah. I thought it looked different. No antlers."_

James, Harry, Lily and Ginny laughed.

_Harry put Hagrid's pouch back around his neck, pulled on a final sweater, stooped to pick up Hermione's wand, and faced Ron again._

_"How come you're here?"_

_Apparently Ron had hoped that this point would come up later, if at all._

_"Well, I've - you know - I've come back. If -" He cleared his throat. "You know. You still want me."_

"Of course zey still want you, you prat," Fleur said

_There was a pause, in which the subject of Ron's departure seemed to rise like a wall between them. Yet he was here. He had returned. He had just saved Harry's life._

_Ron looked down at his hands. He seemed momentarily surprised to see the things he was holding._

_"Oh yeah, I got it out," he said, rather unnecessarily, holding up the sword for Harry's inspection. "That's why you jumped in, right?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry. "But I don't understand. How did you get here? How did you find us?"_

"Maybe you're enchantments aren't good enough," Dora said, worried.

_"Long story," said Ron. "I've been looking for you for hours, it's a big forest, isn't it? _

"Yes," Harry and Hermione said. "That was the point."

_And I was just thinking I'd have to go kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that deer coming and you following."_

_"You didn't see anyone else?"_

_"No," said Ron. "I -"_

_But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together some yards away._

_"I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you'd gone in and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to - hey!"_

_Harry was already hurrying to the place that Ron had indicated. The two oaks grew close together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen. The ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and Harry could see no sign of footprints._

_He walked back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux._

_"Anything there?" Ron asked._

_"No," said Harry._

_"So how did the sword get in that pool?"_

_"Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there."_

_They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from Hermione's wand._

_"You reckon this is the real one?" asked Ron._

"The Horcrux wouldn't have reacted like that if it wasn't," Luna said.

_"One way to find out, isn't there?" said Harry._

_The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron's hand. The locket was twitching slightly. Harry knew that the thing inside it was agitated again. It had sensed the presence of the sword and had tried to kill Harry rather than let him possess it. Now was not the time for long discussions; now was the moment to destroy once and for all. Harry looked around, holding Hermione's wand high, and saw the place: a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree._

_"Come here." he said and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock's surface, and held out his hand for the Horcrux._

"Yes, get rid of it," the twins cheered.

_When Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head._

_"No you should do it."_

_"Me?" said Ron, looking shocked. "Why?"_

"It had to be you," Harry said.

_"Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you."_

_"I'm going to open it," said Harry, "and you will stab it. Straightaway okay? Because whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the Diary tried to kill me."_

Ginny shuddered slightly.

_"How are you going to open it?" asked Ron. He looked terrified_

_"I'm going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue," said Harry._

"Of course," most muttered.

_"No!" said Ron. "Don't open it! I'm serious!"_

_"Why not?" asked Harry. "Let's get rid of the damn thing, it's been months -"_

_"I can't, Harry, I'm serious - you do it -"_

_"But why?"_

_"Because that thing's bad for me!" said Ron, backing away from the locket on the rock. "I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affects you and Hermione, it made me think stuff - stuff that I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse. I can't explain it, and then I'd take it off and I'd get my head straight again, and then I'd have to put the effing thing back on - I can't do it Harry!"_

"You have too," Neville said.

_He had backed away, the sword dragging at his side, shaking his head._

_"You can do it," said Harry, "you can! You've just got the sword, I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please just get rid of it Ron."_

_Ron swallowed, then still breathing hard through his long nose, moved back toward the rock._

_"Tell me when," he croaked._

"Come on, son," Arthur said.

Molly smiled at Ron proud of him.

_"One . . . two . . . three . . .open."_

_The last word came as a hiss and a snarl and the golden doors of the locket swung wide open with a little click._

_Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle's eyes had been before he turned them scarlet and slit-pupiled_

_"Stab," said Harry, holding the locket steady on the rock._

_Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands: The point dangled over the frantically swiveling eyes, and Harry gripped the locket tightly, bracing himself._

_Then a voice hissed from out the Horcrux._

_"I have seen your heart, and it is mine."_

"Oh my Merlin," Hermione said. "You said it screamed! Not talked!"

Harry and Ron shared a look.

_"Don't listen to it!" Harry said harshly. "Stab it!"_

_"I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible..."_

_"Stab!" shouted Harry, his voice echoed off the surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle's eyes._

_"Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter . . ._

"Not true," Molly said, tears welling up in her eyes.

_Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend . . . _

"I do not prefer either of you!" Hermione said, looking upset but also glaring at the boys.

_Second best, always, eternally overshadowed . . ."_

_"Ron, stab it now!" Harry bellowed: He could feel the locket quivering in the grip and was scared of what was coming. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle's eyes gleamed scarlet._

_Out of the locket's two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted._

"What in the world is that about?" Ginny said.

_Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot._

_"Ron!" he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized, into its face._

_"Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence... We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption-"_

_"Presumption!" echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified, yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side. "Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?"_

"Ron, don't listen to it," Bill yelled.

_"Ron, stab it, STAB IT!" Harry yelled, but Ron did not move. His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes shining red, their voices lifted in an evil duet._

_"Your mother confessed," sneered Riddle-Harry, while Riddle-Hermione jeered, "that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange..."_

Molly sobbed.

_"Who wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him," crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met._

"Ew!" Harry and Hermione yelled, Hermione moving to the other side of Ron and Harry the other side of Ginny so there was two people in between.

Everyone chuckled.

_On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguish. He raised the sword high, his arms shaking._

_"Do it, Ron!" Harry yelled._

_Ron looked toward him and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes._

"It's trying to possess you!" Lily shrieked.

_"Ron -?"_

_The sword flashed, plunged: Harry threw himself out of the way, there as a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out scream. Harry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself, but there was nothing to fight._

_The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione were gone: _

"Thank Merlin," they said.

_There was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket on the flat rock._

"Yes!" the twins yelled. "It's gone!"

_Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or do. Ron was breathing heavily: His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue: they were also wet._

"Oh Ron," Hermione, Ginny and Molly sighed.

_Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken Horcrux. Ron had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final act. The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He had sunk to his knees, his head in his arms. He was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from cold. Harry crammed the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. He took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off._

_"After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a week._

"You didn't need to tell him that!" Hermione yelled, moving away from Ron to hit Harry.

He dodged by jumping round Ginny, who rolled her eyes, before Hermione resumed her position in between Harry and Ron, sending the former a look.

_Probably longer, only she didn't want me to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone..."_

_He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them._

_"She's like my sister," he went on. "I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about me._

"Definitely," Hermione beamed at him.

_It's always been like that. I thought you knew."_

"I did," Ron said. "I just had doubts."

_Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. He hoisted it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed._

_"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a - a -"_

"Prat," Sirius said.

_He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him._

_"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said Harry. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."_

_"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled._

_"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was" said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."_

"It was cool," Teddy said, although it was obvious he was lying. "It was just more disturbing."

_Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron's jacket._

_"And now," said Harry as they broke apart, "all we've got to do is find that tent again."_

Everyone chuckled.

_But it was not difficult. Though the walk through the dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy, with Ron by his side, the journey back seemed to take a surprisingly short time. Harry could not wait to wake Hermione, and it was with quickening excitement that he entered the tent, Ron lagging a little behind him._

_It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, the only illumination the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the floor. Hermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets, and did not move until Harry had said her name several times._

_"Hermione!"_

_She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out of her face._

_"What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?"_

_"It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine, I'm great. There's someone here."_

"Just give me a heart attack," Hermione grumbled.

_"What do you mean? Who -?"_

_She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and dripping onto the threadbare carpet. Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas._

_Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak hopeful smile and half raised his arms._

_Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach._

_"Ouch - ow - gerroff! What the -? Hermione - OW!"_

_"You - complete - arse - Ronald – Weasley!"_

_She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced._

"Good," Ginny said. "He deserves it."

_"You - crawl - back - here - after - weeks - and - weeks - oh, where's my wand?"_

"You're bloody lucky, Ron," Sirius laughed.

"I know," Ron nodded.

_She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry's hands and he reacted instinctively._

_"Protego!"_

_The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione. The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leapt up again._

"Angry tiger," the twins laughed.

"I thought it was kitten," Petunia said.

"It is but she's dangerous," they grinned.

_"Hermione!" said Harry. "Calm -"_

_"I will not calm down!" she screamed. Never before had he seen her lose control like this; she looked quite demented. "Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!"_

"And let you curse him?" Harry asked. "No way."

_"Hermione, will you please -"_

_"Don't you tell me what do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!"_

_She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was like a malediction, and Harry could not blame Ron for retreating several steps._

_"I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back"_

_"I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really -"_

_"Oh, you're sorry!"_

_She laughed a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaced his helplessness._

_"You came back after weeks - weeks - and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"_

"Well, no," Ron muttered.

_"Well, what else can I say?" Ron shouted._

"Good fight back, Ron," Bill nodded.

_"Oh, I don't know!" yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm. "Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds -"_

"Low, Hermione," Neville grimaced.

_"Hermione," interjected Harry, who considered this a low blow, "he just saved my -"_

_"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew -"_

_"I knew you weren't dead!" bellowed Ron, drowning her voice for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. "Harry's all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumours and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like -"_

"Bad thing to say," Teddy groaned.

_"What it's been like for you?"_

_Her voice was so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity._

The men all nodded while the women glared at them.

_"I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!"_

"What are snatchers?" James asked.

"I'm sure Harry'll ask," Remus chuckled.

_"A gang of what?" asked Harry, as Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel them for several years._

_"Snatchers," said Ron. "They're everywhere - gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors, there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured. I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry."_

_"What did you say to them?"_

_"Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of."_

_"And they believed that?"_

_"They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell of him..."_

A few lips twitched.

_Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften at this small instance of humour, but her expression remained stony above her tightly knotted limbs._

_"Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me, and they'd taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated._

"Good job," Dora said.

_I didn't do it so well. Splinched myself again" - Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails:_

"At least it's not as bad," Molly sighed.

_Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly - "and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been ... you were gone."_

_"Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione said in the lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound._

_"You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there, Harry? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed both of us, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."_

"So not the way to tell me," Ron complained.

_"What?" Ron said, gaping from her to Harry, but Hermione ignored him._

_"Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?"_

_"Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Ron just saved my life."_

_She appeared not to have heard him._

_"One thing I would like to know, though," she said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head. "How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."_

"Cold," Remus said. "But a good question."

_Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket._

_"This."_

"The Deluminator?" Ginny said. "I thought you said you never figured out why Dumbledore gave that to you."

"Yeah, well," Ron said. "As you've probably guessed there's a whole lot we didn't tell you."

_She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing them._

_"The Deluminator?" she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce._

Several of the men chuckled and snickered.

_"It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard ... I heard you."_

_He was looking at Hermione._

_"You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously._

_"No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."_

"That's odd," Dora frowned.

_"And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between scepticism and curiosity._

_"My name. 'Ron.' And you said ... something about a wand..."_

"When Harry's wand broke," Arthur breathed.

_Hermione turned a fiery shade of scarlet. _

_"So I took it out," Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window."_

_Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry nor Hermione could see._

_"It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?"_

_"Yeah," said Harry and Hermione together automatically._

_"I knew this was it," said Ron. "I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden._

"Didn't tell us zough," Fleur muttered, annoyed.

"Ever heard of leaving a note, little bro," Bill grumbled.

_"The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it ... well, it went inside me."_

_"Sorry?" said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly._

_"It sort of floated toward me," said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, "right to my chest, and then - it just went straight through. It was here," he touched a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere..."_

_"We were there," said Harry. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"_

_"Yeah, well, that would've been me," said Ron. "Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you._

"Good," Luna said.

_I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent."_

_"No, actually," said Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."_

_"Well, I stayed on that hill all day," said Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end - and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously."_

_"You saw the what?" said Hermione sharply._

"Oops," Ron muttered.

_They explained what had happened and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, Hermione frowned form one to the other of them, concentrating so hard she forgot to keep her limbs locked together._

_"But it must have been a Patronus!" she said. "Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what happened?"_

_Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into the pool, and had waited for him to resurface; how he had realized that something was wrong, dived in, and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and Harry cut in._

_"- and Ron stabbed it with the sword."_

_"And ... and it went? Just like that?" she whispered._

_"Well, it - it screamed," said Harry with half a glance at Ron._

Hermione glared at the two of them.

"Sorry, Hermione," they said.

_"Here."_

_He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it up and examined its punctured windows._

_Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry removed the Shield Charm with a wave of Hermione's wand and turned to Ron._

_"Did you just say now that you got away from the snatchers with a spare wand?"_

_"What?" said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. "Oh - oh yeah."_

"Good," Molly said.

"Now you can have your own wand," Dora smiled.

_He tugged open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled a short dark wand out of his pocket. "Here, I figured it's always handy to have a backup."_

_"You were right," said Harry, holding out his hand. "Mine's broken."_

_"You're kidding?" Ron said, but at that moment Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive again._

_Hermione put the vanquished Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and settled down without another word._

_Ron passed Harry the new wand._

_"About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry._

_"Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?"_

_"I still haven't ruled it out," came Hermione's muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pyjamas out of his rucksack._

"Ron's back," everyone beamed as they excited the pensieve.

"Thought I'd end it on a good memory," Harry said. "Tomorrows bad."

Everyone groaned and Lily said, "thanks Harry, just what I wanted to know."

"Let's have dinner," Ginny said, smiling at her husband's sheepish look.

Everyone nodded their agreement and they all headed to the dining room. It was a rather quiet meal and people drifted of to bed straight after, still thinking about the day and, for those that were alive, what the next day would show.


	26. Chapter 25 - The End of Tom Riddle

"Morning," Lily said as she sat down with Harry, Ginny, and James.

"Sleep well?" Ginny smiled.

"Not really," she replied.

"What's for breakfast?" James asked causing Lily to roll her eyes.

"Whatever Kreacher cooks," Harry chuckled setting down the Daily Prophet.

"So you said yesterday that your Patronus changed," Lily said to Ginny. "I've never met anyone that that happened to before."

Ginny nodded, "Dora's did too, that was because Remus was being an idiot."

"Thinking he's too dangerous," James nodded.

"Yeah," Ginny said, "but I think mine just changed because I missed Harry so much and was scared he was going to die."

Lily frowned, "I thought it changed when you go through an emotional upheaval."

"Well that kind of is," Harry said, smiling slightly.

"It's anything that causes trauma, pain, fear, loneliness or stress," Ginny said. "And thanks to that prat I felt quite a few of them while he was gone. It was quite a shock."

"What when you realised your Patronus had changed," Lily giggled. "Imagine how I felt when I found out I had the counter part of this idiot, who, at the time, I hated."

"That's harsh, Lils," James complained.

Lily just smiled sweetly while Harry and Ginny laughed at his face.

"Morning, Ted," Harry said as Teddy stumbled in a few minutes later, knocking over a plant while he was at it

"Sorry," he said, sitting down

"Don't worry, Ted," Harry chuckled, returning the plant to its orginal place with a flick of his wand. "Me and Ginny have gotten used to you're clumsiness."

"What you knock over?" Dora asked cheerfully walking into the dining room.

"Plant," Teddy muttered sleepily.

"Sorry," she smiled. "You got my clumsiness."

10 minutes later they had all eaten and they were all sitting round the table when an owl flew in.

"Harry, it's from the Ministry," Ginny said, chucking the letter across the table.

_Head Auror Potter,_

_We've just bought a man in (one of the retunee) and he's putting up a bit of a fight. Doesn't trust anyone, won't take the potion. I've left him in your office with the Deputy Head, but could I just ask you to pop in the ministry and check him and then you can go home?_

_Thanks, sir._

_Auror Dumornay_

"Sorry," Harry said, looking up from the letter, and grabbing his coat from the hall. "I've got to go to the ministry for a while. Shouldn't be too long, just amuse yourselves."

He kissed Ginny, gave everyone else a wave and quickly walked to the fire place.

"Head Auror Office, Ministry of Magic," he yelled after he'd thrown the Floo Powder and stepped into the flames.

As he looked around his office, he saw Auror Bovent heading his way with his wand pointing at someone sitting in a chair … someone Harry knew very well even after nearly 18 years.

Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

He was glaring at the fireplace, obviously hearing the tell-tale signs of someone Flooing into the fireplace, but even his face looked shocked as Harry stepped out of the flames.

"This is the Head Auror," Bovent said. "Harry –"

"-James Potter," Moody grunted. "Yes, yes, I know."

Bovent raised his eyebrows at the famous Auror and then looked at his boss but then back to Moody as his hand twitched toward his wand.

"Don't worry, he doesn't have his wand. Get me some Veritaserum, will you, Bovent?" Harry chuckled. "I can see why you're having some trouble."

"Yes, Boss," Bovent nodded and left straight away.

"Potter," Moody grunted. "Care to explain."

Harry moved around the desk to take his seat across from Moody, how strange it was to be the one in charge.

"Yes, but first, I'm guessing you won't trust me until I've told you something, am I right?" Moody grunted his agreement. "So, ask me something?"

Harry was smirking slightly inside; this was also a test to see if it was the real Moody.

"What did I tell you when you didn't like the plan to get you out of Privet Drive on the 27th of July 1997?"

"Everyone here's over-age, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk," Harry recited, glad he'd watched that memory yesterday.

"Glad to see you alive," Mad-Eye nodded. "Now explain."

"You're returned from the dead –" Harry began but Moody had already interrupted him.

"No spell can reawaken the dead," He growled, his electric blue eye whizzing in its socket.

That struck Harry as odd, seeing as he had taken that eye from Umbridge's office door in 1997 and buried it in the forest.

"Where did you get that?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"What?" Moody grumbled.

"Your eye," Harry said. "I buried it."

"One of the Auror's gave it too me," Moody said, annoyed. "Now get one with it."

"Just checking," Harry replied. "I do realize that no spell can bring back the dead but it is happening and as I've told everyone who had passed through this place, we don't know why it just is and we're taking it as a gift."

"Death Eaters can't come back then," Moody grunted.

"Exactly," Harry nodded and Bovent opened the door. "Bovent, who gave Mr Moody the eye?"

"I believe it was Andreasen, sir," he said, placing the serum on Harry's desk

"Blond hair, brown eyes, looks like he hasn't shaved in a while?" Moody told him.

"Andreasen," Bovent nodded.

'Thank you," Harry smiled. "I'm sure there are people waiting and I want to get back to my family."

"Yes, sir," Bovent said, tilting his head in Harry's direction before exciting the office.

"If you would drink the potion," Harry said, placing the glass he had filled while talking to Bovent in front of Moody,

Moody gave him a suspicious look but the remembering Harry had answered a question drank the potion.

"You are Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Moody said.

"Member of the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry questioned and after Moody nodded. "Ex-auror?"

"Yes," said Moody.

"When were we first introduced and by who?" Harry said.

"We were introduced by Remus Lupin when the Advanced Guard came to remove you from your aunt and uncles and take you to Grimmauld place," Moody replied.

"Who else was there?" Harry asked.

"Nymphadora Tonks,' Moody said. 'Remus Lupin, of course, Kingsleys Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones…"

"That's enough," Harry said pushing the antidote across the table before grinning at the man sitting across from him. "Welcome back to the living world, Mad-Eye."

'Yeah, yeah,' he grunted.

"Well," Harry said, he'd forgotten how annoying Mad-Eye was to have a conversation with. "You're in 2015, April 16th; you've been dead 18 years and have returned at the age of 59."

"What now?" Moody said.

"That's up to you," Harry said. "But for today I want you to come with me."

"Why?" Moody asked.

"Well," Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair. "There's the fact that I thought you'd want to see the war you'd fought so hard for and because there's some people you might want to see."

"Alright," Moody grunted, standing up

"Good," Harry grinned and then, standing up, gestured to the fireplace he'd so recently stepped out of. "Potter manor."

Harry flooed straight after Mad-Eye and led him through the house to find everyone still sitting around the dining table.

"Mad-Eye!" Dora shrieked as soon as they walked through the door.

Harry quickly moved as Dora launched herself at him and didn't speak as he made his way to his seat and sat down, only once he had he stated the obvious, "Mad-Eye's back."

"Yes, love," Ginny smiled, watching Tonks hug Mad-Eye and him being his usual self. "We saw."

"Hello Nymphadora," he said.

"Hi, Maddie," Dora said, as she went to sit back in her seat.

"Don't call me Maddie," Mad-Eye grumbled.

"Don't call me Nymphadora," Dora shot back causing Teddy to laugh.

Moody just looked at her, shaking his head, then he turned to everyone else, "hello."

"Good morning, Mad-Eye," Ginny smiled. "Teddy, this is Alastor, or as well call him Mad-Eye, Moody – you probably recognise him from the memories."

Teddy nodded, "Nice to meet you."

"Mad-Eye, this is Teddy Remus Lupin," she said, beaming. "Why don't you take a seat?"

Mad-Eye grunted his hello and then proceeded to lip to the seat next to Lily.

"Nice to see you two again," Mad-Eye said to Lily and James.

"I can't believe you died," Lily said.

"Stinking Mundungus," Moody said. "Ah well, everyone's got to die just got to try and prevent it by having CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Everyone jumped having not heard it for a while, or in Teddy's case, never.

"Are you mad, Mad-Eye?" Dora asked. "You're going to give us a heart attack and Harry over there is already trying to do that."

"Why?" Moody said, looking up the table at her.

After five minutes where everyone explain what they were doing and where they were, they all gathered in the family room to start, at last.

_"... and how did you find out about the Taboo?" _

They all heard Ron asked as they entered the pensieve.

"What?" Dudley asked.

"Voldemort's tabooed his name?" Moody guessed

_"The what?"_

_"You and Hermione have stopped saying You-Know-Who's name!"_

_"Oh, yeah, Well, it's just a bad habit we've slipped into," said Harry. "But I haven't got a problem calling him V -"_

'No!' everyone yelled, if Mad-Eye's guess was correct, and his guesses usually were …

_"NO!" roared Ron,_

"What is a taboo?" Petunia asked. "What does it do?"

"Ron explains," Harry said.

_causing Harry to jump into the hedge and Hermione (nose buried in a book at the tent entrance) to scowl over at them. "Sorry," said Ron, wrenching Harry back out of the brambles, "but the name's been jinxed, Harry, that's how they track people! Using his name breaks protective enchantments, it causes some kind of magical disturbance - it's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road!"_

"Sugar," Lily said.

"That's effective," James groaned.

"But at least it clears that problem up," Dora sighed.

_"Because we used his name*?"_

_"Exactly! You've got to give them credit, it makes sense. It was only people who were serious about standing up to him, like Dumbledore, who even dared use it. Now they've put a Taboo on it, anyone who says it is trackable - quick-and-easy way to find Order members! _

"We would have been caught," Sirius nodded.

"So know you can't say the name," the twins groaned.

"That's fine for Ron and Hermione," James said, "but Harry's never had a problem with saying the name…"

"So it'll be easier for him to slip," Lily finished his thought.

Harry flinched slightly, causing Hermione to whisper, "I don't blame you," in his ear.

_"I want to go and see Xenophilius Lovegood."_

18 year old Hermione said as the memory started up again.

"Why?" Moody grunted.

_He stared at her._

_"Sorry?"_

"That would be confusing," Bill nodded.

_"Xenophilius Lovegood, Luna's father. I want to go and talk to him!"_

"Why?" James asked.

"Because of what he wore at the wedding?" Lily suggested.

_"er – why?"_

_She took a deep breath, as though bracing herself, and said, "It's that mark, the mark in Beedle the Bard. Look at this!"_

_She thrust The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore under Harry's unwilling eyes and saw a photograph of the original letter that Dumbledore had written Grindelwald, with Dumbledore's familiar thin, slanting handwriting. _

_"The signature," said Hermione. "Look at the signature, Harry!"_

_He obeyed. For a moment he had no idea what she was talking about, but, looking more closely with the aid of his lit wand, he saw that Dumbledore had replaced the A of Albus with a tiny version of the same triangular mark inscribed upon The Tales of Beedle the Bard._

"How odd," Dora said.

_"It keeps cropping up, doesn't it?" she said. "I know Viktor said it was Grindelwald's mark, but it was definitely on that old grave in Godric's Hollow, and the dates on the headstone were long before Grindelwald came along! And now this! Well, we can't ask Dumbledore or Grindelwald what it means – I don't even know whether Grindelwald's still alive – but we can ask Mr. Lovegood. He was wearing the symbol at the wedding. I'm sure this is important, Harry!"_

"Best to cover all basis," Moody said.

_Harry did not answer immediately. He looked into her intense, eager face and then out into the surrounding darkness, thinking. After a long pause he said, "Hermione, we don't need another Godric's Hollow. We talked ourselves into going there, and –"_

_"But it keeps appearing, Harry! Dumbledore left me The Tales of Beedle the Bard, how do you know we're not supposed to find out about the sign?"_

_"Here we go again!" Harry felt slightly exasperated. "We keep trying to convince ourselves Dumbledore left us secret signs and clues –"_

"But he did," Hermione said.

_"The Deluminator turned out to be pretty useful," piped up Ron. "I think Hermione's right, I think we ought to go and see Lovegood."_

"You only agreed to get on my good side again," Hermione teased.

_Harry threw him a dark look._

_"It won't be like Godric's Hollow," Ron added, "Lovegood's on your side, Harry, _

The trio shared a look – not anymore.

_The Quibbler's been for you all along, it keeps telling everyone they've got to help you!"_

_"I'm sure this is important!" said Hermione earnestly._

_"But don't you think if it was, Dumbledore would have told me about it before he died?"_

_"Maybe . . . maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself," said Hermione with a faint air of clutching at straws._

_"Yeah," said Ron sycophantically, "that makes sense."_

_"No, it doesn't," snapped Hermione,_

"You just disagreed with yourself, Hermione," the twins laughed.

"Shut up," Hermione said. "I just couldn't agree with the prat."

Ron flinched.

_"but I still think we ought to talk to Mr. Lovegood. A symbol that links Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Godric's Hollow? Harry, I'm sure we ought to know about this!"_

_"I think we should vote on it," said Ron. "Those in favour of going to see Lovegood –"_

_His hand flew into the air before Hermione's. Her lips quivered suspiciously as she raised her own._

"I wanted to laugh," Hermione smiled.

"It is ridiculous," Lily nodded.

_"Outvoted, Harry, sorry," said Ron, clapping him on the back._

_"Fine," said Harry, half amused, half irritated. "Only, once we've seen Lovegood, let's try and look for some more Horcruxes, shall we?_

"That's a good idea," Neville chuckled.

_Where do the Lovegood's live, anyway? Do either of you know?"_

"By ours," Molly smiled

_"Yeah, they're not far from my place," said Ron. "I dunno exactly where, but Mum and Dad always point toward the hills whenever they mention them. Shouldn't be hard to find."_

_When Hermione had returned to her bunk, Harry lowered his voice._

_"You only agreed to try and get back in her good books."_

_"All's fair in love and war," said Ron brightly, "and this is a bit of both." _

The men in the room chuckled while the women rolled their eyes.

_Cheer up, it's the Christmas holidays, Luna'll be home!"_

Luna shook her head as the trio exchanged another look.

_They had an excellent view of the village of Ottery St. Catchopole from the breezy hillside to which they Disapparated next morning. From their high vantage point the village looked like a collection of toy houses in the great slanting shafts of sunlight stretching to earth in the breaks between clouds. They stood for a minute or two looking toward the Burrow, their hands shadowing their eyes, but all they could make out were the high hedges and trees of the orchard, which afforded the crooked little house protection from Muggle eyes._

"You were so close," Molly sighed, looking upset.

_"It's weird, being this near, but not going to visit," said Ron._

"Extremely," Harry and Hermione said.

_"Well, it's not like you haven't just seen them. You were there for Christmas," said Hermione coldly._

_"I wasn't at the Burrow!" said Ron with an incredulous laugh. "Do you think I was going to go back there and tell them all I'd walked out on you? Yeah, Fred and George would've been great about it. And Ginny, she'd have been really understanding."_

"I would have cursed you," Ginny nodded.

"Glad we're on the same page," Ron smirked.

_"But where have you been, then?" asked Hermione, surprised._

_"Bill and Fleur's new place. Shell cottage. Bill's always been decent to me. He – he wasn't impressed when he heard what I'd done,_

"Of course I wasn't," Bill huffed.

_but he didn't go on about it. _

"Zat's because you looked so dejected," Fleur smiled.

_He knew I was really sorry. None of the rest of the family know I was there. Bill told Mum he and Fleur weren't going home for Christmas because they wanted to spend it alone. You know, first holiday after they were married. I don't think Fleur minded. You know how much she hates Celestina Warbeck."_

Fleur grimaced at Molly who smiled a little.

_Ron turned his back on the Burrow._

_"Let's try up here," he said, leading the way over the top of the hill._

"Skipping," Harry said. "We walked for hours."

_The cluster of low hills appeared to be uninhabited apart from one small cottage, which seemed deserted._

_"Do you think it's theirs, and they've gone away for Christmas?" said Hermione, peering through the window at a neat little kitchen with geraniums on the windowsill. Ron snorted._

_"Listen, I've got a feeling you'd be able to tell who lived there if you looked through the Lovegoods' window._

"That's true," Luna said. "The house is very unique."

"No kidding," Neville smiled, thinking of their own.

_Let's try the next lot of hills."_

_So they Disapparated a few miles farther north._

_"Aha!" shouted Ron, as the wind whipped their hair and clothes. Ron was pointing upward, toward the top of the hill on which they had appeared, where a most strange-looking house rose vertically against the sky, a great black cylinder with a ghostly moon hanging behind it in the afternoon sky._

"That's it," Arthur said.

_"That's got to be Luna's house, who else would live in a place like that? It looks like a giant rook!"_

"It look's nothing like a bird," Lily frowned causing Ron to roll his eyes.

_"It's nothing like a bird," said Hermione, frowning at the tower._

_"I was talking about a chess rook," said Ron. "A castle to you."_

"Oh," Lily said, blushing slightly as the twins and marauders sniggered.

_Ron's legs were the longest and he reached the top of the hill first. When Harry and Hermione caught up with him, panting and clutching stitches in their sides, they found him grinning broadly._

_"It's theirs," said Ron. "Look."_

_Three hand-painted signs had been tacked to a broke-down gate. The first read,_

_THE QUIBBLER. EDITOR, X. LOVEGOOD_

_the second,_

_PICK YOUR OWN MISTLETOE_

_the third,_

_KEEP OFF THE DIRIGIBLE PLUMS_

Everyone was laughing fondly.

_The gate creaked as they opened it. The zigzagging path leading to the front door was overgrown with a variety of odd plants, including a bush covered in orange radishlike fruit Luna sometimes wore as earrings. Harry thought he recognized a Snargaluff and gave the wizened stump a wide berth. Two aged crab apple trees, bent with the wind, stripped of leaves but still heavy with berry-sized red fruits and bushy crowns of white beaded mistletoe, stood sentinel on either side of the front door. A little owl with a slightly flattened hawklike head peered down at them from one of the branches._

_"You'd better take off the Invisibility Cloak, Harry," said Hermione. "It's you Mr. Lovegood wants to help, not us."_

_He did as she suggested, handing her the Cloak to stow in the beaded bag. She then rapped three times on the thick black door, which was studded with iron nails and bore a knocker shaped like an eagle._

_Barely ten seconds passed, then the door was flung open and there stood Xenophilius Lovegood, barefoot and wearing what appeared to be a stained nightshirt. His long white candyfloss hair was dirty and unkempt._

Luna sighed knowing why he looked so bad and what he was about to do – Ron had told her.

_Xenophilius had been positively dapper at Bill and Fleur's wedding by comparison._

_"What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" he cried in a high-pitched, querulous voice, looking first at Hermione, then at Ron, and finally at Harry, upon which his mouth fell open in a perfect, comical O._

James and Sirius smirked.

_"Hello, Mr. Lovegood," said Harry, holding out his hand, "I'm Harry, Harry Potter."_

_Xenophilius did not take Harry's hand, although the eye that was not pointing inward at his nose slid straight to the scar on Harry's forehead._

"Must people do that," Harry grumbled.

"Yes," everyone said.

_"Would it be okay if we came in?" asked Harry. "There's something we'd like to ask you."_

_"I . . . I'm not sure that's advisable," whispered Xenophilius, He swallowed and cast a quick look around the garden. "Rather a shock . . . My word . . . I . . . I'm afraid I don't really think I ought to -"_

"He must be worried," Lily said.

_"It wont take long" said Harry._

_"I - oh, all right then. Come in, quickly, Quickly!"_

_They were barely over the threshold when Xenophilius slammed the door shut behind them, They were standing in the most peculiar kitchen Harry had ever seen. The room was perfectly circular, so that he felt like being inside a giant pepper pot. Everything was curved to fit the walls - the stove, the sink, and the cupboards - and all of it had been painted with flowers, insects, and birds in bright primary colours. The effect in such and enclosed space, was slightly overwhelming._

"Very colourful," Petunia smiled slightly.

"Thank you," Luna said. "I painted it."

_In the middle of the floor, a wrought-iron spiral staircase to the upper levels. There was a great deal of clattering and banging coming from overhead._

"What are you doing up there?" Dudley asked but got no answer.

_"You'd better come up." said Xenophilius, still looking extremely uncomfortable, and he led the way._

_The room above seemed to be a combination of living room and workplace, and as such, was even more cluttered than the kitchen. Though much smaller and entirely round, the room somewhat resembled the Room of Requirement on the unforgettable occasion that it had transformed itself into a gigantic labyrinth comprised of centuries of hidden objects. There were piles upon piles of books and papers on every surface. Delicately made models of creatures Harry did not recognize, all flapping wings or snapping jaws, hung from the ceiling._

"Nice," the nice said, this room looked interesting

_Luna was not there: The thing that was making such a racket was a wooden object covered in magically turning cogs and wheels, It looked like the bizarre offspring of a workbench and a set of shelves, but after a moment Harry deduced that it was an old-fashioned printing press, due to the fact that it was churning out Quibblers._

_"Excuse me," said Xenophilius, and he strode over to the machine, seized grubbily tablecloth from beneath an immense number of books and papers, which all tumbled onto the floor, and threw it over the press, somewhat muffling the loud bangs and clatters. He then faced Harry._

Mad-Eye narrowed his eyes, what was he hiding?

_"Why have you come here?"_

_Before Harry could speak, however, Hermione let out a small cry of shock._

_"Mr. Lovegood - what's that?"_

_She was pointing at an enormous, gray spiral horn, not unlike that of a unicorn, which had been mounted on the wall, protruding several feet into the room._

"Horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," Luna said.

"No, it's not," Lily frowned.

_"It is the horn of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack," said Xenophilius._

_"No it isn't!" said Hermione._

"Oh," Lily smiled slightly.

_"Hermione," muttered Harry, embarrassed, "now's not the moment -"_

"It never is," Neville said.

_"But Harry, it's an Erumpent horn!_

"Keep away from that!" James said.

"Why?" Petunia asked.

"They blow up extremely easily," the trio said, trying not to give too much away by grimacing.

_It's a Class B Tradeable Material and it's an extraordinary dangerous thing to have in a house!"_

_"How'd you know it's an Erumpent horn?" asked Ron, edging away from the horn as fast as he could, given the extreme clutter of the room._

"Good idea, Ron," Sirius said.

_"There's a description in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them! Mr. Lovegood, you need to get rid of it straightaway, don't you know it can explode at the slightest touch?"_

"He learnt that the hard way," Hermione muttered bitterly to Ron and Harry.

_"The Crumple Horned Snorkack" said Xenophilius very clearly, a mulish look upon his face, "is a shy and highly magical creature, and it's horn -"_

_"Mr. Lovegood. I recognize the grooved markings around the base, that's an Erumpent horn and it's incredibly dangerous - I don't know where you got it-"_

"Oh, he better believe her or his house'll be blown apart," Remus groaned.

_"I bought it," said Xenophilius dogmatically. "Two weeks ago, from a delightful young wizard who knew my interest in the exquisite Snorkack. A Christmas surprise for my Luna. Now," he said, turning to Harry, "why exactly have you come here, Mr. Potter?"_

_"We need some help," said Harry, before Hermione could start again._

_"Ah," said Xenophilius, "Help, Hmm."_

_His good eye moved again to Harry's scar. He seemed simultaneously terrified and mesmerized._

_"Yes. The thing is ... helping Harry Potter ... rather dangerous..."_

"Isn't that what he's been telling everyone to do?" Dudley said.

_"Aren't you the one who keeps telling everyone it's their first duty to help Harry?" said Ron. "In that magazine of yours?"_

_Xenophilius glanced behind him at the concealed printing press, still banging and clattering beneath the tablecloth._

Moody frowned.

_"Er - yes, I have expressed that view. However -"_

_"That's for everyone else to do, not you personally?" said Ron._

_Xenophilius did not answer. He kept swallowing, his eyes darting between the three of them. _

"What going on with him?" Teddy asked.

_"Where's Luna?" asked Hermione. "Let's see what she thinks."_

"Good idea," Sirius nodded.

_Xenophilius gulped. He seemed to be steeling himself. Finally he said in a shaky voice difficult to hear over the noise of the printing press, "Luna is down at the stream, fishing for Freshwater Plimpies. She...she will like to see you. I'll go and call her and then - yes, very well. I shall try to help you."_

_He disappeared down the spiral staircase and they heard the front open and close. They looked at each other._

_"Cowardly old wart," said Ron. "Luna's got ten times his guts."_

"Thank you for the compliment, Ron," Luna said. "But don't insult my father."

_"He's probably worried about what'll happen to them if the Death Eaters find out I was here" said Harry._

"Good point," Lily sighed.

_"Well, I agree with Ron," said Hermione, "Awful old hypocrite, telling everyone else to help you and trying to worm out of it himself. And for heaven's sake keep away from that horn."_

"Please do, Harry," Arthur said.

_Harry crossed to the window on the far side of the room. He could see a stream, a thin, glittering ribbon lying far below them at the base of the hill. They were very high up; a bird fluttered past the window as he stared in the direction of the Burrow, now invisible beyond another line of hills. _

_He turned away from the windows and his gaze fell upon another peculiar object standing upon the cluttered, curved slide board; a stone but of a beautiful but austere-looking witch wearing a most bizarre-looking headdress._

_Two objects that resembled golden ear trumpets curved out from the sides. A tiny pair of glittering blue wing was stuck to a leather strap that ran over the top of her head, while one of the orange radishes had been stuck to a second strap around her forehead._

"Okay," Dora said slowly then turned quickly to Luna. "What is that?"

"Daddy was trying to recreate the lost diadem of Ravenclaw," Luna smiled.

"It's not lost anymore," Harry muttered.

"It destroyed," Ron murmured.

_"Look at this," said Harry._

_"Fetching," said Ron. "Surprised he didn't wear that to the wedding."_

_They heard the front door close, and a moment later Xenophilius climbed back up the spiral staircase into the room, his thin legs now encase in Wellington boots, bearing a tray of ill-assorted teacups and a steaming teapot._

"Where are you?" Petunia asked Luna but she was staring off into space as though she wasn't there or had no interest in the memory.

_"Ah, you have spotted my pet invention," he said, shoving the tray into Hermione's arms and joining Harry at the statue's side. "Modeled, fittingly enough, upon the head of the beautiful Rowena Ravenclaw, 'Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure!'"_

_He indicated the objects like ear trumpets._

_"These are the Wrackpurt siphons - to remove all sources of distraction from the thinker's immediate area. Here, "he pointed out the tiny wings, "a billywig propeller, to induce an elevated frame of mind. Finally, "he pointed to the orange radish, "the dirigible Plum, so as to enhance the ability to accept the extraordinary."_

_Xenophilius strode back to the tea tray, which Hermione had managed to balance precariously on one of the cluttered side tables._

_"May I offer you all an infusion of Gurdyroots?" said Xenophilius._

"I'm sorry?" Dudley said. "An infusion of what?"

"Gurdyroots," Neville said, wrinkling his nose.

"It was foul," Harry said.

_"We make it ourselves." As he started to pour out the drink, which was as deeply purple as beetroot juice, he added, "Luna is down beyond Bottom Bridge, she is most excited that you are here She ought not to be too long, she has caught nearly enough Plumpies to make soup for all of us. Do sit down and help yourselves to sugar."_

_"Now," he remove a tottering pile of papers from an armchair and sat down, his Wellingtoned legs crossed, "how may I help you, Mr. Potter?"_

_"Well," said Harry, glancing at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly, "it's about that symbol you were wearing around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mr. Lovegood. We wondered what it meant."_

_Xenophilius raised his eyebrows._

_"Are you referring to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?"_

"But what are zey?" Fleur asked.

"I'm sure Xeno will explain," Neville smiled, he quite enjoyed spending time with his quirky father in law.

_Harry turned to look at Ron and Hermione. Neither of them seemed to have understood what Xenophilius had said either._

_"The Deathly Hallows?"_

_"That's right," said Xenophilius. "You haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle-headed young man at your brother's wedding," he nodded at Ron,_

"Knuckle-headed," Ron grinned.

_who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows – at least not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope that they might help one with the Quest."_

_He stirred several lumps of sugar into his Gurdyroot infusion and drank some._

_"I'm sorry," said Harry, "I still don't really understand."_

_To be polite, he took a sip from his cup too_

_"Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows," said Xenophilius, smacking his lips in apparent appreciation of the Gurdyroot infusion._

_"But what are the Deathly Hallows?" asked Hermione._

_Xenophilius set aside his empty teacup._

_"I assume that you are familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?"_

All the wizards said yes while the two Muggles said no.

_Harry said, "No," but Ron and Hermione both said, "Yes." Xenophilius nodded gravely._

_"Well, well, Mr. Potter, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' . . . I have a copy somewhere . . ."_

_He glanced vaguely around the room, at the piles of parchment and books, but Hermione said, "I've got a copy, Mr. Lovegood, I've got it right here."_

_And she pulled out The Tales of Beedle the Bard from the small, beaded bag._

_"The original?" inquired Xenophilius sharply, and when she nodded, he said, "Well then, why don't you read it out aloud? Much the best way to make sure we all understand."_

"They're you go," Ginny smiled. "You get to hear it."

_"Er. . . all right," said Hermione nervously. She opened the book, and Harry saw that the symbol they were investigating headed the top of the page as she gave a little cough, and began to read._

_"'There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight –'"_

_"Midnight, our mum always told us," said Ron, who had stretched out, arms behind his head, to listen. Hermione shot him a look of annoyance._

_"Sorry, I just think it's a bit spookier if it's midnight!" said Ron._

"Yes," Fabian said, drawing the word out.

"Because what you need is more fear in your lives," Gideon muttered.

_"Yeah, because we really need a bit more fear in our lives," said Harry before he could stop himself._

"Oh Merlin," Harry sighed, glancing at the twins who were grinning.

_Xenophilius did not seem to be paying much attention, but was staring out of the window at the sky. "Go on, Hermione."_

_"In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure._

_"'And Death spoke to them –'"_

_"Sorry," interjected Harry, "but Death spoke to them?"_

"It's a fairy tale, Harry," Petunia said.

_"It's a fairy tale, Harry!"_

_"Right, sorry. Go on."_

_"'And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of the three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him._

_"'So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother._

"That reminds me of Voldemort," Remus observed

_"'Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead._

"Not exactly," Harry said, thinking of Sirius, Remus, and his parents in the forest.

_"'And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.'"_

_"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again._

"And it's brilliant," James said as Harry grinned in agreement.

_"So he can sneak up on people," said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking . . . _

The twins chuckled.

_sorry, Hermione."_

_"'Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so talking with wonder of the adventure they had had and admiring Death's gifts._

_"'In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination._

_"'The first brother travelled on for a week more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible._

"Idiot," many muttered.

"No one's invincible," Dudley said.

_"'That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat._

"This is a lovely fairytale," Petunia said.

_"'And so Death took the first brother for his own._

_"'Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him._

_"'Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to truly join her._

"That's rather sad," Neville said.

_"'And so Death took the second brother from his own._

_"'But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.'"_

"I'm not sure I like that," Petunia said.

_Hermione closed the book. It was a moment or two before Xenophilius seemed to realize that she had stopped reading; then he withdrew his gaze from the window and said: "Well, there you are."_

_"Sorry?" said Hermione, sounding confused._

"Those are the Deathly Hallows," Luna said. "The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility."

_"Those are the Deathly Hallows," said Xenophilius._

_He picked up a quill from a packed table at his elbow, and pulled a torn piece of parchment from between more books._

_"The Elder Wand," he said, and drew a straight vertical line upon the parchment. "The Resurrection Stone," he said, and added a circle on top of the line. "The Cloak of Invisibility," he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbols that so intrigued Hermione._

"Oh," everyone breathed.

"No," Lily said. "I doubt they exist."

"They do," the trio and Luna said.

"What?" Fleur asked.

"They're real," Hermione said.

_"Together," he said, "the Deathly Hallows."_

_"But there's no mention of the words 'Deathly Hallows' in the story," said Hermione._

_"Well, of course not," said Xenophilius, maddeningly smug. "That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death."_

"What does that mean?" Teddy asked. "To be the Master of Death?"

"Well, although most people think becoming the Master of Death refers to some form of immortality," Luna said. "The true Master of Death truly accepts the fact that death is inevitable, and that there are other things worse than dying."

"That's you alright, Harry," Hermione and Ron muttered to him.

_There was a short silence in which Xenophilius glanced out of the window. Already the sun was low in the sky._

_"Luna ought to have enough Plimpies soon," he said quietly._

"You're taking a long time," Lily said, worried. "Does anyone else feel that something is off?"

"Yeah," some muttered while others shook their heads.

_Xenophilius raised his eyebrows again._

_"Well, of course."_

_"But," said Hermione, and Harry could hear her restraint starting to crack, "Mr. Lovegood, how can you possibly believe – ?"_

_"Luna has told me all about you, young lady," said Xenophilius. "You are, I gather, not unintelligent, but painfully limited. Narrow. Close-minded."_

"It's true," Luna said as Hermione frowned.

"I suppose," Hermione sighed, she could be rather closed minded but the least she could do is admit it.

_"Perhaps you ought to try on the hat, Hermione," said Ron, nodding toward the ludicrous headdress. His voice shook with the strain of not laughing._

The marauders, Teddy and the twins laughed.

_"Mr. Lovegood," Hermione began again, "We all know that there are such things as Invisibility Cloaks. They are rare, but they exist. But –"_

_"Ah, but the Third Hallow is a true Cloak of Invisibility, Miss Granger! I mean to say, it is not a travelling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment Charm, or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from Demiguise hair, which will hide one initially but fade with the years until it turns opaque. We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Miss Granger?"_

"Your cloak," Ginny, Neville and Luna said to Harry who smirked.

"Bloody hell, Prongs," Sirius said. "You never told us that!"

"I don't tell you everything, Padfoot," James chuckled.

_Hermione opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, looking more confused than ever. She, Harry and Ron glanced at one another_

_"Exactly," said Xenophilius, as if he had defeated them all in reasoned argument. "None of you have ever seen such a thing._

The trio chuckled awkwardly.

"You should have told him," Luna said. "He'd like to have known."

The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"

"Why do you say that?" Molly asked.

_He glanced out of the window again. The sky was now tinged with the faintest trace of pink._

_"All right," said Hermione, disconcerted. "Say the Cloak existed… what about that stone, Mr. Lovegood? The thing you call the Resurrection Stone?"_

_"What of it?"_

_"Well, how can that be real?"_

_"Prove that is not," said Xenophilius._

'Good point,' Arthur nodded.

_Hermione looked outraged._

_"But that's – I'm sorry, but that's completely ridiculous! How can I possibly prove it doesn't exist? Do you expect me to get hold of – of all the pebbles in the world and test them? I mean, you could claim that anything's real if the only basis for believing in it is that nobody's proved it doesn't exist!"_

"But if no one's proved it doesn't exist there's a slight chance that it does," Petunia said.

_"Yes, you could," said Xenophilius. "I am glad to see that you are opening your mind a little."_

_"So the Elder Wand," said Harry quickly, before Hermione could retort, "you think that exists too?"_

The trio nodded.

_"Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence," said Xenophilius. "The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand."_

_"Which is what?" asked Harry._

"Murder," Bill said.

_"Which is that the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner, if he is to be truly master of it," said Xenophilius. "Surely you have heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Of how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful Loxias, who took the wand from Baraabas Deverill, whom he had killed? The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of Wizarding history."_

_Harry glanced at Hermione. She was frowning at Xenophilius, but she did not contradict him._

_"So where do you think the Elder Wand is now?" asked Ron._

_"Alas, who knows?" said Xenophilius, as he gazed out of the window._

"Why does he keep looking out the window?" the twins asked.

_"Who knows where the Elder Wand lies hidden? The trail goes cold with Arcus and Livius. Who can say which of them really defeated Loxias, and which took the wand? And who can say who may have defeated them? History, alas, does not tell us."_

_There was a pause. Finally Hermione asked stiffly, "Mr. Lovegood, does the Peverell family have anything to do with the Deathly Hallows?"_

"Yes, they do," Luna said.

_Xenophilius looked taken aback._

_"But you have been misleading me, young woman!" said Xenophilius, now sitting up much straighter in his chair and goggling at Hermione. "I thought you were new to the Hallows Quest! Many of us Questers believe that the Peverells have everything – everything! – to do with the Hallows!"_

_"Who are the Peverells?" asked Ron._

_"That was the name on the grave with the mark on it, in Godric's Hollow," said Hermione, still watching Xenophilius. "Ignotus Peverell."_

_"Exactly!" said Xenophilius, his forefinger raised pedantically. "The sign of the Death Hallows on Ignotus's grave is conclusive proof!"_

_"Of what?" asked Ron._

_"Why, that the three brothers in the story were actually the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the Hallows!"_

_With another glance at the window he got to his feet, picked up the tray, and headed for the spiral staircase._

_"You will stay for dinner?" he called, as he vanished downstairs again. "Everybody always requests our recipe for Freshwater Plimply soup."'_

"I don't think you should," James said.

_"Probably to show the Poisoning Department at St. Mungo's," said Ron under his breath._

"It's actually very nice," Luna said.

"And we'd be grateful for anything by that point," Harry said in a low voice.

_Harry waited until they could hear Xenophilius moving about in the kitchen downstairs before speaking._

_"What do you think?" he asked Hermione._

_"Oh, Harry," she said wearily, "it's a pile of utter rubbish. This can't be what the sign really means. This must just be his weird take on it. _

"It was not!" Luna said, annoyed.

"We know, Luna," Harry smiled.

_What a waste of time."_

"Obviously not," Teddy said. "Since Uncle Harry's showing it us."

_"I s'pose this is the man who brought us Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," said Ron._

_"You didn't believe it either?" Harry asked him._

_"Nah, that story's just one of those things you tell kids to teach them lessons, isn't it? 'Don't go looking for trouble, don't go pick fights, don't go messing around with stuff that's best left alone! Just keep your head down, mind your own business, and you'll be okay. Come to think of it," Ron added, "maybe that story's why elder wands are supposed to be unlucky."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"One of those superstitions, isn't it? 'May-born witches will marry Muggles.' 'Jinx by twilight, undone by midnight.' 'Wand of cider, never prosper.' You must have heard them. My mum's full of them." _

"We have old wives tales," said Petunia.

"Yeah like, if you carry an acorn, you will have continued good luck and a long life," Dudley said. "Or an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

"Doctor?" Fabian asked.

"Kind of like a healer," Arthur said, excitedly.

_"Harry and I were raised by Muggles," Hermione reminded him. "We were taught different superstitions." She sighed deeply as a rather pungent smell drifted up from the kitchen. _

_"I think you're right," she told him. "It's just a morality tale, it's obvious which gift is best, which one you'd choose –"_

"The wand," Dudley and Frank

"The cloak," the twins yelled, thinking of how much mischief they could have done if they had had the cloak.

No-one, however, said the stone; maybe because the dead were coming back or that they were wise enough not to fall to that temptation, they weren't sure but no-one seemed to want it above the other two.

Everyone who didn't answer rolled their eyes.

_The three of them spoke at the same time: Hermione said, "the Cloak," Ron said, "the wand," and Harry said, "the stone."_

Everyone laughed.

"That just means you're a well rounded group," Remus chuckled.

_They looked at each other, half surprised, half amused._

_"You're supposed to say the Cloak," Ron told Hermione, "but you wouldn't need to be invisible if you had the wand. An unbeatable wand, Hermione, come on!"_

"Nothing's unbeatable," Molly said.

_"We've already got an Invisibility Cloak," said Harry,_

_"And it's helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn't noticed!" said Hermione. "Whereas the wand would be bound to attract trouble-"_

_"Only if you shouted about it," argued Ron. "Only if you were prat enough to go dancing around waving it over your head, and singing, 'I've got an unbeatable want, come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.' As long as you kept your trap shut -"_

"Could _you_?" Ginny asked.

"Shut up."

_"Yes, but could you keep your trap shut?" said Hermione, looking sceptical._

_"You know the only true thing he said to us was that there have been stories about extra-powerful wands for hundreds of years."_

_"There have?" asked Harry._

_Hermione looked exasperated: The expression was so endearingly familiar that Harry and Ron grinned at each other._

"That was the 'you are idiots' look," Hermione smiled.

_"The Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, they crop up under different names through the centuries, usually in the possession of some Dark wizard who's boasting about them. Professor Binns mentioned some of them, but - oh it's all nonsense. Wands are only as powerful as the wizards who use them. Some wizards just like to boast that theirs are bigger and better than other people's"_

_"But how do you know," said Harry, "that those wants - the Deathstick, and the Wand of Destiny - aren't the same wand, surfacing over the centuries under different names?"_

James nodded.

_"What if they're all really the Elder Wand, made by Death?" said Ron._

"Now_ that_ part was fictional," Arthur chuckled.

_"So why would you take the stone?" Ron asked him._

_"Well, if you could bring people back, we could have Sirius...Mad-Eye...Dumbledore...my parents..."_

Everyone sighed but then Sirius yelled, "oh well, some of us are back now!"

_Neither Ron nor Hermione smiled._

_"But according to Beedle the Bard, they wouldn't want to come back, would they?" said Harry, thinking about the tale they had just heard. "I don't suppose there have been loads of other stories about a stone that can raise the dead, have there?" he asked Hermione._

_"No," she replied sadly. "I don't think anyone except Mr. Lovegood could kid themselves that's possible._

_Beedle probably took the idea from the Philosopher's Stone; you know, instead of a stone to make you immortal, a stone to reverse death."_

_The smell from the kitchen was getting stronger. It was something like burning underpants. _

_"What about the Cloak, though?" said Ron slowly. "Don't you realize, he's right? I've got so used to Harry's Cloak and how good it is, I never stopped to think. I've never heard of one like Harry's. It's infallible. We've never been spotted under it -"_

_"Of course not - we're invisible when we're under it, Ron!"_

Several people sniggered.

_"But all the stuff he said about other cloaks, and they're not exactly ten a Knut, you know, is true! It's never occurred to me before but I've heard stuff about charms wearing off cloaks when they get old, or them being ripped apart by spells so they've got holes, Harry's was owned by his dad, _

"And my dad before that," James grinned.

_so it's not exactly new, is it, but it's just ... perfect!"_

"That's true," Ginny said.

_"Yes, all right, but Ron, the stone..."_

_As they argued in whispers, Harry moved around the room, only half listening. Reaching the spiral stair, he raised his eyes absently to the next level and was distracted at once. His own face was looking back at him from the ceiling of the room above._

_After a moment's bewilderment, he realised that it was not a mirror, but a painting. Curious, he began to clime the stairs._

"Don't be so nosy," Lily chastised.

"No, no, it's fine," Luna beamed.

_"Harry, what are you doing? I don't think you should look around when he's not here!"_

_But Harry had already reached the next level._

_Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same. Harry thought they breathed._

"They do," Luna said.

_What appeared to be a fine golden chains wove around the pictures linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realised that the chains were actually one word repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends... friends... friends..._

"Zat es beau (lovely/beautiful)," Fleur said.

"Thank you," Luna said.

_He looked around the room. There was a large photograph beside the bed, of a young Luna and a woman who looked very like her. They were hugging. Luna looked rather better-groomed in this picture than Harry had ever seen her in life. _

_The picture was dusty. _

"Get out of there, Potter," Moody growled, causing everyone to tense.

_He stared around._

_Something was wrong. The pale blue carpet was also thick with dust. There were no clothes in the wardrobe, whose doors stood ajar. The bed had a cold, unfriendly look, as though it had not been slept in for weeks. A single cobweb stretched over the nearest window across the blood red sky._

"Where are you?" Sirius asked looking around Harry's memory.

"I'm not there," Luna said causing everyone to look at her fearfully.

_"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as Harry descended the staircase, but before he could respond, Xenophilius reached the top of the stairs from the kitchen, now holding a tray laden with bowls._

_"Mr. Lovegood," said Harry. "Where's Luna?"_

_"Excuse me?"_

_"Where's Luna?"_

_Xenophilius halted on the top step._

_"I - I've already told you. She is down at the Botions Bridge fishing for Plimpies."_

"Stop lying," Gideon said.

"What does he want?" Fabian asked

_"So why have you only laid that tray for four? _

"Sharp eye, Harry," Dora complimented and Mad-Eye's face twisted into something that looked like a grin.

"That's it, Potter," Moody said, only a good Auror would notice something that insignificant.

_Xenophilius tried to speak, but no sound came out. The only noise was the continued chugging of the printing press, and a slight rattle from the tray as Xenophilius's hands shook,_

_"I don't think Luna's been here for weeks." said Harry. "Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn't been slept in. Where is she? And why do you keep looking out of the window?"_

"He's waiting for something," Bill said.

_Xenophilius dropped the tray. The bowls bounced and smashed Harry, Ron, and Hermione drew their wands. Xenophilius froze his hand about to enter his pocket._

"At least he's a slow draw,'" Moody grunted.

_At that moment the printing press have a huge bank and numerous Quibblers came streaming across the floor from underneath the tablecloth, the press fell silent at last._

_Hermione stooped down and picked up one of the magazines, her wand still pointing at Mr. Lovegood._

_"Harry, look at this"_

_He strode over to her as quickly as he could through all the clutter. The front of the Quibbler carried his own picture, emblazoned with the words "Undesirable Number One" and captioned with the reward money._

"No!"the dead people and Muggles yelled as Luna shock her head, slight ashamed of her father.

"He's changed sides," Sirius growled

"He's desperate," Hermione defended

"What?" Lily asked.

_"The Quibbler's going for a new angle, then?" Harry asked coldly, his mind working very fast. "Is that what you were doing when you went into the garden, Mr. Lovegood? Sending an owl to the Ministry?"_

_Xenophilius licked his lips_

"That's a yes," James muttered.

_"They took my Luna," he whispered, "Because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her._

"That poor man," Lily sighed, it wasn't right but, as Hermione said, he was desperate.

_But they might give her back to me if I - If I-"_

"Hand over Harry," Dudley said, bitterly.

_"Hand over Harry?" Hermione finished for him._

_"No deal." said Ron flatly. "Get out of the way, we're leaving."_

_Xenophilius looked ghastly, a century old, his lips drawn back into a dreadful leer._

_"They will be here any moment. I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."_

Luna felt her eyes fill with tears but she was ashamed her father did this to her friends.

_He spread his arms in front of the staircase, _

_"Don't make us hurt you," Harry said. "Get out of the way, Mr. Lovegood."_

_"HARRY!" Hermione screamed._

_Figures on broomsticks were flying past the windows. As the three of them looked away from him. Xenophilius drew his wand. He launched himself sideways, shoving Ron and Hermione out of harm's way_

"You're good at that," Ron chuckled

"Well done, Potter, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Mad-Eye yelled, causing some to jump and others to shake their heads fondly.

_as Xenophilius's Stunning Spell soared across the room and hit the Erumpent horn._

"Oh Merlin," Remus groaned.

_There was a colossal explosion._

"We heard it," Molly said, frowning as she thought of them so close and yet so far away.

_The sound of it seemed to blow the room apart. Fragments of wood and paper and rubble flew in all directions, along with an impenetrable cloud of thick white dust. Harry flew through the air, then crashed to the floor, unable to see as debris rained upon him, his arms over his head. He heard Hermione's scream, Ron's yell, and a series of sickening metallic thuds which told him that Xenophilius had been blasted off his feet and fallen backward down the spiral stairs._

Luna gasped.

_Half buried in rubble, Harry tried to raise himself. He could barely breathe or see for dust. Half of the ceiling had fall in and the end of Luna's bead was hanging through the hole. The bust of Rowena Ravenclaw lay beside him with half its face missing fragments of torn parchment were floating through the air, and most of the printing press lay on its side, blocking the top of the staircase to the kitchen. Then another white shape moved close by, and Hermione, coated in dust like a second statue, pressed his finger to her lips._

_The door downstairs crashed open._

_"Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers?" said a rough voice. "Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?"_

_There was a bang and a scream of pain from Xenophilius._

"Leave him alone," Neville and Luna snarled.

_"No...no...upstairs...Potter!"_

_"I told you last week Lovegood, we weren't coming back for anything less than some solid information! Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the week before" - Another bang, another squeal - "When you thought we'd give her back if you offered us proof there are Cumple" - Bang - "Headed"-bang-"Snorkacks?"_

_"No - no - I beg of you!" sobbed Xenophilius. "It really is Potter, Really!"_

_"And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" roared the Death Eater, and there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius._

"Do something," Dudley groaned

_"The place looks like it's about to fall in, Selwyn," said a cool second voice, echoing up the mangled staircase. "The stairs are completely blocked. Could try clearing it? Might bring the place down."_

_"You lying piece of filth." shouted the wizard named Selwyn. "You have never seen Potter in your life, have you? Thought you'd lure us here to kill us, did you? And you think you'll get your girl back like this?"_

_"I swear...I swear...Potter's upstairs!"_

_"Homenum revelio." said the voice at the foot of the stairs._

"Oh Merlin," Lily breathed as Moody stiffened – they'd have to think fast now.

_Harry heard Hermione gasp, and he had the odd sensation something was swooping low over him, immersing his body in its shadow._

_"There's someone up there all right, Selwyn," said the second man sharply._

_"It's Potter, I tell you, it's Potter!" sobbed Xenophilius. "Please...please...give me Luna, just let me have Luna..."_

_"You can have your little girl, Lovegood," said Selwyn, "if you get up those stairs and bring me down Harry Potter. But if this is a plot, if it's a trick, if you've got an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we'll see if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to bury."_

Everyone shuddered.

_Xenophilius gave a wail of fear and despair. There were scurryings and scrapings. Xenophilius was trying to get through the debris on the stairs._

_"Come on," Harry whispered, "we've got to get out of here."_

James nodded firmly.

_He started to dig himself out under cover of all the noise Xenophilius was making on the staircase. Ron was buried the deepest. Harry and Hermione climbed, as quietly as they could, over all the wreckage to where he lay, trying to raise a heavy chest of drawers off his legs._

_While Xenophilius banging and scraping drew nearer and nearer, Hermione managed to free Ron with the use of a Hover Charm._

_"All right." breathed Hermione, as the broken printing press blocking the top of the stairs begin to tremble. Xenophilius was feet away from them. She was still white with dust. "Do you trust me Harry?"_

"What a stupid question," Ginny laughed. "I think he trusts you more than me."

Harry rolled his eyes but otherwise made no comment.

_Harry nodded._

_"Okay then." Hermione whispered. "give me the invisibility Cloak. Ron, you're going to put it on."_

_"Me? But Harry -"_

_"Please, Ron! Harry, hold on tight to my hand, Ron grab my shoulder."_

"Brilliant," Dora beamed.

_Harry held out his left hand. Ron vanished beneath the Cloak. The printing press blocking the stairs was vibrating. Xenophilius was trying to shift it using a Hover Charm. Harry did not know what Hermione was waiting for._

_"Hold tight" she whispered. "Hold tight...any second..."_

_Xenophilius's paper-white face appeared over the top of the sideboard._

_"Obliviate!" cried Hermione, pointing her wand first into his face_

"That's why he never told me," Luna realised. "He doesn't know he did it."

_then at the floor beneath them. "Deprimo!"_

_She had blasted a hole in the sitting room floor. They fell like boulders. Harry still holding onto her hand for dear life, there was a scream from below, and he glimpsed two men trying to get out of the way as vast quantities of rubble and broken furniture rained all around them from the shattered ceiling. Hermione twisted in mid-air and thundering of the collapsing house rang in Harry's ears as she dragged him once more into darkness._

"Next memories in March," Harry said.

"When was this one again?" Sirius asked.

"Um, Christmas holidays," Hermione said.

"Wow, we're skipping a long time," Lily said and the trio nodded.

'Potterwatch," Harry said, causing all who knew to beam.

_"I've got it, I've got it! Password was 'Albus'! Get in here, Harry."_

_Harry hurried back inside the tent to find Ron and Hermione kneeling on the floor beside the little radio. Hermione, who had been polishing the sword of Gryffindor just for something to do, was sitting open-mouthed, staring at the tiny speaker, from which a most familiar voice was issuing._

_"…apologize for our temporary absence from the airwaves, which was due to a number of house calls in our area by those charming Death Eaters."_

_"But that's Lee Jordan!" said Hermione._

"What are they doing?" Lily asked.

"Potterwatch," Bill said simply.

"Which is?" James questioned.

"A private radio station to broadcast the truth and oppose Voldemort," Remus explained grinning

"Brilliant!" the twins and Sirius yelled.

"Yeah, we listened to them loads," Dudley said, gesturing to him and his mother.

_"I know!" beamed Ron. "Cool, eh?"_

_"…now found ourselves another secure location," Lee was saying, and I'm pleased to tell you that two of our regular contributors have joined me here this evening. Evening, boys!"_

_"Hi."_

_"Evening, River."_

_"'River'" that's Lee," Ron explained. "They've all got code names, but you can usually tell -"_

_"Shh!" said Hermione._

_"But before we hear from Royal and Romulus," Lee went on, _"_let's take a moment to report those deaths that the Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think important enough to mention. It is with great regret that we inform our listeners of the murders of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell."_

Everyone bowed their heads in remembrance, Dora's hair dulling a few shades from her bubblegum pink

_He, Ron, and Hermione gazed at one another in horror._

_"A goblin by the name of Gornuk was also killed._

"Weren't they with Dean?" Petunia fretted.

_It is believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin, both believed to have been travelling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have escaped. If Dean is listening, or if anyone has any knowledge of his whereabouts, his parents and sisters are desperate for news._

The trio frowned remembering where they were.

_"Meanwhile, in Gaddley, a Muggle family of five has been found dead in their home._

_Muggle authorities are attributing their deaths to a gas leak, but members of the Order of the Phoenix inform me that it was the Killing Curse - more evidence, as if it were needed, of the fact that Muggle slaughter is becoming little more than a recreational sport under the new regime._

_"Finally, we regret to inform our listeners that the remains of Bathilda Bagshot have been discovered in Godric's Hollow. The evidence is that she died several months ago. _

"Took you a while," the twins joked feebly.

_The Order of the Phoenix informs us that her body showed unmistakable signs of injuries inflicted by Dark Magic._

Everyone flinched.

_"Listeners, I'd like to invite you now to join us in a minute's silence in memory of Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Bathilda Bagshot, Gornuk, and the unnamed, but no less regretted, Muggles murdered by the Death Eaters."_

Nobody said anything in the minutes silence.

_Silence fell, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not speak. _

_"Thank you," said Lee's voice. "And now we can return to regular contributor Royal, for an update on how the new Wizarding order is affecting the Muggle world."_

_"Thanks, River," said an unmistakable voice, deep, measured, reassuring._

"Kingsley!" everyone cheered.

_"Kingsley!" burst out Ron._

_"We know!" said Hermione, hushing him._

_"Muggles remain ignorant of the source of their suffering as they continue to sustain heavy casualties," said Kingsley. "However, we continue to hear truly inspirational stories of wizards and witches risking their own safety to protect Muggle friends and neighbours, often without the Muggles' knowledge. I'd like to appeal to all our listeners to emulate their example, perhaps by casting a protective charm over any Muggle dwellings in your street. Many lives could be saved if such simple measures are taken."_

"Definitely!" the marauders and twins cheered.

_"And what would you say, Royal, to those listeners who reply that in these dangerous times, it should be 'Wizards first'? asked Lee._

"That they're prats," Sirius growled.

_"I'd say that it's one short step from 'Wizards first' to 'Purebloods first,' and then to 'Death Eaters,'" replied Kingsley. "We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."_

Everyone smiled in agreement.

_"Excellently put, Royal, and you've got my vote for Minister of Magic if we ever get out of this mess," said Lee. "And now, over to Romulus for our popular feature 'Pals of Potter.'"_

_"Thanks, River," said another very familiar voice._

"Remus/Dad!" everyone yelled.

_Ron started to speak, but Hermione forestalled him in a whisper._

_"We know it's Lupin!"_

_"Romulus, do you maintain, as you have every time you've appeared on our program, that Harry Potter is still alive?"_

_"I do," said Lupin firmly. "There is no doubt at all in my mind that his death would be proclaimed as widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at the morale of those resisting the new regime._

All the wizards who had seen Harry's body shuddered as it swam before their eyes.

_'The Boy Who Lived' remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting."_

_"And what would you say to Harry if you knew he was listening, Romulus?"_

_"I'd tell him we're all with him in spirit," said Lupin, then hesitated slightly, "And I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right."_

Everyone beamed at Remus, who shrugged as if to say, it's true.

_Harry looked at Hermione, whose eyes were full of tears._

_"Nearly always right," she repeated._

_"Oh, didn't I tell you?" said Ron in surprise. "Bill told me Lupin's living with Tonks again! And apparently she's getting pretty big too…"_

Remus and Tonks smiled at each other, luckily everyone had missed the 'again'.

_"…and our usual update on those friends of Harry Potter's who are suffering for their allegiance?" Lee was saying._

_"Well, as regular listeners will know, several of the more outspoken supporters of Harry Potter have now been imprisoned, including Xenophilius Lovegood, erstwhile editor of The Quibbler," said Lupin._

"Thank Merlin," Lily breathed.

"At least he's only imprisoned," Petunia agreed.

_"At least he's still alive!" muttered Ron._

_"We have also heard within the last few hours that Rubeus Hagrid" – all three of them gasped, and so nearly missed the rest of the sentence –_

"No, no, no," chanted the wizards who hadn't been their around this time and the muggles.

_"well-known gamekeeper at Hogwarts School, has narrowly escaped arrest within the grounds of Hogwarts, where he is rumoured to have hosted a 'Support Harry Potter' party in his house._

"Idiot," Molly muttered as Moody shook his head and rolled his eyes.

_However, Hagrid was not taken into custody, and is, we believe, on the run."_

_"I suppose it helps, when escaping from Death Eaters, if you've got a sixteen-foot-high half brother?" asked Lee._

Everyone chuckled.

_It would tend to give you an edge," agreed Lupin gravely._

_"May I just add that while we here at Potterwatch applaud Hagrid's spirit, we would urge even the most devoted of Harry's supporters against following Hagrid's lead. 'Support Harry Potter' parties are unwise in the present climate."_

"Yes, they were," Arthur said.

_"Indeed they are, Romulus," said Lee, "so we suggest that you continue to show your devotion to the man with the lightning scar by listening to Potterwatch! And now let's move to news concerning the wizard who is proving just as elusive as Harry Potter. We like to refer to him as the Chief Death Eater, and here to give his views on some of the more insane rumours circulating about him, I'd like to introduce a new correspondent. Rodent?"_

_"'Rodent'?" said yet another familiar voice, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione cried out together:_

_"Fred!"_

_"No – is it George?"_

_"It's Fred, I think," said Ron, leaning in closer, as whichever twin it was said,_

_"I'm not being 'Rodent,' no way, I told you I wanted to be 'Rapier'!"_

"Fred," Remus chuckled.

_"Oh, all right then, 'Rapier,' could you please give us your take on the various stories we've been hearing about the Chief Death Eater?"_

_"Yes, River, I can," said Fred. "As our listeners will know, unless they've taken refuge at the bottom of a garden pond or somewhere similar,_

"So in other words, you three," Sirius laughed.

_You-Know-Who's strategy of remaining in the shadows is creating a nice little climate of panic. Mind you, if all the alleged sightings of him are genuine, we must have a good nineteen You-Know-Whos running around the place."_

_"Which suits him, of course," said Kingsley. "The air of mystery is creating more terror than actually showing himself."_

_"Agreed," said Fred. "So, people, let's try and calm down a bit. Things are bad enough without inventing stuff as well. For instance, this new idea that You-Know-Who can kill people with a single glance from his eyes._

"That's a Basilisk," Ginny shivered and Harry ran a hand up and down her arm.

_That's a basilisk, listeners. One simple test: Check whether the thing that's glaring at you has got legs. _

Several people snicker.

_If it has, it's safe to look into its eyes, although if it really is You-Know-Who, that's still likely to be the last thing you ever do."_

Everyone chuckled.

_For the first time in weeks and weeks, Harry was laughing: He could feel the weight of tension leaving him._

_"And the rumours that he keeps being sighted abroad?" asked Lee._

_"Well, who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting in?" asked Fred. "Point is, people, don't get lulled into a false sense of security, thinking he's out of the country. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to,_

Everyone couldn't help but laugh hard at that.

_so don't count on him being a long way away if you're planning to take any risks. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but safety first!"_

_"Thank you very much for those wise words, Rapier," said Lee. "Listeners, that brings us to the end of another Potterwatch. We don't know when it will be possible to broadcast again, but you can be sure we shall be back. Keep twiddling those dials: The next password will be 'Mad-Eye.' Keep each other safe: Keep faith. Good night."_

"That was brilliant," James said, still chuckling.

"It was," Harry agreed.

"Cheered us up," Hermione said beaming at her two boys but then her face fell and the boys darkened as well.

"What?" Lily asked scared.

_The radio's dial twirled and the lights behind the tuning panel went out. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still beaming. Hearing familiar, friendly voices was an extraordinary tonic; _

_"Good, eh?" said Ron happily._

_"Brilliant," said Harry._

_"It's so brave of them," sighed Hermione admiringly. "If they were found …"_

"Yes, it is," Petunia said but she was watching the trio warily.

_"Well, they keep on the move, don't they?" said Ron. "Like us."_

_"But did you hear what Fred said?" asked Harry excitedly; now the broadcast was over, his thoughts turned around toward his all consuming obsession. "He's abroad! He's still looking for the Wand, I knew it!"_

_"Harry—"_

_"Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol –"_

_"HARRY, NO!"_

_"—demort's after the Elder Wand!"_

"NO!" everyone yelled as Harry flinched and ran a pained hand through his hair.

"Damn it, Potter," Moody growled.

"It's not your fault," Hermione said.

"Hermione," Harry growled but only the two of them could hear the conversation. "If I hadn't said the name, you wouldn't have been tortured and Dobby wouldn't have died."

"But so many more people would have died," Hermione said. "Because we wouldn't have figured it out."

"What are you two on about?" James asked.

"Nothing," the said together.

_"The name's Taboo!" Ron bellowed, leaping to his feet as a loud crack sounded outside the tent. "I told you, Harry, I told you, we can't say it anymore – we've got to put the protection back around us – quickly – it's how they find –"_

_But Ron stopped talking, and Harry knew why. The Sneakoscope on the table had lit up and begun to spin; they could hear voices coming nearer and nearer: rough, excited voices. Ron pulled the Deluminator out of his pocket and clicked it: Their lamps went out._

_"Come out of there with your hands up!" came a rasping voice through the darkness. "We know you're in there! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"_

_Harry looked around at the other two, now mere outlines in the darkness. He saw Hermione point her wand, not set toward the outside, but into his face; there was a bang, a burst of white light, and he buckled in agony, unable to see. He could feel his face swelling rapidly under his hands as heavy footfalls surrounded him._

"Good, Granger!" Moody said.

"Weasley," Hermione corrected causing Moody to grunt and nod at her, smiling slightly.

"You cursed him!" Sirius yelped shocked.

"I had too," Hermione said taking Harry's hand and leaning into Ron's embrace.

"Something terrible's going to happen now, isn't it?" Dudley asked and the trio nodded.

_"Get up, vermin."_

"He's not Vermin," Lily growled, her emerald green eyes flashing.

_Unknown hands dragged Harry roughly off the ground, before he could stop them, someone had rummaged through his pockets and removed the blackthorn wand._

_Harry clutched at his excruciatingly painful face, which felt unrecognisable beneath his fingers, tight, swollen, and puffy as though he had suffered some violent allergic reaction. His eyes had been reduced to slits through which he could barely see; his glasses fell off as he was bundled out of the tent: all he could make out were the blurred shapes of four or five people wrestling Ron and Hermione outside too._

_"Get - off - her!" Ron shouted. There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: _

"Hey!" Molly and Arthur yelled.

_Ron grunted in pain and Hermione screamed, "No! Leave him alone, leave him alone!"_

_"Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said the horribly familiar, rasping voice. "Delicious girl... what a treat . . . I do enjoy the softness of the skin. . . ."_

"No!" Remus yelled.

"Greyback," Dora growled.

_"Search the tent!" said another voice._

_Harry was thrown face down onto the ground. A thud told him that Ron had been cast down beside him. They could hear footsteps and crashes; the men were pushing over chairs inside the tent as they searched._

_"Now, let's see who we've got," said Greyback's gloating voice from overhead, and Harry was rolled over onto his back. A beam of wand light fell onto his face and Greyback laughed._

_"I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"_

_Harry did not answer immediately._

_"I said," repeated Greyback, and Harry received a blow to the diaphragm that made him double over in pain. "what happened to you?"_

_"Stung." Harry muttered. "Been Stung."_

_"Yeah, looks like it." said a second voice._

_"What's your name?" snarled Greyback._

_"Dudley." said Harry._

Dudley raised his eyebrows.

"First name I thought off," Harry muttered, staring into the distance as were Ron and Hermione.

_"And your first name?"_

_"I - Vernon. Vernon Dudley."_

_"Check the list, Scabior." said Greyback, and Harry head him move sideways to look down at Ron, instead. "And what about you, ginger?"_

_"Stan Shunpike." said Ron._

"Ron," Bill sighed.

_"Like 'ell you are." said the man called Scabior. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way."_

_There was another thud._

_"I'b Bardy," said Ron, and Harry could tell that his mouth was full of blood. "Bardy Weasley."_

"Non, not Weasley, Ron," Fleur groaned.

_"A Weasley?" rasped Greyback. "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And lastly, your pretty little friend . . ." _

"Stay away from them," Remus growled.

_"Easy, Greyback." said Scabior over the jeering of the others._

_"Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if she's a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. Who are you, girly?"_

_"Penelope Clearwater." said Hermione. She sounded terrified, but convincing._

_"What's your blood status?"_

_"Half-Blood." said Hermione._

_"Easy enough to check," said Scabior. "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be 'ogwarts age -"_

_"We'b lebt," said Ron._

_"Left, 'ave you, ginger?" said Scabior. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lords name?"_

_"Nod a laugh," said Ron. "Aggiden."_

_"Accident?" There was more jeering laughter._

"You shouldn't have said that," Lily said, biting her lip as Moody sighed in irritation trying to remember that these were kids not trained Aurors..

_"You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley?" growled Greyback, "The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"_

_"Doh."_

_"Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bind them up with the other two prisoners!"_

_Someone yanked Harry up by the hair, dragged him a short way, pushed him down into a sitting position, then started binding him back-to-back with other people. Harry was still half blind, barely able to see anything through his puffed-up eyes. When at last the man tying then had walked away, Harry whispered to the other prisoners._

_"Anyone still got a wand?"_

"That's it, Potter," Moody grunted in approval. "Take charge."

_"No." Said Ron and Hermione from either side of him._

_"This is all my fault. I said the name. I'm sorry -"_

Everyone looked at Ron and Hermione expecting them to contradict what the memory said but the trio hadn't moved an inch since the memory started.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, placing a hand on his arm.

"Hmm," he said turning to look at her but she almost wished he hadn't – he looked so haunted.

"What's wrong -?"

"You'll see," he said, managing a small twitch of his lips.

Ginny sighed, shrugged at everyone else before wrapping her arms around him to try and be some sort of comfort.

_"Harry?"_

_It was a new, but familiar voice. and it came from directly behind Harry, from the person tied to Hermione's left._

_"Dean?"_

_"It is you! If they find out who they've got -! They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold -"_

_"Not a bad little haul for one night." Greyback was saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by Harry and they heard more crashes from inside the tent. "A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and these truants. You checked their names on the list yet, Scabior?" he roared._

_"Yeah. There's no Vernon Dudley un 'ere, Greyback."_

_"Interesting," said Greyback. "That's interesting."_

_He crouched down beside Harry, who saw, through the infinitesimal gap left between his swollen eyelids, a face covered in matted gray hair and whiskers, with pointed brown teeth and sores in the corners of his mouth. Greyback smelled as he had done at the top of the tower where Dumbledore had died: of dirt, sweat, and blood._

_"So you aren't wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on that list under a different name? What house were you in at Hogwarts?"_

_"Slytherin," said Harry automatically._

"There are probably a few Slytherin's there," Moody growled.

_"Funny 'ow they all thinks we wants to 'ear that." leered Scabior out of the shadows. "But none of 'em can tell us where the common room is."_

Everyone except the trio smirked slightly, knowing Harry did know where the Slytherin common room was.

_"It's in the dungeons." said Harry clearly. "You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and its under the lake, so the light's all green,"_

_There was a short pause._

_"Well, well, looks like we really 'ave caught a little Slytherin." said Scabior. "Good for you, Vernon, 'cause there ain't a lot of Mudblood Slytherins. Who's your father?"_

_"He works at the Ministry," Harry lied. He knew that his whole story would collapse with the smallest investigation, but on the other hand, he only had until his face regained its usual appearance before the game was up in any case. "Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."_

_"You know what, Greyback," said Scabior. "I think there is a Dudley in there."_

"That's you're double sided luck," Teddy said, shaking his head.

_"Well, well." said Greyback, and Harry could hear the tiniest note of trepidation in that callous voice, and knew that Greyback was wondering whether he had just indeed just attacked and bound the son of a Ministry Official. Harry's heart was pounding against the ropes around his ribs; he would not have been surprised to know that Greyback could see it. "If you're telling the truth, ugly, you've got nothing to fear from a trip to the Ministry. I expect your father'll reward us just for picking you up."_

_"But," said Harry, his mouth bone dry, "if you just let us -"_

_"Hey!" came a shout from inside the tent. "Look at this. Greyback!"_

_A dark figure came bustling toward them, and Harry saw a glint of silver to the light of their wands. They had found Gryffindor's sword._

"Crap," Sirius said.

_"Ve-e-ery nice," said Greyback appreciatively, taking it from his companion. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks goblin-made, that. Where did you get something like this?"_

_"It's my father's," Harry lied, hoping against hope that it was too dark for Greyback to see the name etched just below the hilt. "We borrowed it to cut firewood -"_

"Should have stopped at 'it's my father's'," James said but he too got no response from any of the trio causing him to share a worried look with Lily, who shrugged.

Bill and Fleur shared a look – it's seems they were finally going to find out what happened to cause them to come to their, Bill and Fleur's, home.

_"'ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the Prophet!"_

_As Scabior said it, Harry's scar, which was stretched tight across his distended forehead, burned savagely. More clearly than he could make out anything around him, he saw a towering building, a grim fortress, jet-black and forbidding: _

"Where's that?" Petunia asked but all the wizards shrugged

_Voldemort's thoughts had suddenly become Razor-Sharp again; he was gliding toward the gigantic building with a sense of calmly euphoric purpose . . ._

_So close . . . So close . . ._

_With a huge effort of will Harry closed his mind to Voldemort's thoughts, pulling himself back to where he sat, tied to Ron, Hermione, Dean, and Griphook in the darkness, listening to Greyback and Scabior._

_"'Hermione Granger," Scabior was saying, "the Mudblood who is known to be travelling with 'arry Potter."_

"No…" everyone breathed.

_He heard the creak of Greyback's boots as he crouched down, in front of Hermione._

_"you know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."_

_"It isn't! It isn't me!"_

_Hermione's terrified squeak was as good as a confession._

"NO!" everyone screamed or shouted except Moody who grunted.

_"... known to be travelling with Harry Potter," repeated Greyback quietly._

_A stillness had settled over the scene. Harry's scar was Exquisitely painful, but he struggled with all his strength against the pull of Voldemort's thoughts. It had never been so important to remain in his own right mind._

_"Well, this changed things, doesn't it?" whispered Greyback. Nobody spoke: Harry sensed the gang of Snatchers watching, frozen, and felt Hermione's arm trembling against his. Greyback got up and took a couple of steps to where Harry sat, crouching down again to stare closely at his misshapen features._

_"What's that on your forehead, Vernon?" he asked softly, his breath foul in Harry's nostrils as he pressed a filthy finger to the taught scar._

_"Don't touch it! Harry yelled; he could not stop himself, he thought he might be sick from the pain of it._

_"I thought you wore glasses, Potter?" breathed Greyback._

"Damn it!" many yelled.

"Language, Teddy," Ginny said, not taking her eyes off Harry.

_"I found glasses!" yelped one of the Snatchers skulking in the background. "There was glasses in the tent, Greyback, wait -"_

_And seconds later Harry's glasses had been rammed back onto his face._

"At least he can see," Fabian said to Gideon.

_The Snatchers were closing in now, peering at him._

_"It Is!" rasped Greyback. "We've caught Potter!"_

_They all took several steps backward, stunned by what they had done. Harry, still fighting to remain present in his own splitting head, could think of nothing to say. Fragmented visions were breaking across the surface of his mind -_

_-He was hiding around the high walls of the black fortress-_

_No, he was Harry, tied up and wandless, in grave danger-_

_-looking up, up to the topmost window, the highest tower-_

_He was Harry, and they were discussing his fate in low voices-_

_-Time to fly . . ._

"Come on, Harry," Molly said. "Stay with us."

"What?" Harry asked, it was obvious he was not watching the memory at all.

"Nothing," Molly smiled, hoping she'd pulled at least one of the trio out of … what ever was happening. "I was talking to the memory."

"Right,' Harry nodded. "Oi, you two!"

Ron and Hermione slowly turned their head's toward him and he snapped his fingers in front of their faces causing them to blink.

"What?" Hermione asked as she realised everyone was staring at her, Ron and Harry.

"You've been unresponsive for a few minutes," Arthur said. "You three alright?"

"Fine," they said together.

_". . . To the Ministry?"_

_"To hell with the Ministry." growled Greyback. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take him straight to You-Know-Who."_

"NO!" Molly and Lily yelled.

_"Will you summon 'im? 'ere?" said Scabior, sounding awed, terrified._

"He won't have the mark," James scoffed.

_"No," snarled Greyback, "I haven't got - they say he's using the Malfoy's place as a base. We'll take the boy there."_

_Harry's scar seared again –_

– _and he rose into the night, flying straight up to the windows at the very top of the tower –_

_". . . completely sure it's him? 'Cause if it ain't, Greyback, we're dead."_

"I wish," Sirius said darkly

_"Who's in charge here?" roared Greyback, covering his moment of inadequacy. "I say that's Potter, and him plus his wand, that's two hundred thousand Galleons right there! _

"Ah but that's not his wand," Dudley tried to chuckled.

_But if you're too gutless to come along, any of you, it's all for me, and with any luck, I'll get the girl thrown in!"_

"Don't touch her," Remus growled.

– _The window was the merest slit in the black rock, not big enough for a man to enter. . . . A skeletal figure was just visible through it, curled beneath a blanket. . . . Dead, or sleeping . . . ?_

_"All right!" said Scabior. "All right, we're in! And what about the rest of 'em, Greyback, what'll we do with 'em?"_

_"Might as well take the lot. We've got two Mudbloods, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune right there."_

_The prisoners were dragged to their feet. Harry could hear Hermione's breathing, fast and terrified._

_"Grab hold and make it tight. I'll do Potter!" said Greyback, seizing a fistful of Harry's hair; Harry could feel his long yellow nails scratching his scalp. _

Remus growled and Teddy marveled, not for the first time, how much his father cared for Harry.

_"On three! One – two – three –"_

_They Disapparated, pulling the prisoners with them. Harry struggled, trying to throw off Greyback's hand, but it was hopeless: Ron and Hermione were squeezed tightly against him on either side; he could not separate from the group, and as the breath was squeezed out of him his scar seared more painfully still –_

– _as he forced himself through the slit of a window like a snake and landed, lightly as vapour inside the cell-like room –_

_The prisoners lurched into one another as they landed in a country lane. Harry's eyes, still puffy, took a moment to acclimatize, then he saw a pair of wrought-iron gates at the foot of what looked like a long drive._

_He experienced the tiniest trickle of relief. The worst had not happened yet: Voldemort was not here. He was, Harry knew, for he was fighting to resist the vision, in some strange, fortress like place, at the top of a tower. How long it would take Voldemort to get to this place, once he knew that Harry was here, was another matter. . . ._

_One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook them._

_"How do we get in? They're locked, Greyback, I can't – blimey!"_

_He whipped his hands away in fright. The iron was contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a clanging, echoing voice. "State your purpose!"_

_"We've got Potter!" Greyback roared triumphantly. "We've captured Harry Potter!"_

_The gates swung open._

"Of course they did," the twins snarled.

_"Come on!" said Greyback to his men, and the prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled their footsteps. Harry saw a ghostly white shape above him, and realised it was an albino peacock. He stumbled and was dragged onto his feet by Greyback; now he was staggering along sideways, tied back-to-back to the four other prisoner. Closing his puffy eyes, he allowed the pain in his scar to overcome him for a moment, wanting to know what Voldemort was doing, whether he knew yet thatHarry was caught. . . ._

_The emaciated figure stirred beneath its thin blanket and rolled over toward him, eyes opening in a skull of a face. . . . The frail man sat up, great sunken eyes fixed upon him, upon Voldemort, and then he smiled. Most of his teeth were gone. . . ._

_"So, you have come. I thought you would . . . one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it."_

_"You lie!"_

_As Voldemort's anger throbbed inside him, Harry's scar threatened to burst with pain, and he wrenched his mind back to his own body, fighting to remain present as the prisoners were pushed over gravel._

_Light spilled out over all of them._

_"What is this?" said a woman's cold voice._

_"We're here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" rasped Greyback._

_"Who are you?"_

_"You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice. "Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"_

_Greyback seized Harry and dragged him around to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle around too._

_"I know 'es swollen, ma'am, but it's 'im!" piped up Scabior._

_"If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'is scar. And this 'ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who's been travelling around with 'im, ma'am. There's no doubt it's 'im, and we've got 'is wand as well! 'Ere, ma'am –"_

_Through his puffy eyelids Harry saw Narcissa Malfoy scrutinizing his swollen face. Scabior thrust the blackthorn wand at her. She raised her eyebrows._

_"Bring them in," she said._

Teddy groaned he was going to have to watch the women who he actually liked being evil to the man who had raised him but that was it –Harry had raised him not to judge people to harshly by their past actions so that's what he wouldn't do.

Harry smiled over at him as though he knew what Teddy was thinking and was extremely proud of him. He felt a warmth flicker inside of him at that thought.

_Harry and the others were shoved and kicked up broad stone steps into a hallway lined with portraits._

_"Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."_

_The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; even with his eyes almost closed Harry could make out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as the prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers._

_"What is this?"_

_The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy fell on Harry's ears._

_"They say they've got Potter," said Narcissa's cold voice. "Draco, come here." Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely; a figure slightly taller than he was, rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed blur beneath white-blond hair._

_Greyback forced the prisoners to turn again so as to place Harry directly beneath the chandelier._

_"Well, boy?" rasped the werewolf._

"Please, please, please Draco," Lily and Molly said, crying.

_Harry was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great gilded thing in an intricately scrolled frame. Through the slits of his eyes he saw his own reflection for the first time since leaving Grimmauld Place._

_His face was huge, shiny, and pink, every feature distorted by Hermione's jinx. His black hair reached his shoulders and there was a dark shadow around his jaw._

"Your hair needs cutting," Ginny giggled.

_he still avoided eye contact with Draco as the latter approached._

_"Well, Draco?" said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"_

_"I can't – I can't be sure," said Draco. He was keeping his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him._

_"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!"_

_Harry had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited._

_"Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv –"_

_"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope Mr. Malfoy?" said Greyback menacingly._

_"Of course not, of course not!" said Lucius impatiently. He approached Harry himself, came so close that Harry could see the usually languid, pale face in sharp detail even through his swollen eyes. With his face a puffy mask, Harry felt as though he was peering out from between the bars of a cage._

_"What did you do to him?" Lucius asked Greyback. "How did he get into this state?"_

_"That wasn't us."_

_"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Lucius._

Everyone groaned.

_His gray eyes raked Harry's forehead._

_"There's something there," he whispered. "it could be the scar, stretched tight. . . . Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"_

_Harry saw Draco's face up close now, right beside his father's. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco's expression was full of reluctance, even fear._

"He doesn't want to be there," Lily sobbed.

_"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa called to her husband in her cold, clear voice. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord . . . They say this is his" – she was looking closely at the blackthorn wand – "but it does not resemble Ollivander's description. . . . If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing . . . Remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"_

_"What about the Mudblood, then?" growled Greyback. Harry was nearly thrown off his feet as the Snatchers forced the prisoners to swivel around again, so that the light fell on Hermione instead._

_"Wait," said Narcissa sharply. "Yes – yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"_

_"I . . . maybe . . . yeah."_

_"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, striding around the bound prisoners to face Ron. "It's them, Potter's friends – Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name – ?"_

_"Yeah," said Draco again, his back to the prisoners. "It could be."_

"Not very convincing," Bill muttered.

"But at least 'e's trying," Fleur said, sounding close to tears.

_The drawing room door opened behind Harry. A woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound Harry's fear to an even higher pitch._

_"What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"_

"Bella," Sirius spat.

_Bellatrix Lestrange walked slowly around the prisoners, and stopped on Harry's right, staring at Hermione through her heavily lidded eyes,_

_"But surely," she said quietly, "this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"_

_"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" cried Lucius, "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"_

_"Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix, and she backed away, the better to take in Harry._

_"Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She dragged back her left sleeve: Harry saw the Dark Mark burned into the flesh of her arm, and knew that she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved master–_

"NO!" everyone yelled.

_"I was about to call him!" said Lucius, and his hand actually closed upon Bellatrix's wrist, preventing her from touching the Mark. "I shall summon him, Bella. Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority –"_

_"Your authority!" she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from his grasp. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"_

_"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy –"_

_"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy," interjected Greyback, "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold –"_

_"Gold!" laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand. "Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of his – of –"_

"Bitch," Sirius spat.

_She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve –_

"No!" James shouted.

_"STOP!" shrieked Bellatrix, "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"_

_Lucius froze, his index finger hovering over his own Mark. Bellatrix strode out of Harry's limited line of vision._

_"What is that?" he heard her say._

_"Sword," grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher._

_"Give it to me."_

_"It's not yours, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."_

_There was a bang and a flash of red light; Harry knew that the Snatcher had been Stunned. There was a roar of anger from his fellows: Scabior drew his wand._

_"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"_

"She's just being her normal self," Dora said, airily. "Mad."

"Insane, more like," Sirius said.

_"Stupefy!" she screamed, "Stupefy!"_

_They were no match for her, even thought there were four of them against one of her: She was a witch, as Harry knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience. They fell where they stood, all except Greyback, who had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms outstretched. Out of the corners of his eyes Harry saw Bellatrix bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword of Gryffindor gripped tightly in her hand, her face waxen._

_"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his unresisting grip._

_"How dare you?" he snarled, his mouth the only thing that could move as he was forced to gaze up at her. He bared his pointed teeth. "Release me, woman!" _

_"Where did you find this sword?" she repeated, brandishing it in his face, "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"_

"Did he indeed?" Lily said, coldly.

"She thinks they stole it," Remus groaned.

_"It was in their tent," rasped Greyback. "Release me, I say!"_

_She waved her wand, and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He prowled behind an armchair, his filthy curved nails clutching its back._

_"Draco, move this scum outside," said Bellatrix, indicating the unconscious men. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."_

_"Don't you dare speak to Draco like –" said Narcissa furiously, _

"Yes, Aunt Cissy," Teddy said. "Fight the lunatic."

_but Bellatrix screamed. "Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"_

"Or not," he said, disappointed.

_She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at the silent prisoners._

_"If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed," she muttered, more to herself than to the others. "The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself. . . . But if he finds out . . . I must . . . I must know. . . ."_

_She turned back to her sister again._

_"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"_

_"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my –"_

Teddy perked up.

_"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we're in!" shrieked Bellatrix. She looked frightening, mad; a thin stream of fire issued from her wand and burned a hole in the carpet._

_Narcissa hesitated for a moment, then addressed the werewolf._

_"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."_

"Damn," Teddy groaned and Dora rubbed his shoulder.

_"Wait," said Bellatrix sharply. "All except. . . . except for the Mudblood." Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure._

"Hermione!" Harry said sharply.

"I'm staying," she replied firmly, staring him straight in the eye with a fierce look on her face, daring him to try and oppose her.

"Teddy," Harry said.

"I wanna stay," Teddy said, straight away.

Harry saw Ron and Hermione shake their heads in the corner of his eyesight.

"Teddy," Harry said, sternly. "It wasn't a request."

Teddy glared at him slightly and stood still for a minute then sighed in defeat and excited the Pensieve.

"Harry, what's happening?" Dora asked, really scared now. "You let him stay during everything else, the rebirth of Voldemort – why not this?"

"You'll see," the trio said.

_"No!" shouted Ron. "You can have me, keep me!" Bellatrix hit him across the face: the blow echoed around the room._

"Don't touch my son," Molly snarled.

_"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said. "Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them – yet."_

Everyone shuddered.

_She threw Greyback's wand back to him, then took a short silver knife from under her robes. She cut Hermione free from the other prisoners, then dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room,_

"Let her go!" Ginny and Molly shrieked.

_while Greyback forced the rest of them to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held out in front of him, projecting an invisible and irresistible force._

_"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned as he forced them along the corridor. "I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"_

Ron growled.

_Harry could feel Ron shaking. They were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in danger of slipping and breaking their necks at any moment. At the bottom was a heavy door. Greyback unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced them into a dank and musty room and left them in total darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn out scream from directly above them._

"No!" everyone yelled.

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand in a painful grip and she turned into Ron while Harry buried his face in Ginny's hair. She rubbed her hands on his back trying to comfort him but it was no use since she was a mess herself.

_"HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered. "HERMIONE!"_

"Pull yourself together, Weasley," Mad-Eye grunted.

"Shut up, Mad-Eye," Harry snapped causing Dora to chuckle slightly and Mad-Eye to raise an eyebrow at him.

_"Be quiet!" Harry said. "Shut up. Ron, we need to work out a way –"_

_"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"_

_"We need a plan, stop yelling – we need to get these ropes off –"_

"He can't," Remus said. "He's still up there with her."

_As Harry read, a horrible feeling came over him it was almost worst then it was the time that he was actually in that cellar because this time he didn't have the excuse of trying to get them all out of there alive. No this time his brain was concentrating fully on the pain that Hermione went through and it was really starting to eat him up._

_"Harry?" came a whisper through the darkness. "Ron? Is that you?"_

_Ron stopped shouting. There was a sound of movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow moving closer._

_"Harry? Ron?"_

_"Luna?"_

"Luna," everyone breathed, allowing slight relief to break through their fear.

_"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"_

_"Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" said Harry._

_"Oh yes, I expect so. . . . There's an old nail we use if we need to break anything. . . . Just a moment . . ."_

_Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"_

_"Mr. Ollivander?" Harry could hear Luna saying._

"Ollivander's there too," Lily half smiled.

_"Mr. Ollivander, have you got the nail? If you just move over a little bit . . . I think it was beside the water jug."_

_She was back within seconds._

_"You'll need to stay still," she said._

_Harry could feel her digging at the rope's tough fibers to work the knots free. From upstairs they heard Bellatrix's voice._

_"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"_

_"We found it – we found it – PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again;_

Everyone flinched or sobbed. Ginny's hands clenched Harry's shirt.

_Ron struggled harder than ever, and the rusty nail slipped onto Harry's wrist._

_"Ron, please stay still!" Luna whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing –"_

_"My pocket!" said Ron, "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"_

"Yes," some people breathed.

_A few seconds later, there was a click, and the luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: Unable to rejoin their sources, they simply hung there, like tiny suns, flooding the underground room with light. Harry saw Luna, all eyes in her white face, and the motionless figure of Ollivander the wandmaker, curled up on the floor in the corner. Craning around, he caught sight of their fellow prisoners: Dean and Griphook the goblin, who seemed barely conscious, kept standing by the ropes that bound him to the humans._

_"Oh, that's much easier, thanks, Ron," said Luna, and she began hacking at their bindings again. "Hello, Dean!"_

A few lips twitched, only Luna would remember manners then.

_From above came Bellatrix's voice._

_"You're lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"_

_Another terrible scream–_

"Stop it," Ginny sobbed.

"You wanna leave?" Harry asked but she shook her head firmly.

_"HERMIONE!"_

_"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"_

_"There!"_

_Harry felt the ropes fall away and turned, rubbing his wrists, to see Ron running around the cellar, looking up at the low ceiling, searching for a trapdoor. Dean, his face bruised and bloody, said "Thanks" to Luna and stood there, shivering, but Griphook sank onto the cellar floor, looking groggy and disoriented, many welts across his swarthy face._

_Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand._

"That won't work," Fleur blubbered.

_"There's no way out, Ron," said Luna, watching his fruitless efforts. "The cellar is completely escape-proof. I tried, at first. Mr. Ollivander has been here for a long time, he's tried everything."_

_Hermione was screaming again: Barely conscious of the fierce prickling of his scar, he too started to run around the cellar, feeling the walls for he hardly knew what,_

Hermione sobbed as she watched the two most important people in her life then, try in desperation to help her – she squeezed Harry's hand

_knowing in his heart that it was useless._

_"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"_

"No!" some screamed, sounding in pain themselves as other's let out heart wrenching sobs..

_Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized Hagrid's pouch from around his neck and groped inside it: He pulled out Dumbledore's Snitch and shook it, hoping for he did not know what – nothing happened – he waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless – the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a gleam of brightest blue –_

_Dumbledore's eye was gazing at him out of the mirror._

_"Help us!" he yelled at it in mad desperation. "We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!"_

_The eye blinked and was gone._

"Please say help comes," Dora moaned.

_He tilted the shard of mirror this way and that, and saw nothing reflected there but the walls and ceiling of their prison, and upstairs Hermione was screaming worse than ever, and next to him Ron was bellowing, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"_

_"How did you get into my vault?" they heard Bellatrix scream. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"_

_"We only met him tonight!" Hermione sobbed. "We've never been inside your vault. . . . It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"_

"Well done, Hermione," Arthur managed to chock out.

"Keep going, Weasley," Moody grunted, remembering to use her married name. "Good job."

_"A copy?" screeched Bellatrix. "Oh, a likely story!"_

_"But we can find out easily!" came Lucius's voice. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"_

_Harry dashed across the cellar to where Griphook was huddled on the floor._

_"Griphook," he whispered into the goblin's pointed ear, "you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please –"_

"Will, he do that?" James grunted.

"He must have," Bill swallowed. "But normally I'd say no."

_He could hear someone scuttling own the cellar steps; next moment, Draco's shaking voice spoke from behind the door._

_"Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"_

_They did as they were bidden; as the lock turned, Ron clicked the Deluminator and the lights whisked back into his pocket, restoring the cellar's darkness. The door flew open; Malfoy marched inside, wand held out in front of him, pale and determined. He seized the little goblin by the arm and backed out again, dragging Griphook with him. The door slammed shut and at the same moment a loud crack echoed inside the cellar._

_Ron clicked the Deluminator. Three balls of light flew back into the air from his pocket, revealing Dobby the house-elf, who had just Apparated into their midst._

"Dobby!" several people cried and sobbed in relief.

_"DOB – !"_

_Harry hit Ron on the arm to stop him shouting, and Ron looked terrified at his mistake. Footsteps crossed the ceiling overhead: Draco marching Griphook to Bellatrix._

_Dobby's enormous, tennis-ball shaped eyes were wide; he was trembling from his feet to the tips of his ears. He was back in the home of his old masters, and it was clear that he was petrified._

"Dobby," Hermione sighed.

_"Harry Potter," he squeaked in the tiniest quiver of a voice, "Dobby has come to rescue you."_

_"But how did you – ?"_

_An awful scream drowned Harry's words: Hermione was being tortured again._

Ginny shivered

_He cut to the essentials._

_"You can Disapparate out of this cellar?" he asked Dobby, who nodded, his ears flapping._

_"And you can take humans with you?"_

_Dobby nodded again._

_"Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them – take them to –"_

_"Bill and Fleur's," said Ron. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth!"_

Bill managed at small smile at the fact that Ron trusted him enough to come to him in times of need.

_The elf nodded for a third time._

_"And then come back," said Harry. "Can you do that, Dobby?"_

_"Of course, Harry Potter," whispered the little elf. He hurried over to Mr. Ollivander, who appeared to be barely conscious. He took one of the wandmaker's hands in his own, then held out the other to Luna and Dean, neither of whom moved._

_"Harry, we want to help you!" Luna whispered._

_"We can't leave you here," said Dean._

"You're wasting time," Neville croaked.

"I h-had to try," Luna cried.

_"Go, both of you! We'll see you at Bill and Fleur's."_

_Luna smiled weakly at Harry._

"Thank you," she said. Harry smiled a little back.

_As Harry spoke, his scar burned worse than ever, and for a few seconds he looked down, not upon the wandmaker, but on another man who was just as old, just as thin, but laughing scornfully._

_"Kill me, then. Voldemort, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek. . . . There is so much you do not understand. . ."_

_He felt Voldemort's fury, but as Hermione screamed again he shut it out, returning to the cellar and the horror of his own present._

"So that's how you do it," Fabian said and got shot dirty looks.

_"Go!" Harry beseeched to Luna and Dean. "Go! We'll follow, just go!"_

_They caught hold of the elf's outstretched fingers. There was another loud crack, and Dobby, Luna, Dean, and Ollivander vanished._

_"What was that?" shouted Lucius Malfoy from over their heads. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"_

_Harry and Ron stared at each other._

_"Draco – no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"_

"Peter," the maunders growled

_Footsteps crossed the room overhead, then there was silence. Harry knew that the people in the drawing room were listening for more noises from the cellar._

_"We're going to have to try and tackle him," he whispered to Ron. _

"Good, attack him," Remus said.

_"Leave the lights on," Harry added, and as they heard someone descending the steps outside the door, they backed against the wall on either side of it._

_"Stand back," came Wormtail's voice. "Stand away from the door. I'm coming in." The door flew open. For a split second Wormtail gazed into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light from the three miniature suns floating in mid-air. Then Harry and Ron launched themselves upon him. Ron seized Wormtail's wand arm and forced it upwards. Harry slapped a hand to his mouth, muffling his voice. Silently they struggled: Wormtail's wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry's throat._

"Don't you dare?" James snarled. "You've caused enough harm to my family."

_"What is it, Wormtail?" called Lucius Malfoy from above._

_"Nothing!" Ron called back, in a passable imitation of Wormtail's wheezy voice. "All fine!"_

"Brilliant, Ron," Bill said.

_Harry could barely breathe._

_"You're going to kill me?" Harry choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers. "After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"_

_The silver fingers slackened._

"Thank Merlin you stopped us killing him," Remus and Sirius said together.

_Harry had not expected it: He wrenched himself free, astonished, keeping his hand over Wormtail's mouth. He saw the rat like man's small watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: He seemed just as shocked as Harry at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness._

_"And we'll have that," whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand._

_Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry's face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat._

"No," Lily said, he may be the reason she missed out on her son's life and was having to watch it like this but he didn't deserve to be killed by his own hand.

_"No –"_

_Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping it. _

Ginny managed a small smile at her husband at what he did for Pettigrew even after he, Pettigrew, had betrayed his parents but she was too worried about Hermione to say anything.

_The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes._

_"No!"_

_Ron had released Wormtail too, and together he and Harry tried to pull the crushing metal fingers from around Wormtail's throat, but it was no use. Pettigrew was turning blue._

_"Relashio!" said Ron, pointing the wand at the silver hand, but nothing happened; Pettigrew dropped to his knees, and at the same moment, Hermione gave a dreadful scream from overhead. Wormtail's eyes rolled upward in his purple face; he gave a last twitch, and was still._

The two boys sighed.

"You two did an honorable thing," Arthur praised. "Trying to save his life."

James, Sirius and Remus looked indifferent but a small part of them felt lost. It was probably the teenagers still inside them – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, the marauders – that felt as though this was something lost.

_Harry and Ron looked at each other, then leaving Wormtail's body on the floor behind them, ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing room. Cautiously they crept along it until they reached the drawing room door, which was ajar. Now they had a clear view of Bellatrix looking down at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor's sword in his long-fingered hands. Hermione was lying at Bellatrix's feet. She was barely stirring._

"Hermione," most people groaned.

_"Well?" Bellatrix said to Griphook. "Is it the true sword?"_

_Harry waited, holding his breath, fighting against the prickling of his scar._

_"No," said Griphook. "It is a fake."_

"Good," James said.

_"Are you sure?" panted Bellatrix. "Quite sure?"_

_"Yes," said the goblin._

_Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it._

_"Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed another deep cut into the goblin's face, and he dropped with a yell at her feet. She kicked him aside. "And now," she said in a voice that burst with triumph, "we call the Dark Lord!"_

"No," everyone cried.

_And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her forefinger to the Dark Mark._

_At once, Harry's true surroundings vanished: He was Voldemort, and the skeletal wizard before him was laughing toothlessly at him; he was enraged at the summons he felt – he had warned them, he had told them to summon him for nothing less than Potter. If they were mistaken . . ._

_"Kill me, then!" demanded the old man. "You will not win, you cannot win! That wand will never, ever be yours –"_

_And Voldemort's fury broke: A burst of green light filled the prison room and the frail old body was lifted from its hard bed and then fell back, lifeless, and Voldemort returned to the window, his wrath barely controllable. . . . They would suffer his retribution if they had no good reason for calling him back. . . ._

_"And I think," said Bellatrix's voice, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."_

"No!" Remus yelled.

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked around, shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron instead –_

_"Expelliarmus!" he roared, pointing Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron._

Everyone cheered.

"I think you can go get Teddy now, Remus," Ginny said, colour flooding her face.

When Remus and Teddy landed back in the pensieve Teddy gave Harry a glare that got return with a kind, fatherly smile which made Teddy's anger disappear completely. That and the fact that everyone looked pale, with tears trails still obvious on their cheeks.

"What happened?" he asked, warily.

"Torture for Hermione," Dora said, quietly, rubbing his back as his eyes widened and his hair changed to orange.

_Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Greyback wheeled about; Harry yelled, "Stupefy!" and Lucius Malfoy collapsed onto the hearth._

''Bout time someone put him in his place," Sirius cheered.

_Jets of light flew from Draco's, Narcissa's, and Greyback's wands; Harry threw himself to the floor, rolling behind a sofa to avoid them._

_"STOP OR SHE DIES!_

_Panting, Harry peered around the edge of the sofa. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat._

"No," Ginny said, tears, which had only just stopped, welling up again

_"Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"_

_Ron stood rigid, clutching Wormtail's wand. Harry straightened up, still holding Bellatrix's._

_"I said, drop them!" she screeched, pressing the blade into Hermione's throat: Harry saw beads of blood appear there._

"Drop them!" Molly and Lily yelled to their sons.

_"All right!" he shouted, and he dropped Bellatrix's wand onto the floor at his feet, Ron did the same with Wormtail's._

_Both raised their hands to shoulder height._

_"Good!" she leered. "Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!"_

"Considering, he's standing there," Teddy smiled, jerking his head towards his godfather. "I beg to differ."

_Harry knew it; his scar was bursting with the pain of it, and he could feel Voldemort flying through the sky from far away, over a dark and stormy sea, and soon he would be close enough to Apparate to them, and Harry could see no way out._

_"Now," said Bellatrix softly, as Draco hurried back to her with the wands. "Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight."_

"Don't even think about it!" Remus growled.

_At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw herself aside with a scream._

_The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions; Draco doubled over, his hands covering his bloody face._

_As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took the chance: He leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco's grip, pointed all of them at Greyback, and yelled, "Stupefy!" The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew up to the ceiling and then smashed to the ground._

"Thank you, Harry," Remus said, glad the werewolf was out of the way.

_As Narcissa dragged Draco out of the way of further harm, Bellatrix sprang to her feet, her hair flying as she brandished the silver knife; but Narcissa had directed her wand at the doorway._

_"Dobby!" she screamed and even Bellatrix froze. "You! You dropped the chandelier – ?"_

"Of course he did," James grinned.

_The tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger pointing at his old mistress._

_"You must not hurt Harry Potter," he squeaked._

"You tell them, Dobby," Teddy grinned.

_"Kill him, Cissy!" shrieked Bellatrix, but there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand too flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room._

_"You dirty little monkey!" bawled Bellatrix._

"I believe he's a house elf," Fabian said.

"So do I, my dear twin," Gideon agreed.

_"How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"_

_"Dobby has no master!" squealed the elf. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"_

Harry grimaced.

_"Ron, catch – and GO!" he yelled, throwing one of the wands to him; then he bent down to tug Griphook out from under the chandelier. Hoisting the groaning goblin, who still clung to the sword, over one shoulder, Harry seized Dobby's hand and spun on the spot to Disapparate._

_As he turned into darkness he caught one last view of the drawing room of the pale, frozen figures of Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was Ron's hair, and a blue of flying silver, as Bellatrix's knife flew across the room at the place where he was vanishing –_

_Bill and Fleur's . . . Shell Cottage . . . Bill and Fleur's . . ._

_He had disappeared into the unknown; all he could do was repeat the name of the destination and hope that it would suffice to take him there. The pain in his forehead pierced him, and the weight of the goblin bore down upon him; he could feel the blade of Gryffindor's sword bumping against his back: Dobby's hand jerked in his; he wondered whether the elf was trying to take charge, to pull them in the right direction, and tried, by squeezing the fingers, to indicate that that was fine with them. . . ._

_And then they hit solid earth and smelled salty air._

_Harry fell to his knees, relinquished Dobby's hand, and attempted to lower Griphook gently to the ground._

"Yes!" Lily yelled.

"You're out!" some cheered.

"You're alive," other's breathed.

_"Are you all right?" he said as the goblin stirred, but Griphook merely whimpered._

_Harry squinted around through the it. darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide starry sky, and he thought he saw movement outside_

_"Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he whispered, clutching the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys', ready to fight if he needed to. "Have we come to the right place? Dobby?"_

_He looked around. The little elf stood feet from him._

_"DOBBY!"_

"NO!" Dora shrieked.

_The elf swayed slightly, stars reflected in his wide, shining eyes. Together, he and Harry looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf's heaving chest._

"No!" everyone now yelled except the trio who were looking extremely pained.

_"Dobby – no – HELP!" Harry bellowed toward the cottage, toward the people moving there. "HELP!"_

Hermione breathing sped up she had barely been conscious at the time but she had still heard Harry screams and thought they were burnt into her brain.

_He did not know or care whether they were wizards or Muggles, friends or foes; all he cared about was that a dark stain was spreading across Dobby's front, and that he had stretched out his own arms to Harry with a look of supplication. Harry caught him and laid him sideways on the cool grass._

_"Dobby, no, don't die, don't die –"_

Ginny was crying again as was many of the others. Lily was wondering how many more people would be lost by the end of the day.

_The elf's eyes found him, and his lips trembled with the effort to form words._

_"Harry . . . Potter . . ."_

_And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and his eyes were nothing more than great glassy orbs, sprinkled with light from the stars they could not see._

"No," Hermione sobbed.

_It was like sinking into an old nightmare; for an instant Harry knelt again beside Dumbledore's body at the foot of the tallest tower at Hogwarts, but in reality he was staring at a tiny body curled upon the grass, pierced by Bellatrix's silver knife. Harry's voice was still saying, "Dobby…Dobby…" even though he knew that the elf had gone where he could not call him back._

"Harry," Sirius sighed – how much more would that boy, or man now, have to lose.

_After a minute or so he realised that they had, after all, come to the right place, for here were Bill and Fleur, Dean and Luna, gathering around him as he knelt over the elf. "Hermione," he said suddenly. "Where is she?"_

"I'm fine, Harry," she whispered.

"I barely remember asking that," Harry muttered.

_"Ron's taken her inside," said Bill. "She'll be all right." Harry looked back down at Dobby. He stretched out a hand and pulled the sharp blade from the elf's body, then dragged off his own jacket and covered Dobby in it like a blanket._

"He'd like that," Neville smiled.

_The sea was rushing against the rock somewhere nearby; Harry listened to it while the others talked, discussing matters in which he could take no interest, making decisions, Dean carried the injured Griphook into the house, Fleur hurrying with them; now Bill was making suggestions about burying the elf. As he did so, he gazed down at the tiny body, and his scar prickled and burned, and in one part of his mind, viewed as if from the wrong end of a long telescope, he saw Voldemort punishing those they had left behind at the Malfoy Manor. His rage was dreadful and yet Harry's grief for Dobby seemed to diminish it, so that it became a distant storm that reached Harry from across a vast, silent ocean._

_"I want to do it properly," were the first words of which Harry was fully conscious of speaking. "Not by magic. Have you got a spade?"_

"Why?" Dudley asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Dobby worked his whole life," Harry said. "I thought I'd give something in return."

"We're skipping," Ron said.

_Harry wrapped the elf more snuggly in his jacket. Ron sat on the edge of the grave and stripped off his shoes and socks, which he placed on the elf's bare feet._

"He always liked socks," Hermione smiled.

"That because that's how Harry freed him," Ginny pointed out.

_Dean produced a woollen hat, which Harry placed carefully upon Dobby's head, muffling his batlike ears. "We should close his eyes."_

_Harry had not heard the others coming through the darkness. Bill was wearing a travelling cloak, Fleur a large white apron, from the pocket of which protruded a bottle of what Harry recognized to be Skele-Gro. Hermione was wrapped in a borrowed dressing gown, pale and unsteady on her feet;_

"Shouldn't you be inside?" Molly fretted.

"I had to be there," Hermione said, shaking her head. "For Dobby and for Harry."

_Ron put an arm around her when she reached him. Luna, who was huddled in one of Fleur's coats, crouched down and placed her fingers tenderly upon each of the elf's eyelids, sliding them over his glassy stare. "There," she said softly. "Now he could be sleeping."_

Everyone looked at the women who was smiling but had tears streaming down her face for Dobby, as did many other people.

_Harry placed the elf into the grave, arranged his tiny limbs so that he might have been resting, then climbed out and gazed for the last time upon the little body. _

_"I think we ought to say something," piped up Luna. "I'll go first, shall I?"_

_And as everybody looked at her, she addressed the dead elf at the bottom of the grave. "Thank you so much Dobby for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now."_

_She turned and looked expectantly at Ron, who cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "yeah…thanks Dobby."_

_"Thanks," muttered Dean._

_Harry swallowed._

_"Good bye Dobby," he said It was all he could manage, but Luna had said it all for him. Bill raised his wand, and the pile of earth beside the grave rose up into the air and fell neatly upon it, a small, reddish mound._

_"D'ya mind if I stay here a moment?" He asked the others._

_They murmured words he did not catch; he felt gentle pats upon his back, and then they all traipsed back toward the cottage, leaving Harry alone beside the elf._

"We know you like your time alone," Ron said, clapping him on the back as Harry rolled his eyes.

_He looked around: There were a number of large white stones, smoothed by the sea, marking the edge of the flower beds. He picked up one of the largest and laid it, pillowlike, over the place where Dobby's head now rested. He then felt in his pocket for a wand._

_There were two in there. He had forgotten, lost track; he could not now remember whose wands these were; he seemed to remember wrenching them out of someone's hand. He selected the shorter of the two, which felt friendlier in his hand, and pointed it at the rock._

_Slowly, under his murmured instruction, deep cuts appeared upon the rock's surface. He knew that Hermione could have done it more neatly, and probably more quickly, but he wanted to mark the spot as he had wanted to dig the grave. When Harry stood up again, the stone read:_

_HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF._

"He'd like that," Luna smiled.

Fleur smiled too, she always felt so sad but then also proud, for some reason, when she walked past the grave, she always cast a few charms so he'd never be disturbed and still looked as though he had been buried yesterday.

"Skipping," Harry said.

_Bill and Fleur were standing at the foot of the stairs._

_"I need to speak to Griphook and Ollivander," Harry said._

"Why?" Lily asked.

"You'll have to find out at the same time these two did," Harry smiled nodding his head to Ron and Hermione.

"You're so annoying" Lily muttered.

_"No," said Fleur. "You will 'ave to wait, 'Arry. Zey are both too tired –"_

_"I'm sorry," he said without heat, "but it can't wait. I need to talk to them now. Privately – and separately. It's urgent."_

_"Harry, what the hell's going on?" asked Bill. "You turn up here with a dead house-elf and a half-conscious goblin, Hermione looks as though she's been tortured, and Ron's just refused to tell me anything –"_

"We couldn't," Harry sighed.

"I know that," Bill said. "Now."

_"We can't tell you what we're doing," said Harry flatly. "You're in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a mission. We're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else."_

_Fleur made an impatient noise, but Bill did not look at her; he was staring at Harry. His deeply scarred face was hard to read. Finally, Bill said, "All right. Who do you want to talk to first?"_

_Harry hesitated. _

_"Griphook," Harry said. "I'll speak to Griphook first."_

"Why?" James asked. "What do you want with a goblin?"

_"Up here, then," said Bill, leading the way._

_Harry had walked up several steps before stopping and looking back._

_"I need you two, as well!" he called to Ron and Hermione, who had been skulking, half concealed, in the doorway of the sitting room._

_They both moved into the light, looking oddly relieved._

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"I dunno, really," Ron shrugged.

"You just suddenly had everything figured out and … I don't know but I honestly thought for a minute you didn't want us to come with you," Hermione said, frowning to herself the whole time.

_"How are you?" Harry asked Hermione. "You were amazing – coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that –"_

"You were," many mumbled in agreement.

_Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze._

_"What are we doing now, Harry?" he asked._

_"You'll see. Come on."_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Bill up the steep stairs onto a small landing. Three doors led off it._

_"In here," said Bill, opening the door into his and Fleur's room, it too had a view of the sea, now flecked with gold in the sunrise. Harry moved to the window, turned his back on the spectacular view, and waited, his arms folded, his scar prickling. Hermione took the chair beside the dressing table; Ron sat on the arm._

_Bill reappeared, carrying the little goblin, whom he set down carefully upon the bed. Griphook grunted thanks, and Bill left, closing the door upon them all._

_"I'm sorry to take you out of bed," said Harry. "How are your legs?"_

_"Painful," replied the goblin. "But mending."_

"Good," Lily smiled.

_He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and wore a strange look: half truculent, half intrigued. Harry noted the goblin's sallow skin, his long thin fingers, his black eyes. Fleur had removed his shoes: His long feet were dirty. He was larger than a house-elf, but not by much. His domed head was much bigger than a human's._

_"You probably don't remember –" Harry began._

_"—that I was the goblin who showed you to your vault, the first time you ever visited Gringotts?" said Griphook._

"How coincidental," Dora muttered.

_"I remember, Harry Potter. Even amongst goblins, you are very famous."_

"It's good that you remembered him," Bill said. "He'll respect you more."

_Harry and the goblin looked at each other, sizing each other up. the goblin broke the silence._

_"You buried the elf," he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous._

"So?" Teddy asked

_"I watched you from the window of the bedroom next door."_

_"Yes," said Harry._

_Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his slanting black eyes._

_"You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter."_

Most of the people in the room snorted.

"No kidding," Ron chuckled, getting whacked on the head.

_"In what way?" asked Harry, rubbing his scar absently._

_"You dug the grave."_

_"So?"_

_Griphook did not answer._

"You've impressed 'im,' Fleur said. "Wizards don't usually show kindness to Elves, Goblins and ozer creatures."

_Harry rather thought he was being sneered at for acting like a Muggle, but it did not matter to him whether Griphook approved of Dobby's grave or not. He gathered himself for the attack._

_"Griphook, I need to ask –"_

_"You also rescued a goblin."_

_"What?"_

_"You brought me here. Saved me."_

_"Well, I take it you're not sorry?" said Harry a little impatiently._

"It took you ten seconds to get impatient with a goblin," Fabian chucked.

"That's nine seconds longer than most people," Gideon laughed.

_"No, Harry Potter," said Griphook, and with one finger he twisted the thin black beard upon his chin, "but you are a very odd wizard."_

"You've said that," Ginny said amused.

_"Right," said Harry. "Well, I need some help, Griphook, and you can give it to me."_

_The goblin made no sign of encouragement, but continued to frown at Harry as though he had never seen anything like him._

_"I need to break into a Gringotts vault."_

"You what!" nearly everyone yelled, even those who already knew

"Are you mental?" Lily yelled. "You could get killed."

"You're amazing!" the twins James and Sirius yelled.

"Don't you care for your son's safety?" Lily said hitting James.

"Of course I do," James said affronted, "but he's right there."

_Harry had not meant to say it so baldly: the words were forced from him as pain shot through his lightning scar and he saw, again, the outline of Hogwarts. He closed his mind firmly. He needed to deal with Griphook first. Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as though he had gone mad._

"I thought you'd lost your mind," Hermione said.

"Me too," Ron said.

Harry huffed at his two so-called best friends.

_"Harry –" said Hermione, but she was cut off by Griphook._

_"Break into a Gringotts vault?" repeated the goblin, wincing a little as he shifted his position upon the bed. "It is impossible."_

_"No, it isn't," Ron contradicted him. "It's been done."_

"Your first year," Arthur nodded.

_"Yeah," said Harry. "The same day I first met you, Griphook. My birthday, seven years ago."_

_"The vault in question was empty at the time," snapped the goblin, and Harry understood that even though Griphook had left Gringotts, he was offended at the idea of its defences being breached. "Its protection was minimal."_

_"Well, the vault we need to get into isn't empty, and I'm guessing its protection will be pretty powerful," said Harry. "It belongs to the Lestranges."_

"You're mental," the twins said in awe.

_He saw Hermione and Ron look at each other, astonished, but there would be time enough to explain after Griphook had given his answer._

_"You have no chance," said Griphook flatly. "No chance at all. If you seek beneath our floors, a treasure that was never yours –"_

_"Thief, you have been warned, beware – yeah, I know, I remember," said Harry. "But I'm not trying to get myself any treasure; I'm not trying to take anything for personal gain. Can you believe that?"_

"Probably not," Neville said.

_The goblin looked slantwise at Harry, and the lightning scar on Harry's forehead prickled, but he ignored it, refusing to acknowledge its pain or its invitation._

_"If there was a wizard of whom I would believe that they did not seek personal gain," said Griphook finally, "it would be you, Harry Potter. Goblins and elves are not used to the protection or the respect that you have shown this night. Not from wand-carriers."_

_"Wand-carriers," repeated Harry:_

"Wizards," Remus said.

_The phrase fell oddly upon his ears as his scar prickled, as Voldemort turned his thoughts northward, and as Harry burned to question Ollivander next door._

_"The right to carry a wand," said the goblin quietly, "has long been contested between wizards and goblins."_

_"Well, goblins can do magic without wands," said Ron._

"You're trying to get 'im to 'elp you, Ronald," Fleur said.

_"That is immaterial! Wizards refuse to share the secrets of wand-lore with other magical beings, they deny us the possibility of extending our powers!"_

_"Well, goblins won't share any of their magic either," said Ron. "You won't tell us how to make swords and armour the way you do. Goblins know how to work metal in a way wizards have never –"_

"Shut up," Bill growled.

_Griphook gave a nasty laugh._

_"But it is, it is precisely that! As the Dark Lord becomes ever more powerful, your race is set still more firmly above mine! Gringotts falls under Wizarding rule, house-elves are slaughtered, and who amongst the wand-carriers protests?"_

_"We do!" said Hermione. She had sat up straight, her eyes bright. "We protest! And I'm hunted quite as much as any goblin or elf, Griphook! I'm a Mudblood!"_

"Don't call yourself that," Sirius growled.

_"Don't call yourself –" Ron muttered._

_"Why shouldn't I?" said Hermione. "Mudblood, and proud of it! I've got no higher position under this new order than you have, Griphook! It was me they chose to torture, back at the Malfoys!"_

_As she spoke, she pulled aside the neck of the dressing gown to reveal the thin cut Bellatrix had made, scarlet against her throat._

Harry and Ron shivered at them reminder.

_Did you know that it was Harry who set Dobby free?" she asked. "Did you know that we've wanted elves to be freed for years?" (Ron fidgeted uncomfortably on the arm of Hermione's chair.) "You can't want You-Know-Who defeated more than we do, Griphook!"_

"Hear, hear," the twins said.

_The goblin gazed at Hermione with the same curiosity he had shown Harry._

_"What do you seek within the Lestranges' vault?" he asked abruptly. "The sword that lies inside it is a fake. This is the real one." He looked from one to the other of them. "I think that you already know this. You asked me to lie for you back there."_

_"But the fake sword isn't the only thing in that vault, is it?" asked Harry. "Perhaps you've seen other things in there?"_

"What are you thinking about, Harry?" Dudley groaned. "Tell us already."

_The goblin twisted his beard around his finger again._

_"It is against our code to speak of the secrets of Gringotts. We are the guardians of fabulous treasures. We have a duty to the objects placed in our care, which were, so often, wrought by our fingers."_

_The goblin stroked the sword, and his black eyes roved from Harry to Hermione to Ron and then back again._

_"So young," he said finally, "to be fighting so many."_

The people who had been adults at this time nodded sadly

_"Will you help us?" said Harry. "We haven't got a hope of breaking in without a goblin's help. You're our one chance."_

"That's true," Luna said.

_"I shall . . . think about it," said Griphook maddeningly._

_"But –" Ron started angrily; Hermione nudged him in the ribs._

_"Thank you," said Harry._

_The goblin bowed his great domed head in acknowledgement, then flexed his short legs._

_"I think," he said, settling himself ostentatiously upon Bill and Fleur's bed, "that the Skele-Gro has finished its work. I may be able to sleep at last. Forgive me. . . ."_

"Good," Arthur said.

_"Yeah, of course," said Harry, but before leaving the room he leaned forward and took the sword of Gryffindor from beside the goblin. Griphook did not protest, but Harry thought he saw resentment in the goblin's eyes as he closed the door upon him._

_"Little git," whispered Ron. "He's enjoying keeping us hanging."_

_"Harry," whispered Hermione, pulling them both away from the door, into the middle of the still-dark landing, "are you saying what I think you're saying? Are you saying there's a Horcrux in the Lestranges vault?"_

"Nah," Ron said. "He thinks it'd be a good day trip."

A few people chuckled.

_"Yes," said Harry. "Bellatrix was terrified when she thought we'd been in there, she was beside herself. Why? What did she think we'd seen, what else did she think we might have taken? Something she was petrified You-Know-Who would find out about."_

"Good point," Ginny muttered.

_"But I thought we were looking for places You-Know-Who's been, places he's done something important?" said Ron, looking baffled. "Was he ever inside the Lestranges' vault?_

"Doubt it," Moody said.

_"I don't know whether he was ever inside Gringotts," said Harry. "He never had gold there when he was younger, because nobody left him anything. He would have seen the bank from the outside, though, the first time he ever went to Diagon Alley."_

_"I think he would have envied anyone who had a key to a Gringotts vault. I think he'd have seen it as a real symbol of belonging to the Wizarding world. And don't forget, he trusted Bellatrix and her husband. They were his most devoted servants before he fell, and they went looking for him after he vanished. He said it night he came back, I heard him."_

"You really understand him," Bill said, shocked.

_"I don't think he'd have told Bellatrix it was a Horcrux, though. He never told Lucius Malfoy the truth about the diary. He probably told her it was a treasured possession and asked her to place it in her vault. The safest place in the world for anything you want to hide, Hagrid told me. . . except for Hogwarts."_

"Is that bad that I think that sounds crazy but right?" Petunia said.

"When Harry's right," Hermione said. "Nothing's logical."

_When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head._

_"You really understand him."_

_"Bits of him," said Harry. "Bits . . ._

Bill chuckled.

_I just wish I'd understood Dumbledore as much. But we'll see. Come on – Ollivander now."_

_Ron and Hermione looked bewildered but very impressed_

"Well, that's because you don't show you've Ravenclaw side very often," Ron chuckled.

"And when you do, it's just these great bits of absolutely genius that seem to come from nowhere," Hermione said, waving her hands around as she talked

_as they followed him across the little landing and knocked upon the door opposite Bill and Fleur's. A weak "Come in!" answered them._

_The wandmaker was lying on the twin bed farthest from the window. He had been held in the cellar for more than a year, and tortured, Harry knew, on at least one occasion._

_He was emaciated, the bones of his face sticking out sharply against the yellowish skin. His great silver eyes seemed vast in their sunken sockets. The hands that lay upon the blanket could have belonged to a skeleton._

"Poor Ollivander," Dora sighed.

_Harry sat down on the empty bed, beside Ron and Hermione. The rising sun was not visible here. The room faced the cliff-top garden and the freshly dug grave._

_"Mr. Ollivander, I'm sorry to disturb you," Harry said._

_"My dear boy," Ollivander's voice was feeble. "You rescued us, I thought we would die in that place, I can never thank you . . . never thank you . . . enough."_

"You can thank me by never mentioning it again," Harry muttered but only Teddy heard him, letting out a snort of laughter.

_"We were glad to do it."_

_Feigning a calm he did not feel, he groped in the pouch around his neck and took out the two halves of his broken wand._

_"Mr. Ollivander, I need some help."_

_"Anything. Anything." Said the wandmaker weakly._

_"Can you mend this? Is it possible?"_

_Ollivander held out a trembling hand, and Harry placed the two barely connected halves in his palm._

_"Holly and phoenix feather," said Ollivander in a tremulous voice. "Eleven inches. Nice and supple."_

_"Yes," said Harry. "Can you - ?"_

_"No," whispered Ollivander. "I am sorry, very sorry, but a wand that has suffered this degree of damage cannot be repaired by any means that I know of."_

"I don't get it," Teddy groaned. "That is the same wand."

_He took the wand halves back and replaced them in the pouch around his neck. Ollivander stared at the place where the shattered wand had vanished, and did not look away until Harry had taken from his pocket the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys'._

_"Can you identify these?" Harry asked._

"That he can do for you," Lily smiled.

_The wandmaker took the first of the wands and held it close to his faded eyes, rolling it between his knobble-knuckled fingers, flexing it slightly._

_"Walnut and dragon heartstring," he said. "Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange."_

Everyone eyes either narrowed or darkened,

_"And this one?"_

_Ollivander performed the same examination._

_"Hawthorn and unicorn hair. Ten inches precisely. Reasonably springy. This was the wand of Draco Malfoy."_

"Was?" James asked.

_"Was?" repeated Harry. "Isn't it still his?"_

_"Perhaps not. If you took it –"_

_"—I did – "_

_"—then it may be yours. Of course, the manner of taking matters. Much also depends upon the wand itself. In general, however, where a wand has been won, its allegiance will change."_

_There was a silence in the room, except for the distant rushing of the sea._

_"You talk about wands like they've got feelings," said Harry, "like they can think for themselves."_

_"The wand chooses the wizard," said Ollivander. "That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore."_

"Yes but wandlore's confusing," Sirius said.

_"A person can still use a wand that hasn't chosen them, though?" asked Harry._

_"Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand."_

_The sea gushed forward and backward; it was a mournful sound. "I took this wand from Draco Malfoy by force," said Harry. "Can I use it safely?"_

_"I think so. Subtle laws govern wand ownership, but the conquered wand will usually bend its will to its new master."_

_"So I should use this one?" said Ron, pulling Wormtail's wand out of his pocket and handing it to Ollivander._

"Only if you don't have your own," Arthur said. "I think."

_"Chestnut and dragon heartstring. Nine-and-a-quarter inches. Brittle. I was forced to make this shortly after my kidnapping, for Peter Pettigrew. Yes, if you won it, it is more likely to do your bidding, and do it well, than another wand."_

"What a joy for you," Sirius said.

_"And this holds true for all wands, does it?" asked Harry._

_"I think so," replied Ollivander, his protuberant eyes upon Harry's face. "You ask deep questions, Mr. Potter. Wandlore is a complex and mysterious branch of magic."_

"No kidding," Dudley said, looking extremely confused.

_"So, it isn't necessary to kill the previous owner to take the possession of a wand?" asked Harry._

_Ollivander swallowed._

_"Necessary? No, I should not say that it is necessary to kill."_

"Shame Voldemort didn't get that point," Harry said.

"Yeah, poor Snape," Hermione murmured.

_"There are legends, though," said Harry, and as his heart rate quickened, the pain in his scar became more intense; he was sure that Voldemort has decided to put his idea into action. "Legends about a wand – or wands – that have been passed from hand to hand by murder."_

_Ollivander turned pale. Against the snowy pillow he was light gray, and his eyes were enormous, bloodshot, and bulging with what looked like fear._

"Careful, Harry," Ginny said.

_"Only one wand, I think," he whispered._

_"And You-Know-Who is interested in it, isn't he?" asked Harry._

_"I – how?" croaked Ollivander, and he looked appealingly at Ron and Hermione for help. "How do you know this?"_

"Better not to ask that," the twins said.

_"He wanted you to tell him how to overcome the connection between our wands," said Harry._

_Ollivander looked terrified._

_"He tortured me, you must understand that! The Cruciatus Curse, I – I had no choice but to tell him what I knew, what I guessed!"_

"That we understand better than you think," Harry and Hermione muttered.

_"I understand," said Harry. "You told him about the twin cores? You said he just had to borrow another wizard's wand?"_

_Ollivander looked horrified, transfixed, by the amount that Harry knew. He nodded slowly._

_"But it didn't work," Harry went on. "Mine still beat the borrowed wand. Do you know why that is?"_

_Ollivander shook his head slowly as he had just nodded._

"Still no answers," Neville muttered.

_"I had . . . never heard of such a thing. Your wand performed something unique that night. The connection of the twin cores is incredibly rare, yet why your wand would have snapped the borrowed wand, I do not know. . . ._

_"We were talking about the other wand, the wand that changes hands by murder. When You-Know-Who realised my wand had done something strange, he came back and asked about that other wand, didn't he?"_

_"How do you know this?"_

"You don't want to know," Petunia said.

_Harry did not answer._

_"Yes, he asked," whispered Ollivander. "He wanted to know everything I could tell him about the wand variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, or the Elder Wand."_

_Harry glanced sideways at Hermione. She looked flabbergasted._

"Aw," the twins said in baby voices. "Poor Hermione."

_"The Dark Lord," said Ollivander in hushed and frightened tones, "had always been happy with the wand I made him – yew and phoenix feather, thirteen-and-a-half inches. – until he discovered the connection of the twin cores. Now he seeks another, more powerful wand, as the only way to conquer yours."_

_"But he'll know soon, if he doesn't already, that mine's broken beyond repair," said Harry quietly._

"What?" Molly yelped. "How?"

_"No!" said Hermione, sounding frightened. "He can't know that, Harry, how could he -?"_

_"Priori Incantatem," said Harry. "We left your wand and the blackthorn wand at the Malfoys', Hermione. If they examine them properly, make them re-create the spells they've cast lately, they'd see that yours broke mine, they'll see that you tried and failed to mend it, and they'll realize that I've been using the blackthorn one ever since."_

"Oh please say they don't think to do that," Dudley said.

_The little colour she had regained since their arrival had drained from her face. Ron gave Harry a reproachful look, and said, "Let's not worry about that now -"_

"Hermione really should lay down," Lily said.

_But Mr. Ollivander intervened._

_"The Dark Lord no longer seeks the Elder Wand only for your destruction, Mr. Potter. He is determined to possess it because he believes it will make him truly invulnerable."_

_"And will it?"_

_"The owner of the Elder Wand must always fear attack," said Ollivander, "but the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of the Deathstick is, I must admit . . . formidable."_

"To say the least," Remus finished Ollivanders sentence.

_Harry was suddenly reminded of how unsure, when they first met, of how much he liked Ollivander. Even now, having been tortured and imprisoned by Voldemort, the idea of the Dark Wizard in possession of this wand seemed to enthrall him as much as it repulsed him._

"He's interested in the wand and magic," Luna said. "Not the man."

_"You – you really think this wand exists, then, Mr. Ollivander?" asked Hermione._

_"Oh yes," said Ollivander. "Yes, it is perfectly possible to trace the wand's course through history. There are gaps, of, course, and long ones, where it vanishes from view, temporarily lost or hidden; but always it resurfaces. It has certain identifying characteristics that those who are learned in wandlore recognize. There are written accounts, some of them obscure, that I and other wandmakers have made it our business to study. They have the ring of authenticity."_

_"So you – you don't think it can be a fairy tale or a myth?" Hermione asked hopefully._

"You just don't want to be wrong," Sirius teased causing Hermione to glare at him.

_"No," said Ollivander. "Whether it needs to pass by murder, I do not know. Its history is bloody, but that may be simply due to the fact that it is such a desirable object, and arouses such passions in wizards. Immensely powerful, dangerous in the wrong hands, and an object of incredible fascination to all of us who study the power of wands."_

_"Mr. Ollivander," said Harry, "you told You-Know-Who that Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand, didn't you?"_

_Ollivander turned, if possible, even paler. He looked ghostly as he gulped._

"'Arry, stop scaring 'im," Fleur reprimanded

_"But how – how do you - ?"_

_"Never mind how I know it," said Harry, closing his eyes momentarily as his scar burned and he saw, for mere seconds, a vision of the main street in Hogsmeade, still dark, because it was so much farther north. "You told You-Know-Who that Gregorovitch had the wand?"_

_"It was a rumour," whispered Ollivander. "A rumour, years and years ago, long before you were born I believe Gregorovitch himself started it. You can see how good it would be for business; that he was studying and duplicating the qualities of the Elder Wand!"_

"I heard that," the twins nodded, causing some others to murmur in agreement.

_"Yes, I can see that," said Harry. He stood up. "Mr. Ollivander, one last thing, and then we'll let you get some rest. What do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"_

_"The – the what?" asked the wandmaker, looking utterly bewildered._

_"The Deathly Hallows."_

_"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Is this still something to do with wands?"_

_Harry looked into the sunken face and believed that Ollivander was not acting. He did not know about the Hallows._

_"Thank you," said Harry. "Thank you very much. We'll leave you to get some rest now."_

_Ollivander looked stricken._

_"He was torturing me!" he gasped. "The Cruciatus Curse . . . you have no idea. . . ."_

"Sadly, they do," Petunia sighed.

_"I do," said Harry, "I really do. Please get some rest. Thank you for telling me all of this."_

_He led Ron and Hermione down the staircase. Harry caught glimpses of Bill, Fleur, Luna, and Dean sitting at the table in the kitchen, cups of tea in front of them. They all looked up at Harry as he appeared in the doorway, but he merely nodded to them and continued into the garden, Ron and Hermione behind him. The reddish mound of earth that covered Dobby lay ahead, and Harry walked back to it._

_It was a huge effort now to close down the visions that were forcing themselves upon him, but he knew that he would have to resist only a little longer. He would yield very soon, because he needed to know that his theory was right. He must make only one more short effort, so that he could explain to Ron and Hermione._

_"Gregorovitch had the Elder Wand a long time ago," he said, "I saw You-Know-Who trying to find him. When he tracked him down, he found that Gregorovitch didn't have it anymore: It was stolen from him by Grindelwald. How Grindelwald found out that Gregorovitch had it, I don't know – but if Gregorovitch was stupid enough to spread the rumour, it can't have been that difficult."_

"Suppose not," James said.

_Voldemort was at the gates of Hogwarts; Harry could see him standing there, and see too the lamp bobbing in the pre-dawn, coming closer and closer._

_"And Grindelwald used the Elder Wand to become powerful. And at the height of his power, when Dumbledore knew he was the only one who could stop him, he duelled Grindelwald and beat him, and he took the Elder Wand."_

_"Dumbledore had the Elder Wand?" said Ron. "But then – where is it now?"_

_"At Hogwarts," said Harry, fighting to remain with them in the cliff-top garden._

"It was buried with him," Dora nodded.

_"But then, let's go!" said Ron urgently. "Harry, let's go and get it before he does!"_

_"It's too late for that," said Harry. He could not help himself, but clutched his head, trying to help it resist. "He knows where it is. He's there now."_

_"Harry!" Ron said furiously. "How long have you known this – why have we been wasting time? Why did you talk to Griphook first? We could have gone – we could still go –"_

"You're meant to get the Horcruxes," Lily said.

_"No," said Harry, and he sank to his knees in the grass. "Hermione's right. Dumbledore didn't want me to have it. He didn't want me to take it. He wanted me to get the Horcruxes."_

_"The unbeatable wand, Harry!" moaned Ron._

"That doesn't matter," Molly sighed.

_"I'm not supposed to . . . I'm supposed to get the Horcruxes. . ."_

Everyone nodded that they agreed with his decision.

_And now everything was cool and dark: The sun was barely visible over the horizon as he glided alongside Snape, up through the grounds toward the lake._

_"I shall join you in the castle shortly," he said in his high, cold voice. "Leave me now."_

_Snape bowed and set off back up the path, his black cloak billowing behind him. Harry walked slowly, waiting for Snape's figure to disappear. It would not do for Snape, or indeed anyone else, to see where he was going._

_But there were no lights in the castle windows, and he could conceal himself . . . and in a second he had cast upon himself a Disillusionment Charm that hid him even from his own eyes._

_And he walked on, around the edge of the lake, taking in the outlines of the beloved castle, his first kingdom, his birthright. . . ._

_And here it was, beside the lake, reflected in the dark waters. The white marble tomb, an unnecessary blot on the familiar landscape. He felt again that rush of controlled euphoria, that heady sense of purpose in destruction. He raised the old yew wand: How fitting that this would be its last great act._

_The tomb split open from head to foot. The shrouded figure was as long as thin as it had been in life. He raised the wand again._

_The wrappings fell open. The face was translucent, pale, sunken, yet almost perfectly preserved. They had left his spectacles on the crooked nose: He felt amused derision. Dumbledore's hands were folded upon his chest, and there it lay, clutched beneath them, buried with him._

_Had the old fool imagined that marble or death would protect the wand? Had he thought that the Dark Lord would be scared to violate his tomb? The spiderlike hand swooped and pulled the wand from Dumbledore's grasp, and as he took it, a shower of sparks flew from its tip, sparkling over the corpse of its last owner, ready to serve a new master at last._

"Great," many muttered.

"Two more memory's then lunch," Ginny smiled.

"Yes!" Sirius and Ron yelled.

_"I have reached my decision, Harry Potter," said the goblin, who was sitting cross-legged in a low chair, drumming its arms with his spindly fingers. "Though the goblins of Gringotts will consider it base treachery, I have decided to help you -"_

"Yes!" everyone grinned except Bill and Fleur who look wary.

_"That's great!" said Harry, relief surging through him. "Griphook, thank you, we're really -"_

_"- in return," said the goblin firmly, "for payment."_

"Zere et es," Fleur sighed as Bill nodded

_"Slightly taken aback, Harry hesitated._

_"How much do you want? I've got gold."_

_"Not gold," said Griphook. "I have gold."_

_His black eyes glittered; there were no whites to his eyes._

_"I want the sword. The sword of Godric Gryffindor."_

"But you need the sword," Dudley groaned.

_Harry's spirits plummeted._

_"You can't have that," he said. "I'm sorry."_

_"Then," said the goblin softly, "we have a problem."_

"Damn," James muttered.

_"We can give you something else," said Ron eagerly. "I'll bet the Lestranges have got loads of stuff, you can take your pick once we get into the vault."_

"A goblin wouldn't steal, Ron," Bill said.

_He had said the wrong thing. Griphook flushed angrily._

_"I am not a thief, boy! I am not trying to procure treasures to which I have no right!"_

_"The sword's ours -"_

_"It is not," said the goblin._

_"We're Gryffindors, and it was Godric Gryffindor's -"_

_"And before it was Gryffindor's, whose was it?" demanded the goblin, sitting up straight._

"Oh Merlin," Lily said. "Here we go."

_"No one's," said Ron. "It was made for him, wasn't it?"_

_"No!" cried the goblin, bristling with anger as he pointed a long finger at Ron. "Wizarding arrogance again! That sword was Ragnuk the First's, taken from him by Godric Gryffindor! It is a lost treasure, a masterpiece of goblinwork! It belongs with the goblins. The sword is the price of my hire, take it or leave it!"_

_Griphook glared at them. Harry glanced at the other two, then said, "We need to discuss this, Griphook, if that's all right. Could you give us a few minutes?"_

_The goblin nodded, looking sour._

"Yes, get out of there before you say something you regret," Arthur said, shaking his head.

"Skipping," Harry said.

_Back in the smallest bedroom, Harry made the offer, careful to phrase it so as not to give any definite time for the handover of the sword. _

"Zat's not going to work," Fleur said.

"They don't trust us," Bill agreed.

_Hermione frowned at the floor while he was speaking however, Griphook had eyes for nobody but Harry._

"Convient," Mad-Eye grumbled, that girl needs a better pokerface.

_"I have your word, Harry Potter, that you will give me the sword of Gryffindor if I help you?"_

_"Yes," said Harry._

_"Then shake," said the goblin, holding out his hand._

_Harry took it and shook. He wondered whether those black eyes saw any misgivings in his own. Then Griphook relinquished him, clapped his hands together, and said, "So. We begin!"_

"Good," everyone said.

"Next memory," Harry said. "April."

Remus grinned, guessing what this was.

"So you actually know the date now," Petunia grinned.

_There was a bang on the front door._

"Oh god," Petunia said.

_Everyone's head turned toward it. Fleur came running out of the kitchen, looking frightened; Bill jumped to his feet, his wand pointing at the door; Harry, Ron, and Hermione did the same. Silently Griphook slipped beneath the table, out of sight._

"Cowardly Goblin," Mad-Eye muttered.

_"Who is it?" Bill called._

_"It is I, Remus John Lupin!" called a voice over the howling wind._

"Dad/Remus," nearly everyone yelled in annoyance.

_"I am a werewolf, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret-Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!"_

"Oh no, what's wrong?" Lily frowned.

_"Lupin," muttered Bill, and he ran to the door and wrenched it open._

_Lupin fell over the threshold. He was white-faced, wrapped in a travelling cloak, his graying hair windswept. He straightened up, looked around the room, making sure of who was there, then cried aloud, "It's a boy! We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"_

Teddy stood there shocked for a moment as everyone but Mad-Eye, who let out a reluctant grin, cheered and then Teddy grinned.

_Hermione shrieked._

_"Wha -? Tonks - Tonks has had the baby?"_

_"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" shouted Lupin. All around the table came cries of delight, sighs of relief: Hermione and Fleur both squealed, "Congratulations!" and Ron said, "Blimey, a baby!" as if he had never heard of such a thing before._

Everyone laughed at Ron exclamation.

_"Yes - yes - a boy," said Lupin again,_

"Calm down, Moony," James and Sirius laughed.

_who seemed dazed by his own happiness. He strode around the table and hugged Harry_

_"You'll be godfather?" he said as he released Harry._

"Duh," Teddy said, grinning as was everyone in the room.

_"M-me?" stammered Harry._

"Of course," Dora laughed. "No one better."

"Seems we did make the right choice, too," Remus grinned.

_"You, yes, of course - Dora quite agrees, no one better -"_

_"I - yeah - blimey -"_

Everyone laughed again.

_Bill was hurrying to fetch wine and Fleur was persuading Lupin to join them for a drink._

_"I can't stay long, I must get back," said Lupin, beaming around at them all: He looked years younger than Harry had ever seen him. "Thank you, thank you, Bill"_

_Bill had soon filled all of their goblets, they stood and raised them high in a toast._

_"To Teddy Remus Lupin," said Lupin, "a great wizard in the making!"_

"This is kind of weird," Teddy said, "but cool."

Everyone laughed again, glad Harry had lightened the mood.

_"'Oo does 'e look like?" Fleur inquired._

_"I think he looks like Dora, but she thinks he is like me. Not much hair. It looked black when he was born, but I swear it's turned ginger in the hour since. Probably blond by the time I get back. _

"That's because I can do this!" Teddy said, changing the colour of his hair from black to ginger and then to blond before turning it back to his normal turquoise.

_Andromeda says Tonks's hair started changing colour the day that she was born." He drained his goblet. "Oh, go on then, just one more," he added, beaming, as Bill made to fill it again._

James and Sirius chuckled.

_The wind buffeted the little cottage and the fire leapt and crackled, and Bill was soon opening another bottle of wine. Lupin's news seemed to have taken them out of themselves, removed them for a while from their state of siege: Tidings of new life were exhilarating. Only the goblin seemed untouched by the suddenly festive atmosphere, and after a while he slunk back to the bedroom he now occupied alone. _

"Boring goblin," Lily laughed.

_Harry thought he was the only one who had noticed this, until he saw Bill's eyes following the goblin up the stairs._

_"No... no... I really must get back," said Lupin at last, declining yet another goblet of wine. He got to his feet and pulled his travelling cloak back around himself._

_"Good-bye, good-bye - I'll try and bring some pictures in a few day's time - they'll all be so glad to know that I've seen you -"_

"Yes we were," Dora beamed.

_He fastened his cloak and made his farewells, hugging the women and grasping hands with the men, then, still beaming, returned into the wild night._

_"Godfather, Harry!" said Bill as they walked into the kitchen together, helping clear the table. "A real honour! Congratulations!"_

"Come on," Ginny giggled as they excited the pensieve. "Let's have lunch."

Lunch was the most boisterous meal they had eaten together the mood from the memory seemed to have stuck with them causing everyone into fits of laughter at slightest things.

Twenty minutes later they finished the meal, still giggling at silly things and headed back down the hall to the family room, to find two people sitting on the sofa talking. They looked up when they entered.

"Sorry, we're a little early," Frank said.

"I hope you don't mind," Alice smiled. "Kreacher let us in."

"Hi, Mum, Dad," Neville nodded.

"Hey," Alice smiled.

"Hello, Neville," Frank said, smiling.

"It's fine," Harry chuckled. "The final battles soon anyway."

This caused all the wizards who fought in the battle flinched as they remembered all that happened

"We're just about to break into Gringotts," Ron said calmly.

"What?" Alice and Frank yelled.

The trio shrugged sheepishly.

"Let's go," Hermione said. "May 1st."

The wizards there shuddered again.

They all landed in the memory with Harry and Ron standing in Shell Cottage's garden

_Then the sound of a door opening made him look around._

_Bellatrix Lestrange was striding across the lawn toward them, accompanied by Griphook._

"So your plan's Polyjuice," Lily nodded as Alice shuddered.

_As she walked, she was tucking the small, beaded bag into the inside pocket of another set of the old robes they had taken from Grimmauld Place. Though Harry knew perfectly well that it was really Hermione, he could not suppress a shiver of loathing._

"Yes, I saw that," she muttered.

"Sorry," Harry said. "Couldn't help it."

_She was taller than he was, her long black hair rippling down her back, her heavily lidded eyes disdainful as they rested upon him; but then she spoke, and he heard Hermione through Bellatrix's low voice._

_"She tasted disgusting, worse than Gurdyroots! Okay, Ron, come here so I can do you . . ."_

_"Right, but remember, I don't like the beard too long"_

_"Oh, for heaven's sake, this isn't about looking handsome"_

_"It's not that, it gets in the way! But I liked my nose a bit shorter, try and do it the way you did last time."_

_Hermione sighed and set to work, muttering under her breath as she transformed various aspects of Ron's appearance._

"What's the plan?" James asked.

"To give Ron a completely new identity and hope Bellatrix's aura can cover for him," Hermione said. "Then Harry and Griphook would go under the cloak."

"That's good," Frank nodded.

_Meanwhile Harry and Griphook were to be concealed under the Invisibility Cloak._

_"There," said Hermione, "how does he look, Harry?"_

_It was just possible to discern Ron under his disguise, but only, Harry thought because he knew him so well. Ron's hair was now long and wavy; he had a thick brown beard and mustache, no freckles, a short, broad nose, and heavy eyebrows._

_"Well, he's not my type, but he'll do," said Harry. "Shall we go, then?"_

The twins, marauders and Teddy laughed.

_All three of them glanced back at Shell Cottage, lying dark and silent under the fading stars, then turned and began to walk toward the point, just beyond the boundary wall, where the Fidelius Chard stopped working and they would be able to Disapparate. Once past the gate, Griphook spoke._

_"I should climb up now, Harry Potter, I think?"_

_Harry bent down and the goblin clambered onto his back, his hands linked on front of Harry's throat._

"Just don't anger him," Sirius warned.

_Hermione pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of the beaded bag and threw it over them both._

_"Perfect," she said, bending down to check Harry's feet. "I can't see a thing. Let's go."_

_Harry turned on the spot, with Griphook on his shoulders, concentrating with all his might on the Leaky Cauldron, the inn that was the entrance to Diagon Alley. The goblin clung even tighter as they moved into the compressing darkness, and seconds later Harry's feet found pavement and he opened his eyes on Charing Cross Road. Muggles bustled past wearing the hangdog expressions of early morning, quite unconscious of the little inn's existence._

_The bar of the Leaky Cauldron was nearly deserted. Tom, the stooped and toothless landlord, was polishing glasses behind the bar counter; a couple of warlocks having a muttered conversation in the far corner glanced at Hermione and drew back into the shadows._

"Don't blame zem," Fleur said

_"Madam Lestrange," murmured Tom, and as Hermione paused he inclined his head subserviently._

_"Good morning," said Hermione,_

"Good Morning!" Fabian said.

"Too polite," Gideon sighed.

_and as Harry crept past, still carrying Griphook piggyback under the Cloak, he saw Tom look surprised._

_"Too polite," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear as they passed out of the Inn into the tiny backyard. "You need to treat people like they're scum!"_

"Exactly," James said.

_"Okay, okay"_

_Hermione drew out Bellatrix's wand and rapped a brick in the nondescript wall in front of them. At once the bricks began to whirl and spin: A hole appeared in the middle of them, which grew wider and wider, finally forming an archway onto the narrow cobbled street that was Diagon Alley._

_It was quiet, barely time for the shops to open, and there were hardly and shoppers abroad. The crooked, cobbled street was much altered now from the bustling place Harry had visited before his first team at Hogwarts so many years before. More shops than ever were boarded up, though several new establishments dedicated to the Dark Arts had been created since his last visit. Harry's own face glared down at him from posters plastered over many windows always captioned with the words UNDESIRABLE NUMBER ONE._

"That looks wrong," Lily sighed, thinking of the place they had been a few days ago.

_A number of ragged people sat huddled in doorways. He heard them moaning to the few passersby, pleading for gold, insisting that they were really wizards. One man had a bloody bandage over his eye._

"Muggle-Borns," Alice sighed.

_As they set off along the street, the beggars glimpsed Hermione. They seemed to melt away before her, drawing hoods over their faces and fleeing as fast as they could. Hermione looked after them curiously, until the man with the bloodied bandage came staggering right across her path._

_"My children," he bellowed, pointing at her. His voice was cracked, high-pitched, he sounded distraught. "Where are my children? What has he done with them? _

"Poor man," Molly sighed.

_You know, you know!"_

_"I-I really-" stammered Hermione._

_The man lunged at her, reaching for her throat._

"Curse him," Moody grunted.

_Then, with a bang and a burst of red light he was thrown backward onto the ground, unconscious. Ron stood there, his wand still outstretched and a look of shock visible behind his beard._

"He's so lucky that's not really Bella," Sirius said.

"He'd be dead, now," Bill nodded.

_Faces appeared at the windows on either side of the street, while a little knot of prosperous-looking passerby gathered their robes about them and broke into gentle trots, keen to vacate the scene._

_Their entrance into Diagon Alley could hardly have been more conspicuous. Before they could move or consult one another, however, they heard a cry from behind them._

_"Why, Madam Lestrange!"_

"Oh no," Neville said.

_Harry whirled around and Griphook tightened his hold around Harry's neck: A tall, think wizard with a crown of bushy gray hair and a long, sharp nose was striding toward them. "It's Travers," hissed the goblin into Harry's ear, but at that moment Harry could not think who Travers was. Hermione had drawn herself up to full height and said with as much contempt as she could muster:_

_"And what do you want?"_

_Travers stopped in his tracks, clearly affronted._

"Death Eater," Luna said.

_"He's another Death Eater!" breathed Griphook, and Harry sidled sideways to repeat the information into Hermione's ear._

_"I merely sought to greet you," said Travers coolly, "but if my presence is not welcome . . ."_

_"No, no, not at all, Travers," said Hermione quickly, trying to cover up her mistake. "How are you?"_

_"Well, I confess I am surprised to see you out and about, Bellatrix."_

_"Really? Why?" asked Hermione._

_"Well," Travers coughed, "I heard that the Inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house, after the . . . ah . . . escape."_

"Crap," the twins said.

_"The Dark Lord forgives those who have served him most faithfully in the past," said Hermione in a magnificent imitation of Bellatrix's most contemptuous manner. "Perhaps your credit is not as good with him as mine is, Travers."_

"You're getting better," Remus approved.

_Though the Death Eater looked offended, he also seemed less suspicious. He glanced down at the man Ron had just Stunned._

_"How did it offend you?"_

_"It does not matter, it will not do so again," said Hermione coolly._

"It," some muttered, shaking their heads.

_"Some of these wandless can be troublesome," said Travers. "While they do nothing but beg I have no objection, but one of them actually asked me to plead her case in the Ministry last week. 'I'm a witch, sir, I'm a witch, let me prove it to you!" he said in a squeaky impersonation. "As if I was going to give her my wand-but whose wand," said Travers curiously, "are you using at the moment, Bellatrix? I heard that your own was-"_

"Think fast," Arthur pleaded.

_"I have my wand here," said Hermione coldly, holding up Bellatrix's wand. "I don't know what rumors you have been listening to, Travers, but you seem sadly misinformed."_

"Good job, Weasley," Mad-Eye approved. "Better. Much better."

_Travers seemed a little taken aback at that, and he turned instead to Ron._

_"Who is your friend? I do not recognize him."_

_"This is Dragomir Despard," said Hermione; they had decided that a fictional foreigner was the safest cover for Ron to assume. "He speaks very little English, but he is in sympathy with the Dark Lord's aims. He has traveled here from Transylvania to see our new regime."_

_"Indeed? How do you do, Dragomir?"_

_"'Ow you?" said Ron, holding out his hand._

_Travers extended two fingers and shook Ron's hand as though frightened of dirtying himself._

_So what brings you and your-ah-sympathetic friend to Diagon Alley this early?" asked Travers._

_"I need to visit Gringotts," said Hermione._

_"Alas, I also," said Travers._

"Damn, now he's going to with you," Dudley complained.

"Gold, filthy gold! We cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the necessity of consorting with our long-fingered friends."

"Oh god," Petunia said.

"Shall we?" said Travers, gesturing Hermione forward.

"Sadly, yes," Alice murmured.

_Hermione had no choice but to fall into step beside him and head along the crooked, cobbled street toward the place where the snowy-white Gringotts stood towering over the other little shops. Ron sloped along beside them, and Harry and Griphook followed._

_A watchful Death Eater was the very last thing they needed, and the worst of it was, with Travers matching at what he believed to be Bellatrix's side, there was no means for Harry to communicate with Hermione or Ron. All too soon they arrived at the foot of the marble steps leading up to the great bronze doors. The liveried goblins, who usually flanked the entrance had been replaced by two wizards, both of whom were clutching long thin golden rods._

_"Ah, Probity Probes," signed Travers theatrically, "so crude-but so effective!"_

"Yes, they are," James said, worried.

_And he set off up the steps, nodding left and right to the wizards, who raised the golden rods and passed them up and down his body.. Knowing that he had only seconds, Harry pointed Draco's wand at each of the guards in turn and murmured, "Confundo" twice. Unnoticed by Travers, who was looking through the bronze doors at the inner hall, each of the guards gave a little start as the spells hit them._

"Good job, Potter," Moody grunted.

"Does he realise I'm Head Auror?" Harry muttered to Ginny, who giggled slightly causing Mad-Eye to look at them.

"This better work," Teddy said.

_Hermione's long black hair rippled behind her as she climbed the steps._

_"One moment, madam," said the guard, raising his Probe._

_"But you've just done that!" said Hermione in Bellatrix's commanding, arrogant voice._

"You are getting good at that," Dora smiled slightly.

_Travers looked around, eyebrows raised. The guard was confused. He stared down at the thin golden Probe and then at his companion, who said in a slightly dazed voice,_

_"Yeah, you've just checked them, Marius."_

_Hermione swept forward. Ron by her side, Harry and Griphook trotting invisibly behind them. _

"You're in," Dudley said.

_Harry glanced back as they crossed the threshold. The wizards were both scratching their heads._

The twins chuckled slightly.

_Two goblins stood before the inner doors, which were made of silver and which carried the poem warning of dire retribution to potential thieves. Harry looked up at it and within seconds they were standing in the vast marble hall of the bank._

_The long counter was manned by goblins sitting on high stools serving the first customers of the day. Hermione, Ron, and Travers headed toward an old goblin who was examining a thick gold coin through an eyeglass. Hermione allowed Travers to step ahead of her on the pretext of explaining features of the hall to Ron. The goblin tossed the coin he was holding aside, said to nobody in particular, "Leprechaun," and then greeted Travers, who passed over a tiny golden key, which was examined and given back to him._

"Do you need a key?" Petunia asked.

"No," most the wizards said.

"It's a high security vault," Bill said. "They're locked in a different way."

_Hermione stepped forward._

_"Madam Lestrange!" said the goblin, evidently startled. "Dear me!" How-how may I help you today?"_

_"I wish to enter my vault," said Hermione._

_The old goblin seemed to recoil a little. Harry glanced around. Not only was Travers hanging back, watching, but several other goblins had looked up from their work to stare at Hermione._

_"You have . . . identification?" asked the goblin._

_"Identification? I-I have never been asked for identification before!" said Hermione._

_"They know!" whispered Griphook in Harry's ear, "They must have been warned there might be an imposter!"_

"Damn," most said.

_"Your wand will do, madam," said the goblin. He held out a slightly trembling hand, and in a dreadful blast of realization Harry knew that the goblins of Gringotts were aware that Bellatrix's wand had been stolen._

_"Act now, act now," whispered Griphook in Harry's ear, "the Imperious Curse!"_

"No!" Lily snapped.

_Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the first time in his life, "Imperio!"_

"Harry!" most people yelled shocked as he grimaced.

_A curious sensation shot down Harry's arm, a feeling of tingling, warmth that seemed to flow from his mind, down the sinews and veins connecting him to the wand and the curse it had just cast. The goblin took Bellatrix's wand, examined it closely, and then said, "Ah, you have had a new wand made, Madam Lestrange!"_

_"What?" said Hermione, "No, no, that's mine—"_

"Go wiz it," Fleur urged.

_"A new wand?" said Travers, approaching the counter again; still the goblins all around were watching. "But how could you have done, which wandmaker did you use?"_

_Harry acted without thinking. Pointing his wand at Travers, he muttered, "Imperio!" once more._

"Harry!" they yelled again.

"I'd prefer Harry to do unforgivables and be safe than not use them and be caught," James sighed. "It's not as if he wants to be using them. They're forgivables in these circumstances."

"Good point," Lily said, although she glared slightly at Harry.

_"Oh yes, I see," said Travers, looking down at Bellatrix's wand, "yes, very handsome, and is it working well? I always think wands require a little breaking in, don't you?"_

_Hermione looked utterly bewildered_

"At least you didn't question," Remus said.

"Things were going our way," Hermione replied. "I wasn't going to question that."

_The old goblin behind the counter clapped his hands and a younger goblin approached._

_"I shall need the Clankers," he told the goblin, who dashed away and returned a moment later with a leather bag that seemed to be full of jangling metal, which he handed to his senior. "Good, good! S, if you will follow me, Madam Lestrange," said the old goblin, hopping down off his stool and vanishing from sight. "I shall take you to your vault."_

"Yes!" everyone cheered.

"What are the clankers for?" Luna asked.

"Something we should never tell Charlie," Bill and Harry said.

_He appeared around the end of the counter, jogging happily toward them,_

"Good," Arthur said. "You aren't good at that curse."

Everyone chuckled a bit.

_the contents of the leather bag still jingling. Travers was now standing quite still with his mouth hanging wide open. Ron was drawing attention to this odd phenomenon by regarding Travers with confusion._

_"Wait – Bogrod!"_

_Another goblin came scurrying around the counter._

_"We have instructions," he said with a bow to Hermione. "Forgive me, Madam, but there have been special orders regarding the vault of Lestrange."_

_He whispered urgently in Bogrod's ear, but the Imperiused goblin shook him off._

_"I am aware of the instructions, Madam Lestrange wishes to visit her vault … Very old family … old clients … This way, please …"_

Lily but her lip wondering what the instructions were.

_And, still clanking, he hurried toward one of the many doors leading off the hall. Harry looked back at Travers , who was still rooted to the spot looking abnormally vacant, and made his decision. With a flick of his wand he made Travers come with them, walking meekly in their wake _

"Probably for the best," Neville said.

"It would be a bit odd," Frank nodded. "If he just stood there."

_as they reached the door and passed into the rough stone passageway beyond, which was lit with flaming torches._

_"We're in trouble; they suspect," said Harry as the door slammed behind them and he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Griphook jumped down from his shoulders: neither Travers nor Bogrod showed the slightest surprise at the sudden appearance of Harry Potter in their midst. "They're Imperiused," he added, in response to Hermione and Ron's confused queries about Travers and Bogrod, who were both now standing there looking blank._

"Thank you for telling us that," Hermione said, sarcastically.

_"I don't think I did it strongly enough, I don't know …"_

"Good," Molly said

_"What do we do?" asked Ron. "Shall we get out now, while we can?"_

"You've got to keep going," Dora said.

_"If we can," said Hermione, looking back toward the door into the main hall, beyond which who knew what was happening._

_"We've got this far, I say we go on," said Harry._

Everyone nodded.

_"Good!" said Griphook. "So, we need Bogrod to control the cart; I no long have the authority. But there will not be room for the wizard."_

_Harry pointed his wand at Travers._

_"Imperio!"_

Lily sighed, wanting to tell Harry off for using an unforgivable but it was saving them and eventually the whole world.

_The wizard turned and set off along the dark track at a smart pace._

_"What are you making him do?"_

_"Hide," said Harry as he pointed his wand at Bogrod, who whistled to summon a little cart that came trundling along the tracks toward them out of the darkness. Harry was sure he could hear shouting behind them in the main hall as they all clambered into it, Bogrod in front of Griphook, Harry, Ron, and Hermione crammed together in the back._

_With a jerk the cart moved off, gathering speed: They hurried past Travers, who was wriggling into a crack in the wall, _

Sirius snorted.

_then the cart began twisting and turning through the labyrinthine passages, sloping downward all the time. Harry could not hear anything over the rattling of the cart on the tracks: His hair flew behind him as they swerved between stalactites, flying ever deeper into the earth, but he kept glancing back. They might as well have left enormous footprints behind them_

_There were a deeper than Harry had ever penetrated within Gringotts; they took a hairpin bend at speed and saw ahead of them, with seconds to spare, a waterfall pounding over the track. _

"Zief's Downfall," Fleur said. "Removes all enchantments."

"No!" everyone except the trio yelled.

_Harry heard Griphook shout, "No!" but there was no braking._

_They zoomed through it. Water filled Harry's eyes and mouth: He could not see or breathe: Then, with an awful lurch, the cart flipped over and they were all thrown out of it._

"No!" several people yelled.

_Harry heard the cart smash into pieces against the passage wall, heard Hermione shriek something, and felt himself glide back toward the ground as though weightless, landing painlessly on the rocky passage floor._

_"C-Cushioning Charm," Hermione spluttered,_

"Good job," Alice smiled.

_as Ron pulled her to her feet, but to Harry's horror he saw that she was no longer Bellatrix; instead she stood there in overlarge robes, sopping wet and completely herself; Ron was red-haired and beardless again. They were realizing it as they looked at each other, feeling their own faces._

"Your disguises are gone," Luna groaned.

_"The Thief's Downfall!" said Griphook, clambering to his feet and looking back the deluge onto the tracks, which, Harry knew now, had been more than water. "It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are imposers in Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!"_

"Great," Neville muttered.

_Harry saw Hermione checking that she still had the beaded bag, and hurriedly thrust his own hand under his jacket to make sure he had not lost the Invisibility Cloak._

_Then he turned to see Bogrod shaking his head in bewilderment: The Thief's Downfall seemed to have lifted his Imperius Curse._

"It does that," Bill nodded.

_"We need him," said Griphook, "we cannot enter the vault without a Gringott's goblin. And we need the clankers!"_

_"Imperio!" Harry said again; his voice echoed through the stone passage _

_Bogrod submitted once more to his will, his befuddled expression changing to one of polite indifference, as Ron hurried to pick up the leather bag of metal tools._

_"Harry, I think I can hear people coming!" said Hermione,_

"No," Molly cried.

_and she pointed Bellatrix's wand at the waterfall and cried, "Protego!" They saw the Shield Charm break the flow of enchanted water as it flew up the passageway._

"That'll hold them off," Fabian said.

"But not for long," Gideon frowned.

_"Good thinking," said Harry. "Lead the way, Griphook!"_

_"How are we going to get out again?" Ron asked as they hurried on foot into the darkness after the goblin, Bogrod panting in their wake like an old dog._

_"Let's worry about that when we have to," said Harry.. "Griphook, how much farther?"_

_"Not far, Harry Potter, not far …"_

"Good," Teddy said.

_And they turned a corner and saw the thing for which Harry had been prepared, but which still brought all of them to a halt._

_A gigantic dragon_

"Oh my god," Petunia said, looking pale.

"Wicked," Dudley said.

"So there are Dragon's in Gringotts," Sirius laughed.

_was tethered to the ground in front of them, barring access to four or five of the deepest vaults in the place. The beast's scales had turned pale and flaky during its long incarceration under the ground, its eyes were milkily pink; both rear legs bore heavy cuffs from which chains led to enormous pegs driven deep into the rocky floor. Its great spiked wings, folded close to its body, would have filled the chamber if it spread them, and when it turned its ugly head toward them, it roared with a noise that made the rock tremble, opened its mouth, and spat a jet of fire that sent them running back up the passageway._

_"It is partially blind," panted Griphook, "but even more savage for that. However, we have the means to control it. It has learned what to expect when the Clankers come. Give them to me."_

_Ron passed the bag to Griphook, and the goblin pulled out a number of small metal instruments that when shaken made a long ringing noise like miniature hammers on anvils. Griphook handed them out: Bogrod accepted his meekly._

_"You know what to do," Griphook told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "It will expect pain when it hears the noise._

"That's barbaric!" Luna and Ginny yelled.

_It will retreat, and Bogrod must place his palm upon the door of the vault."_

"Doesn't sound too hard," Frank said.

"Sound being the key word," Neville grinned.

_They advanced around the corner again, shaking the Clankers, and the noise echoed off the rocky walls, grossly magnified. The dragon let out another hoarse roar, then retreated. Harry could see it trembling,_

"Poor thing," Luna said.

"And that's why you said never to tell Charlie," Arthur nodded.

"Good thinking," Molly agreed imagine the look on her second oldest face if he saw what was happening now.

_and as they drew nearer he saw the scars made by vicious slashes across its face, and guess that it had been taught to fear hot swords when it heard the sound of the Clankers._

_"Make him press his hand to the door!" Griphook urged Harry, who turned his wand again upon Bogrod. The old goblin obeyed, pressing his palm to the wood, and the door of the vault melted away to reveal a cavelike opening crammed from floor to ceiling with golden coins and goblets, silver armor, the skins of strange creatures – some with long spines, other with drooping wings – potions in jeweled flasks, and a skull still wearing a crown._

"You're in!" James grinned.

"Now quick," Petunia said.

_"Search, fast!" said Harry as they all hurried inside the vault. He had described Hufflepuff's cup to Ron and Hermione, but if it was the other, unknown Horcrux that resided in this vault, he did not know what it looked like. He barely had time to glance around, however, before there was a muffled clunk from behind them: The door had reappeared, sealing them inside the vault, and they were plunged into total darkness._

Several people gasped.

_"No matter, Bogrod will be able to release us!" said Griphook as Ron gave a shout of surprise. "Light your wands, can't you? And hurry, we have little time!"_

_"Lumos!"_

_Harry shone his lit wand around the vault: Its beam fell upon glittering jewels; he saw the fake sword of Gryffindor lying on a high shelf amongst a jumble of chains. Ron and Hermione had lit their wands too, and were now examining the piles of objects surrounding them._

_"Harry, could this be - ? Aargh!"_

_Hermione screamed in pain, and Harry turned his wand on her in time to see a jeweled goblet tumbling from her grip. But as it fell, it split, became a shower of goblets, so that a second later, with a great clatter, the floor was covered in identical cups rolling in every direction, the original impossible to discern amongst them._

_"It burned me!" moaned Hermione, sucking her blistered fingers._

"Germino and Flagrante," Remus groaned.

_"They have added Germino and Flagrante Curses!" said Griphook._

_"Everything you touch will burn and multiply, but the copies are worthless – and if you continue to handle the treasure, you will eventually be crushed to death by the weight of expanding gold!"_

"Brilliant," Alice complained.

_"Okay, don't touch anything!" said Harry desperately, but even as he said it, Ron accidentally nudged one of the fallen goblets with his foot, and twenty more exploded into being while Ron hopped on the spot, part of his shoe burned away by contact with the hot metal._

_"Stand still, don't move!" said Hermione, clutching at Ron_

_"Just look around!" said Harry. "Remember, the cup's small and gold, it's got a badger engraved on it, two handles – otherwise see if you can spot Ravenclaw's symbol anywhere, the eagle –"_

"Hufflepuff's in there," Neville guessed since Harry, Ron and Hermione had been looking for Ravenclaw when they came to the castle.

_They directed their wands into every nook and crevice, turning cautiously on the spot. It was impossible not to brush up against anything; Harry sent a great cascade of fake Galleons onto the ground where they joined the goblets, and now there was scarcely room to place their feet, and the glowing gold blazed with heat, so that the vault felt like a furnace. Harry's wandlight passed over shields and goblin-made helmets set on shelves rising to the ceiling; higher and higher he raised the beam, until suddenly it found an object._

_"It's there, it's up there!"_

"Yes!" everyone cheered.

_Ron and Hermione pointed there wands at it too, so that the little golden cup sparkled in a three-way spotlight: the cup that had belonged to Helga Hufflepuff, which had passed into the possession of Hepzibah Smith, from whom it had been stolen by Tom Riddle._

_"And how the hell are we going to get up there without touching anything?" asked Ron._

_"Accio Cup!" cried Hermione, _

"Can't do that," Bill said.

"I know," Hermione said. "Griphook told us."

_"No use, no use!" snarled the goblin._

_"Then what do we do?" said Harry, glaring at the goblin. "If you want the sword, Griphook, then you'll have to help us more than – wait! Can I touch stuff with the sword? Hermione, give it here!"_

"Please say that'll work," Dudley said.

_Hermione fumbled insider her robes, drew out a beaded bag, rummaged for a few seconds, then removed the shining sword. Harry seized it by its rubied hilt and touched the tip of the blade to a silver flagon nearby, which did not multiply._

"Yes," the twins said.

_"If I can just poke the sword through a handle – but how am I going to get up there?"_

_The shelf on which the cup reposed was out of reach for any of them, even Ron, who was tallest. The heat from the enchanted treasure rose in waves, and sweat ran down Harry's face and back as he struggled to think of a way up to the cup; and then he heard the dragon roar on the other side of the vault door, and the sound of clanking growing louder and louder._

"You're trapped," Frank groaned.

_They were truly trapped now: There was no way out except through the door, and a horde of goblins seemed to be approaching on the other side. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and saw terror in their faces._

_"Hermione," said Harry, as the clanking grew louder, "I've got to get up there, we've got to get rid of it –"_

_She raised her wand, pointed it at Harry, and whispered, "Levicorpus."_

"Brilliant," Sirius said.

_Hoisted into the air by his ankle, Harry hit a suit of armor and replicas burst out of it like white-hot bodies, filling the cramped space._

"Not good," Lily winced.

_With screams of pain, Ron, Hermione, and the two goblins were knocked aside into other objects, which also began to replicate. Half buried in a rising tide of red-hot treasure, they struggled and yelled has Harry thrust the sword through the handle of Hufflepuff's cup, hooking it onto the blade._

"Yes," everyone said.

"Now get out," Molly fretted.

_Impervius!" screeched Hermione in an attempt to protect herself, Ron, and the goblins from the burning metal._

_Then the worst scream yet made Harry look down: Ron and Hermione were waist deep in treasure, struggling to keep Bogrod from slipping beneath the rising tide, but Griphook had sunk out of sight; and nothing but the tips of a few long fingers were left in view._

"Oh Merlin," Arthur said, wide eyed.

_Harry seized Griphook's fingers and pulled. The blistered goblin emerged by degrees, howling._

_"Liberatocorpus!" yelled Harry, and with a crash he and Griphook landed on the surface of the swelling treasure, and the sword flew out of Harry's hand._

"Damn," James groaned.

_"Get it!" Harry yelled, fighting the pain of the hot metal on his skin, as Griphook clambered onto his shoulders again, determined to avoid the swelling mass of red-hot objects. "Where's the sword? It had the cup on it!"_

_The clanking on the other side of the door was growing deafening – it was too late –_

_"There!"_

_It was Griphook who had seen it and Griphook who lunged._

"He's going to take it," Luna said. "He didn't trust you to keep your word. Goblins don't."

_One hand holding tightly to a fistful of Harry's hair, to make sure he did not fall into the heaving sea of burning gold, Griphook seized the hilt of the sword and swung it high out of Harry's reach. The tiny golden cup, skewered by the handle on the sword's blade was flung into the air._

"No!" everyone cried.

_The goblin astride him, Harry dived and caught it, and although he could feel it scalding his flesh he did not relinquish it, even while countless Hufflepuff cups burst from his fist, raining down upon him as the entrance of the vault opened up again and he found himself sliding uncontrollably on an expanding avalanche of fiery gold and silver that bore him, Ron, Hermione into the outer chamber._

_Hardly aware of the pain from the burns covering his body, and still borne along the swell of replicating treasure, Harry shoved the cup into his pocket and reached up to retrieve the sword, but Griphook was gone. Sliding from Harry's shoulders the moment he could, he had sprinted for cover amongst the surrounding goblins, brandishing the sword and crying, "Thieves! Thieves! Help! Thieves!"_

"Never trust goblins," Teddy said.

_He vanished into the midst of the advancing crowd, all of whom were holding daggers and who accepted him without question._

_Slipping on the hot metal, Harry struggled to his feet and knew that the only way out was through._

_"Stupefy!" he bellowed, and Ron and Hermione joined in: Jets of red light flew into the crowd of goblins, and some toppled over, but others advanced, and Harry saw several wizard guards running around the corner._

_The tethered dragon let out a roar, and a gush of flame flew over the goblins; the wizards fled, doubled-up, back the way they had come._

"Now what?" Dora asked, desperately.

"You'll see," everyone who'd been alive said.

_Pointing his wand at the thick cuffs chaining the beast to the floor, he yelled, "Relashio!"_

_The cuffs broken open with loud bangs._

_"This way!" Harry yelled, and still shooting Stunning Spells at the advancing goblins, he sprinted toward the blind dragon._

_"Harry – Harry – what are you doing?" cried Hermione._

"Good question," Lily said

_"Get up, climb up, come on –"_

_The dragon had not realised that it was free: Harry's foot found the crook of its hind leg and he pulled himself up onto its back. The scales were hard as steel; it did not even seem to feel him. He stretched out an arm; Hermione hoisted herself up; Ron climbed on behind them, and a second later the dragon became aware that it was untethered._

"You're mad!" several people said.

"Insane!" other said.

"You're going to fly the dragon, aren't you?" Sirius asked.

_With a roar it reared: Harry dug in his knees, clutching as tightly as he could to the jagged scales as the wings opened, knocking the shrieking goblins aside like skittles, and it soared into the air. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, flat on its back, scraped against the ceiling as it dived toward the passage opening, while the pursuing goblins hurled daggers that glanced off its flanks._

_"We'll never get out, it's too big!" Hermione screamed,_

"Don't be so sure," Ginny smiled.

_but the dragon opened its mouth and belched flame again, blasting the tunnel, whose floors and ceiling cracked and crumbled. By sheer force, the dragon clawed and fought its way through. Harry's eyes were shut tight against the heat and dust: Deafened by the crash of rock and the dragon's roars, he could only cling to its back, expecting to be shaken off at any moment; then he heard Hermione yelling, "Defodio!"_

"Yes, give it a hand," Fabian said

"This isn't just a ride," Gideon agreed.

_She was helping the dragon enlarge the passageway, carving out the ceiling as it struggled upward toward the fresher air, away from the shrieking and clanking goblins: Harry and Ron copied her, blasting the ceiling apart with more gouging spells. They passed the underground lake, and the great crawling, snarling beast seemed to sense freedom and space ahead of it, and behind them the passage was full of the dragon's thrashing, spiked tail, of great lumps of rock, gigantic fractured stalactites, and the clanking of the goblins seemed to be growing more muffled, while ahead, the dragon's fire kept their progress clear –_

_And then at last, by the combined force of their spells and the dragon's brute strength, they had blasted their way out of the passage into the marble hallway. Goblins and wizards shrieked and ran for cover, and finally the dragon had room to stretch its wings: Turning its horned head toward the cool outside air it could smell beyond the entrance, it took off, and with Harry, Ron, and Hermione still clinging to its back, it forced its way through the metal doors, leaving them buckled and hanging from their hinges, as it staggered into Diagon Alley and launched itself into the sky._

"You broke into Gringotts," Teddy said, shaking his head.

"And got out," Lily said. "Alive."

"You're flying a dragon!" Sirius yelled. "That's amazing."

Everyone laughed.

"That is something," Frank nodded, grinning.

_Harry, Ron and Hermione struck out for the opposite shore. The lake did not seem to be deep. Soon it was more a question of fighting their way through reeds and mud than swimming, and at last they flopped, sodden, panting, and exhausted, onto slippery grass._

_Hermione collapsed, coughing and shuddering._

"Were you okay?" Molly asked

"I was fine," Hermione smiled. "You saw me soon anyway."

"Now is not the time for exhaustion," Moody said.

"For goodness sake, Mad-Eye –" Tonks began but got cut off.

"Constant Vigilance," Moody half yelled.

_Harry staggered to his feet, drew out his wand, and started casting the usual protective spells around them._

"Good," Frank said.

"See, Potter know how it's down," Moody grunted.

Ron and Hermione playfully scowled at Harry.

_When he had finished, he joined the others. It was the first time that he had seen them properly since escaping from the vault. Both had angry red burns all over their faces and arms, and their clothing was singed away in places._

"God," Dudley said.

_They were wincing as they dabbed essence of dittany onto their many injuries. Hermione handed Harry the bottle, then pulled out three bottles of pumpkin juice she had brought from Shell Cottage and clean, dry robes for all of them._

"Thank god," Petunia said, glad they had some drink.

_They changes and then gulped down the juice._

_"Well, on the upside," said Ron finally, who was sitting watching the skin on his hands regrow, "we got the Horcrux. On the downside-"_

"No sword," many mumbled.

_"- no sword," said Harry through gritted teeth, as he dripped dittany through the singed hole in his jeans onto the angry burn beneath._

_"No sword," repeated Ron. "That double-crossing little scab..."_

_Harry pulled the Horcrux from the pocket of the wet jacket he had just taken off and set it down on the grass in front of them. Glinting in the sun, it drew their eyes as they swigged their bottles of juice._

_"At least we can't wear it this time, that'd look a bit weird hanging around our necks," said Ron, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand._

"That's true," the twins chuckled.

"And good," Petunia shuddered.

_Hermione looked across the lake to the far bank where the dragon was still drinking._

_"What'll happen to it, do you think?" she asked, "Will it be alright?"_

"Hermione," Ginny said exasperated. "That's so not the point right now."

"I think Charlie would disagree,"Bill laughed.

_"You sound like Hagrid," said Ron, "It's a dragon, Hermione, it can look after itself. It's us we need to worry about."_

"Exactly," Mad-Eye grunted.

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well I don't know how to break this to you," said Ron, "but I think they might have noticed we broke into Gringotts."_

Everyone laughed.

"At least Molly here knew you were alright," Lily said, she could imagine Molly fretting about worrying about these three."Ginny, too."

_All three of them started to laugh, and once started, it was difficult to stop. Harry lay back on the grass beneath the reddening sky and laughed until his throat was raw. "What are we going to do, though?" said Hermione finally, hiccupping herself back to seriousness_

"Yes," Moody said. "Back to business, it wasn't even that funny."

"Come on, Mad-Eye," Hermione giggled. "We hadn't laughed properly for months."

_"He'll know, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"_

"Probably," Frank nodded.

"No, probably about it, Longbottom," Moody said.

_"Maybe they'll be too scared to tell him!" said Ron hopefully, "Maybe they'll cover up -"_

"They wouldn't do that," James disagreed.

_The sky, the smell of the lake water, the sound of Ron's voice were extinguished. _

_He was standing in a dimly lit room, and a semicircle of wizards faced him, and on the floor at his feet knelt a small, quaking figure._

"Goblins," Fleur sighed.

_"What did you say to me?" His voice was high and cold, but fury and fear burned inside him. The one thing that he had dreaded - but it could not be true, he could not see how..._

_The goblin was trembling, unable to meet the red eyes high above his._

_"Say it again!" murmured Voldemort. "Say it again!"_

_"M-my Lord," stammered the goblin, its black eyes wide with terror, "m-my Lord... we t-tried to st-stop them... Im-impostors, my Lord... broke - broke into the - into the Lestranges' vault..."_

_"Impostors? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had ways of revealing impostors? Who were they?"_

"Who do you think?" Dudley chuckled.

_"It was... it was... the P-Potter b-boy and the t-two accomplices..."_

_"And they took?" he said, his voice rising, a terrible fear gripping him, "Tell me! What did they take?"_

_"A... a s-small golden c-cup m-my Lord..."_

_The scream of rage, of denial left him as if it were a stranger's._

"He'll kill them all," Lily sighed.

_it could not be true, it was impossible, nobody had known. How was it possible that the boy could have discovered his secret?_

"Dumbledore," everyone smirked.

_The Elder Wand slashed through the air and green light erupted through the room; the kneeling goblin rolled over dead; the watching wizards scattered before him, terrified. Bellatrix and Lucius Malfoy threw others behind them in their race for the door,_

"Of course they did," Sirius growled.

_and again and again his wand fell, and those who were left were slain, all of them, for bringing him this news, for hearing about the golden cup –_

"Don't kill the messenger," the twins said.

_Alone amongst the dead he stomped up and down, and they passed before him in vision: his treasures, his safeguards, his anchors to immortality - the diary was destroyed and the cup was stolen. What if, what if, the boy knew about the others? _

"He knows," Teddy chuckled.

_Could he know, had he already acted, had he traced more of them?_

"Yep," James grinned.

_Was Dumbledore at the root of this? _

"In a way," Dora smiled.

_Dumbledore, who had always suspected him; Dumbledore, dead on his orders; Dumbledore, whose wand was his now, yet who reached out from the ignominy of death through the boy, the boy –_

"Harry has his own motives," Bill said.

_But surely if the boy had destroyed any of his Horcruxes, he, Lord Voldemort, would have known, would have felt it? _

"Nope," the trio grinned.

_He, the greatest wizard of them all; he, the most powerful; he, the killer of Dumbledore and of how many other worthless, nameless men._

"He didn't kill Dumbledore," Molly said.

"And no man is worthless," Arthur frowned.

_How could Lord Voldemort not have known, if he, himself, most important and precious, had been attacked, mutilated?_

"Because you're stupid," Neville chuckled.

_True, he had not felt it when the diary had been destroyed, but he had thought that was because he had no body to fell, being less than ghost... No, surely, the rest were safe... The other Horcruxes must be intact..._

"Nope," Frank smirked.

_But he must know, he must be sure... He paced the room, kicking aside the goblin's corpse as he passed, and the pictures blurred and burned in his boiling brain: the lake, the shack, and Hogwarts –_

"It's at Hogwarts!" Sirius yelled. "Harry told you."

"Yep," Hermione nodded.

"And we didn't listen," Ron shook his head.

"But where?" Moody grunted.

_How could the boy know that he had hidden the ring in the Gaunt shack?_

"Now that was Dumbledore," Alice smiled.

_No one had ever known him to be related to the Gaunts, he had hidden the connection, the killings had never been traced to him. The ring, surely, was safe._

"No," everyone chuckled.

_And how could the boy, or anybody else, know about the cave or penetrate its protection? The idea of the locket being stolen was absurd..._

"And that's been broken into twice," Remus laughed.

_As for the school: He alone knew where in Hogwarts he had stowed the Horcrux, because he alone had plumed the deepest secrets of that place..._

"Arrogant idiot," Ginny grinned.

_And there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his protection..._

_But to be sure, to be utterly sure, he must return to each of his hiding places, he must redouble protection around each of his Horcruxes... A job, like the quest for the Elder Wand, that he must undertake alone..._

_Which should he visit first, which was in most danger?_

"Not Hogwarts," the dead chanted.

_An old unease flickered inside him. Dumbledore had known his middle name... Dumbledore might have made the connection with the Gaunts..._

"Yep," Lily smirked.

_Their abandoned home was, perhaps, the least secure of his hiding places, it was there that he would go first..._

"Good," the dead at this time said.

_The lake, surely impossible... though was there a slight possibility that Dumbledore might have known some of his past misdeeds, through the orphanage._

"He'll ignore that for now, then," said Molly.

_And Hogwarts... but he knew that his Horcrux there was safe; it would be impossible for Potter to enter Hogsmeade without detection, let alone the school._

"So there must be Death Eaters," Petunia frowned.

_Nevertheless, it would be prudent to alert Snape to the fact that the boy might try to reenter the castle. ... To tell Snape why the boy might return would be foolish, of course; it had been a grave mistake to trust Bellatrix and Malfoy. Didn't their stupidity and carelessness prove how unwise it was ever to trust?_

"No, you just have to choose the right people!" Teddy said, causing his two parental figures and parents to smile proudly at him.

_He would visit the Gaunt shack first, then, and take Nagini with him. He would not be parted from the snake anymore ... and he strode from the room, through the hall, and out into the dark garden where the fountain played; he called the snake in Parseltongue and it slithered out to join him like a long shadow. ..._

Ginny shivered.

_Harry's eyes flew open as he wrenched himself back to the present. He was lying on the bank of the lake in the setting sun, and Ron and Hermione were looking down at him. Judging by their worried looks, and by the continued pounding of his scar, his sudden excursion into Voldemort's mind had not passed unnoticed._

"Of course it hadn't," Ginny smiled.

_He struggled up, shivering, vaguely surprised that he was still wet to his skin, and saw the cup lying innocently in the grass before him, and the lake, deep blue shot with gold in the falling sun._

_"He knows."_

"That'll shock them,"Luna said.

_"He knows and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he was already on his feet," is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I knew it."_

"That's because you have good instincts," Moody said.

"And because he knows that part of Voldemort well," Frank added.

_"What?" Ron was gaping at him; Hermione sat up, looking worried._

_"But what did you see? How do you know?"_

_"I saw him find out about the cup, I - I was in his head, he's" - Harry remembered the killings - "he's seriously angry, and scared too, he can't understand how we knew, and now he's going to check the others are safe, the ring first. He thinks the Hogwarts one is safest, because Snape's there, because it'll be so hard not to be seen getting in. I think he'll check that one last, but he could still be there within hours -"_

"He can fly," Arthur agreed.

_"Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?" asked Ron, now scrambling to his feet too._

"Sadly, no," Fleur sighed.

_"No, he was concentrating on warning Snape, he didn't think about exactly where it is -"_

"McGonagall and the other teachers can take on Snape," Sirius said.

_"Wait, wait!" cried Hermione as Ron caught up to the Horcrux and Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak again. "We can't just go, we haven't got a plan, we need to -"_

"The time for planning has passed," Moody said. "You _need_ to act."

"Anyhow, when did our plan's ever work," Harry grinned. "We planned and we planned but when we got there, all hell broke lose."

"No kidding," Ron said bitterly.

_"We need to get going," said Harry firmly. "Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realizes the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts Horcrux, decides it isn't safe enough?"_

_"But how are we going to get in?"_

Lily bit her lip.

_"We'll go to Hogsmeade," said Harry,_

"You're going to Apparate in Hogsmeade," Moody grunted. "Idiot thing to do,"

_"and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's like. Get under the Cloak, Hermione, I want to stick together this time."_

_"But we don't really fit -"_

"It'll be dark," Frank said.

_"It'll be dark, no one's going to notice our feet." _

_The flapping of enormous wings echoed across the black water. _

"Dragon'S gone," Bill smiled.

_The dragon had drunk its fill and risen into the air. They paused in their preparations to watch it climb higher and higher, now black against the rapidly darkening sky, until it vanished over a nearby mountain. Then Hermione walked forward and took her place between the other two, Harry pulled the Cloak down as far as it would go, and together they turned on the spot into the crushing darkness._

_Harry's feet touched the road. He saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, and the mist line of black mountains beyond the village and the curve in the road ahead that led off toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows of the Three Broomsticks, all this in a second, upon landing - and then, even as he relaxed his grip upon Ron's and Hermione's arms, it happened._

_The air was rent by a scream that sounded like Voldemort's when he had realised the cup had been stolen: He knew that their appearance had caused it._

"Caterwauling charm," Mad-Eye grunted.

"What's that?" Petunia asked.

"Bugler alarm," Harry said basically.

_Even as he looked at the other two beneath the Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open and a dozen cloaked and hooded Death Eaters dashed into the streets, their wands aloft._

_Harry seized Ron's wrist as he raised his wand; there were too many of them to fight. Even attempting it would have give away their position. One of the Death Eaters raised his wand, and the scream stopped, still echoing around the distant mountains._

_"Accio Cloak!" roared one of the Death Eaters_

"Won't work," James sang causing people to sigh with relief.

_Harry seized his folds, but it made no attempt to escape. The Summoning Charm had not worked on it._

_"Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?" yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm and then to his fellows. "Spread now. He's here."_

_Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron and Hermione backed as quickly as possible down the nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed them by inches. _

Frank let out a low whistle.

_They waited in the darkness, listening to the footsteps running up and down, beams of light flying along the street from the Death Eaters' searching wands._

_"Let's just leave!" Hermione whispered. "Disapparate now!"_

"No," Alice said.

_"Great idea," said Ron, but before Harry could reply, a Death Eater shouted,_

_"We know you are here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"_

"They'll cast an Anti-apparition charm," Lily guessed

_"They were ready for us," whispered Harry. "They set up that spell to tell them we'd come. I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us - "_

_"What about dementors?" called another Death Eater. "Let'em have free rein, they'd find him quick enough!"_

"No!" everyone said.

_"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hands but his - "_

"Dementors take your soul, idiot," Dora said.

"Harry would still be alive," Remus said. "But please don't."

_" 'an dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, nor his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"_

Several people hissed but others blanched remembering what Harry did.

_There were noises of agreement. Dread filled Harry: To repel dementors they would have to produce Patronuses which would give them away immediately._

Everyone groaned remembering how noticeable and recognizable Harry's Patronus was.

_"We're going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!" Hermione whispered._

_Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural cold being spread over the street. Light was sucked from the environment right up to the stars, which vanished. In the pitch blackness, he felt Hermione take hold of his arm and together, they turned on the spot._

_The air through which they needed to move, seemed to have become solid_

"You can't leave now," Luna said

_He, Ron and Hermione retreated down the side street, groping their way along the wall trying not to make a sound. Then, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, came dementors, ten or more of them, visible because they were of a denser darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks and their scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in the vicinity?_

"No but they sense souls," Remus said.

_They seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling breaths he detested, tasting despair in the air, closing in -_

_He raised his wand._

_It was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he whispered "Expecto Patronum!"_

"It's always Ron and Hermione," Ginny teased.

_The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: The Dementors scattered and there was a triumphant yell from somewhere out of sight_

_"It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"_

"Damn it," Moody said but he knew he would have done the same.

_The Dementors have retreated, the stars were popping out again and the footsteps of the Death Eaters were becoming louder; but before Harry in his panic could decide what to do, there was a grinding of bolts nearby, a door opened on the left-side of the narrow street, and a rough voice said: "Potter, in here, quick!"_

"It could be a trick," Sirius said.

_He obeyed without hesitation, the three of them hurried through the open doorway._

_"Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!" muttered a tall figure, passing them on his way into the street and slammed the door behind him._

_Harry had had no idea where they were, but now he saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust bar of the Hog's Head Inn._

"Aberforth," many breathed.

_They ran behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a trickery wooden staircase, that they climbed as fast as they could. The stairs opened into a sitting room with a durable carpet and a small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of a vacant sweetness._

"Ariana," the trio said.

_Shouts reached from the streets below. Still wearing the Invisibility Cloak on, they hurried toward the grimy window and looked down. Their savior, whom Harry now recognized as the Hog's Head's barman, was the only person not wearing a hood._

_"So what?" he was bellowing into one of the hooded faces. "So what? You send dementors down my street, I'll send a Patronus back at'em! I'm not having'em near me, I've told you that. I'm not having it!"_

"Go Aberforth." The twins chuckled.

_"That wasn't your Patronus," said a Death Eater. "That was a stag. It was Potter's!"_

_"Stag!" roared the barman, and he pulled out a wand. "Stag! You idiot - Expecto Patronum!"_

_Something huge and horned erupted from the wand. Head down, it charged toward the High Street, and out of sight._

"A goat," James guessed.

_"That's not what I saw" said the Death Eater, though was less certainly_

"Good," Lily and Molly breathed.

_"Curfew's been broken, you heard the noise," one of his companions told the barman. "Someone was out on the streets against regulations - "_

"So they don't know it's you," Dudley sighed relieved.

_"If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to your curfew!"_

Lily giggled.

_"You set off the Caterwauling Charm?"_

_"What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven't pressed your little Dark Marks, and summoned him. He's not going to like being called here, for me and my old cat, is he, now?"_

_"Don't worry about us." said one of the Death Eaters, "worry about yourself, breaking curfew!"_

"Shut up," the twins said.

_"And where will you lot traffic potions and poisons when my pub's closed down? What will happen to your little sidelines then?"_

_"Are you threatening - ?"_

_"I keep my mouth shut, it's why you come here, isn't it?"_

_"I still say I saw a stag Patronus!" shouted the first Death Eater._

_"Stag?" roared the barman. "It's a goat, idiot!"_

The twins and marauders chuckled.

_"All right, we made a mistake," said the second Death Eater. "Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!"_

_The Death Eaters strode back towards the High Street. Hermione moaned with relief, wove out from under the Cloak, and sat down on a wobble-legged chair. Harry drew the curtains then pulled the Cloak off himself and Ron. They could hear the barman down below, rebolting the door of the bar, then climbing the stairs._

_Harry's attention was caught by something on the mantelpiece: a small, rectangular mirror, propped on top of it, right beneath the portrait of the girl._

"Is that what I think it is?" Sirius asked and Harry nodded.

_The barman entered the room._

_"You bloody fools," he said gruffly, looking from one to the other of them. "What were you thinking, coming here?"_

_"Thank you," said Harry. "We can't thank you enough. You saved our lives!"_

_The barman grunted._

"That's your welcome," Ginny giggled.

_Harry approached him looking up into the face: trying to see past the long, stringy, wire-gray hair beard. He wore spectacles. Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue._

"Dumbledore's eye!" Lily said. "We were thinking the wrong Dumbledore."

_"It's your eye I've been seeing in the mirror."_

_There was a silence in the room. Harry and the barman looked at each other._

_"You sent Dobby."_

_The barman nodded and looked around for the elf._

_"Thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"_

Some sighed of such a cruel murder.

_"He's dead," said Harry, "Bellatrix Lestrange killed him."_

_The barman face was impassive. After a few moments he said, "I'm sorry to hear it, I liked that elf."_

"Who doesn't?" Molly smiled

_He turned away, lightning lamps with prods of his wand, not looking at any of them._

_"You're Aberforth," said Harry to the man's back._

_He neither confirmed or denied it, but bent to light the fire._

_"How did you get this?" Harry asked, walking across to Sirius's mirror, the twin of the one he had broken nearly two years before._

_"Bought it from Dung 'bout a year ago," said Aberforth._

"Typical," Sirius chuckled.

_"Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you."_

_Ron gasped._

_"The silver doe," he said excitedly, "Was that you too?"_

"His Patronus is a goat," Arthur sighed.

_"What are you talking about?" asked Aberforth._

_"Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!"_

_"Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. Haven't I just prove my Patronus is a goat?"_

_"Oh," said Ron, "Yeah... well, I'm hungry!" he added defensively as his stomach gave an enormous rumble._

"Aren't you always?" Hermione giggled.

_"I got food," said Aberforth, and he sloped out of the room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead, which he set upon a small table in front of the fire._

_Ravenous, they ate and drank, and for a while there was sound of chewing._

Everyone smiled slightly, glad they were getting food.

_"Right then," said Aberforth when the had eaten their fill and Harry and Ron sat slumped dozily in their chairs. "We need to think of the best way to get you out of here. Can't be done by night, you heard what happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness: Caterwauling Charm's set off, they'll be onto you like bowtruckles on doxy eggs. I don't reckon I'll be able to pass of a stag as a goat a second time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you'll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. He's been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him."_

"Hagrid's safe," many people cheered.

_"We're not leaving," said Harry. "We need to get into Hogwarts."_

_"Don't be stupid, boy," said Aberforth._

_"We've got to," said Harry._

_"What you've got to do," said Aberforth, leaning forward, "is to get as far from here as from here as you can."_

_"You don't understand. There isn't much time. We've got to get into the castle. Dumbledore - I mean, your brother - wanted us - "_

"He doesn't like hearing about Albus," Moody said.

"Kind of hard," Dora chuckled.

_The firelight made the grimy lenses of Aberforth's glasses momentarily opaque, a bright flat white, _

_"My brother Albus wanted a lot of things," said Aberforth, "and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans._

Everyone frowned.

_You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He's gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don't owe him anything."_

_"You don't understand." said Harry again._

_"Oh, don't I? said Aberforth quietly. "You don't think I understood my own brother? Think you know Albus better than I did?"_

"Zat's kind of mean," Fleur said.

_"I didn't mean that," said Harry. "It's... he left me a job."_

_"Did he now?" said Aberforth. "Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? _

"Completely," the trio said, looking confused as how anyone could think otherwise.

A few people chuckled

_Sort of thing you'd expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching themselves?"_

Most people snorted.

_Ron gave a rather grim laugh. Hermione was looking strained._

_"I-it's not easy, no," said Harry. "But I've got to - "_

_"Got to? Why got to? He's dead, isn't he?" said Aberforth roughly. "Let it go, boy, before you follow him! Save yourself!"_

"He can't," Luna said.

_"I can't."_

_"Why not?"_

_"I - " Harry felt overwhelmed; he could not explain, so he took the offensive instead. "But you're fighting too, you're in the Order of the Phoenix - "_

_"I was," said Aberforth. "The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different kidding themselves._

"He can't really think that?" Dudley asked.

_It'll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take these two with you." He jerked a thumb at Ron and Hermione. "They'll be in danger long as they live now everyone knows they've been working with you."_

_"I can't leave," said Harry. "I've got a job - "_

Ron and Hermione nodded firmly.

_"Give it to someone else!"_

"Yes, why couldn't you?" Molly asked, she still didn't really get that.

"You'll see," Harry said.

_"I can't. It's got to be me, Dumbledore explained it all - "_

_"Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was he honest with you?"_

Everyone sighed, that had to hurt since Dumbledore didn't tell Harry _everything_, they had had to figure nearly everything out themselves.

_"I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our mother's knee. Secrets and lies, that's how we grew up, and Albus... he was a natural."_

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill asked.

_The old man's eyes travelled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece. It was, now Harry looked around properly, the only picture in the room. There was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore, nor of anyone else._

_"Mr. Dumbledore" said Hermione rather timidly. "Is that your sister? Ariana?_

_"Yes." said Aberforth tersely. "Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you, missy?"_

_Even by the rosy light of the fire it was clear that Hermione had turned red._

_"Elphias Doge mentioned her to us," said Harry, trying to spare Hermione._

"Thanks," she smiled

_"That old berk," muttered Aberforth, taking another swig of mead. "Thought the sun shone out of my brother's every orifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it."_

"Not exactly," Ron said.

_He met Aberforth's gaze, which was so strikingly like his brothers': The bright blue eyes gave the same impression that they were X-raying the object of their scrutiny._

_"Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very much," said Hermione in a low voice._

Everyone but Alice and Frank nodded; they had seen that in the memories, or in Moody's case, knew because Albus told him in a way.

_"Did he now?" said Aberforth. "Funny thing how many of the people my brother cared about very much ended up in a worse state than if he'd left 'em well alone."_

"That's not true," Dora said.

_"What do you mean?" asked Hermione breathlessly._

_"Never you mind," said Aberforth._

_"But that's a really serious thing to say!" said Hermione. _

"Yes it is," Remus frowned.

_"Are you - are you talking about your sister?"_

_Aberforth glared at her: His lips moved as if he were chewing the words he was holding back. Then he burst into speech._

_"When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, by three Muggle boys. _

"He's going to tell you…" Lily breathed.

_They'd seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: She was a kid, she couldn't control it, no witch or wizard can at that age. What they saw, scared them, I expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn't show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it."_

Several eyes widened.

"That poor girl," Molly said.

_Hermione's eyes were huge in the firelight; Ron looked slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his pain._

_"It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again. She wouldn't use magic, but she couldn't get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn't control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless._

A few had tears streaming down their faces while others looked sad or in pain.

_"And my father went after the bastards that did it," said Aberforth, "and attacked them. And they locked him up in Azkaban for it. He never said why he'd done it, because the Ministry had known what Ariana had become, she'd have been locked up in St. Mungo's for good._

"He was trying to protect his daughter," Harry murmured, thinking what he would do for Lily. Other parents seemed to be thinking the same thing.

_They'd have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn't keep it in any longer._

_"We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy._

_"I was her favourite," he said, and as he said it, a grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through Aberforth's wrinkles and wrangled beard. "Not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with "the most notable magical names of the day," Aberforth succoured. "He didn't want to be bothered with her. She liked me best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn't do it for my mother, I could calm her down, when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the goats._

Some smiled softly through the tears or expressions.

_"Then, when she was fourteen... See, I wasn't there." said Aberforth. "If I'd been there, I could have calmed her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother wasn't as young as she was, and . . . it was an accident. Ariana couldn't control it. But my mother was killed."_

"Oh no," many said.

_"So that put paid to Albus's trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of 'em came home for my mother's funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha!"_

_Aberforth spat into the fire._

_"I'd have looked after her, I told him so, I didn't care about school, I'd have stayed home and done it. He told me I had to finish my education and he'd take over from my mother. Bit of a comedown for Mr. Brilliant, there's no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other day. But he did all right for a few weeks . . . till he came."_

"Grindelwald," Ginny sighed.

_And now a positively dangerous look crept over Aberforth's face._

_"Grindelwald. And at last, my brother had an equal to talk to someone just as bright and talented he was. And looking after Ariana took a backseat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order and looking for Hallows, and whatever else it was they were so interested in. Grand plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one young girl neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for the greater good?_

Everyone frowned or narrowed their eyes.

_"But after a few weeks of it, I'd had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go back to Hogwarts, so I told 'em, both of 'em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now," and Aberforth looked downward Harry, and it took a little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother. "I told him, you'd better give it up now. You can't move her, she's in no fit state, you can't take her with you, wherever it is you're planning to go, when you're making your clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a following. He didn't like that." said Aberforth, and his eyes were briefly occluded by the fireflight on the lenses of his glasses: They turned white and blind again. "Grindelwald didn't like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother . . . Didn't I understand, my poor sister wouldn't have to be hidden once they'd changed the world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place?_

"That's probably where Dumbledore stopped agreeing," Lily said.

_"And there was an argument . . . and I pulled my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on me by my brother's best friend –_

Several people gasped.

_and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were duelling, and the flashing lights and the bangs set her off, she couldn't stand it - "_

"Ariana," some said.

_The colour was draining from Aberforth's face as though he had suffered a mortal wound._

_" - and I think she wanted to help, but she didn't really know what she was doing, and I don't know which of us did it, it could have been any of us - and she was dead."_

"Oh," Molly sobbed.

'That don't even know who …' Petunia trailed of.

_His voice broke on the last word and he dropped down into the nearest chair. Hermione's face was wet with tears, and Ron was almost as pale as Aberforth. _

_"I'm so . . . I'm so sorry," Hermione whispered._

_"Gone," croaked Aberforth. "Gone forever."_

Lily let out a sob

_He wiped his nose on hiss cuff and cleared his throat._

_" 'Course, Grindelwald scarpered. He had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn't want Ariana set to his account too. And Albus was free, wasn't he? Free of the burden of his sister, free to become the greatest wizard of the - "_

"He wasn't free," Luna said, wiping her tears.

_"He was never free," said Harry._

_"I beg your pardon?" said Aberforth._

_"Never," said Harry. "The night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn't there. 'Don't hurt them, please . . . hurt me instead.' "_

"Oh," everyone said, some shutting their eyes.

_Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry. _

"You'd never spoken of it before," Ron said, slightly hoarse.

_"He thought he was back there with you and Grindelwald, I know he did," said Harry_

Everyone who'd been there when Harry showed the memory shuddered.

_"He thought he was watching Grindelwald hurting you and Ariana . . . It was torture to him, if you'd seen him then, you wouldn't say he was free."_

Teddy nodded.

_Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said. "How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn't more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren't dispensable, just like my little sister?"_

"Neither are dispensable," Fleur said.

_"I don't believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry," said Hermione._

Everyone nodded in agreement again.

_"Why didn't he tell him to hide, then?" shot back Aberforth. "Why didn't he say to him, 'Take care of yourself, here's how to survive' ?"_

"He couldn't," James murmured.

_"Because," said Harry before Hermione could answer, "sometimes you've got to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you've got to think about the greater good! This is war!"_

"And you say you're not a hero," Ginny smiled at Harry, who rolled his eyes.

_"You're seventeen, boy!"_

"Age doesn't really matter n this war," Sirius said.

_"I'm of age, and I'm going to keep fighting even if you've given up!"_

"Hear, hear," the twins grinned.

_"Who says I've given up?"_

"You did," Dora smiled slightly.

_"The Order of the Phoenix is finished," Harry repeated, "You-Know-Who's won, it's over, and anyone who's pretending different's kidding themselves."_

_"I don't say I like it, but it's the truth!"_

"You said exactly that!" Alice said incredulously.

_"No, it isn't." said Harry. "Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I'm going to keep going until I succeed - or I die. Don't think I don't know how this might end. I've known it for years."_

Everyone frowned at how Harry had seen his life.

_He waited for Aberforth to jeer or to argue, but he did not. He merely moved._

_"We need to get into Hogwarts," said Harry again. "If you can't help us, we'll wait till daybreak, leave you in peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you can help us - well, now would be a great time to mention it."_

_Aberforth remained fixed in his chair, gazing at Harry with the eyes that were so extraordinarily like his brother's._

"I think you impressed him," Lily smiled.

_At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, walked around the little table, and approached the portrait of Ariana._

_"You know what to do," he said._

_She smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, one of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness._

"What's that about?" Frank asked.

_"Er - what - ?" began Ron._

_"There's only one way in now," said Aberforth. "You must know they've got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies. . . well, that's your lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."_

_"But what . . . ?" said Hermione, frowning at Ariana's picture._

_A tiny white dot reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, who was limping along, looking excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen. He appeared and torn. Larger and larger the two figures grew, until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait._

_Then the whole thing swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, clambered the real Neville Longbottom,_

"Neville," his parents grinned.

_who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece and yelled._

_"I knew you'd come! I knew it, Harry!"_

Everyone laughed, as Neville blushed slightly.

_"Neville - what the - how - ?"_

_But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: One of his eyes was swollen yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough._

"What happened?" Alice asked.

"I explain it to these three," Neville grinned.

_Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"_

_"Neville, what's happened to you?"_

_"What? This?" Neville dismissed his injuries with a shake of the head. "This is nothing, Seamus is worse. You'll see. Shall we get going then? Oh," he turned to Aberforth, "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."_

"Why?" Petunia asked.

"Nev thought we were going to fight," Hermione smiled.

_"Couple more?" repeated Aberforth ominously. "What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Camwaulding Charm on the whole village!"_

_"I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar," said Neville. "Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."_

"He won't like that," Lily chuckled.

"He didn't," Dora laughed

_Neville held out his hand to Hermione and helped her to climb up onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel; Ron followed, then Neville. Harry addressed Aberforth._

_"I don't know how to thank you. You've saved our lives twice."_

_"Look after 'em, then," said Aberforth gruffly. "I might not be able to save 'em a third time."_

"He's nearly as bad as you," Hermione laughed to Harry.

"What can't take thanks?" Ginny asked, giggling as Hermione nodded

"Good advice though," Mad-Eye grunted.

_Harry chambered up onto the mantelpiece and through the hole behind Ariana's portrait. There were smooth stone steps on the other side: It looked as though the passageway had been there for years. Brass lamps hung from the walls and the earthy floor was worn and smooth; as they walked, their shadows rippled, fanlike, across the wall._

_"How long's this been here?" Ron asked as they set off. "It isn't on the Marauder's Map, is it Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?"_

"There is," Sirius said.

"Was, now, Padfoot," James corrected.

_"They sealed off all of those before the start of the year," said Neville. "There's no chance of getting through any of them now, not with the curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and dementors waiting at the exits." He started walking backward, beaming, drinking them in. "Never mind that stuff … Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon?_

"Yes, they did," the twins yelled.

_It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by the Carrows for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!"_

"Beaten up!" Lily shrieked.

_"Yeah, it's true," said Harry._

_Neville laughed gleefully._

_"What did you do with the dragon?"_

_"Released it into the wild," said Ron. "Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet"_

Hermione rolled her eyes

_"Don't exaggerate, Ron –"_

_"But what have you been doing? People have been saying you've just been on the run, Harry, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something."_

"Of course they have," Bill laughed. "When are they not?"

_"You're right," said Harry, "but tell us about Hogwarts, Neville, we haven't heard anything."_

_"It's been …. Well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore," said Neville, the smile fading from his face as he spoke._

Everyone frowned, thinking about the safe heaven not being safe anymore.

_"Do you know about the Carrows?"_

_"Those two Death Eaters who teach here?"_

_"They do more than teach," said Neville. "They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."_

"What do you mean?" Frank asked, although he'd already guessed the answer.

_"Like Umbridge?"_

_"Nah, they make her look tame._

"What?" Sirius yelled as everyone groaned.

_The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do."_

_"Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions – "_

Alice gasped as Frank looked extremely pained.

_"What?"_

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione's united voices echoed up and down the passage._

_"Yeah," said Neville. "That's how I got this one," he pointed at a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. _

"Good," Alice said. "But don't get yourself hurt to badly."

_Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."_

"Typical," Dora spat.

_"Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drive wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being reestablished. I got this one," he indicated another slash to his face, "for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got."_

"Neville," Alice and Frank sighed.

"There's a time and a place for a smart mouth," Lily said.

"And that's coming from Lily," James grinned.

_"Blimey, Neville," said Ron, "there's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth."_

_"You didn't see her," said Neville. "You wouldn't have stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry."_

_Harry smiled._

"Yeah, I was basically thinking of you and how you would lead them," Neville said. "Think I got it right."

Harry smiled, "I'm not sure if I should say thanks or not." - Ginny smiled – "but you did a good job."

"He was great," Luna said. "Not as good as you but you're a born leader."

_"But they've used you as a knife sharpener," said Ron, wincing slightly as they passed a lamp and Neville's injuries were thrown into even greater relief._

Alice, Frank, Lily and a few others winced.

_Neville shrugged._

_"Doesn't matter. They don't want to spill too much pure blood, so they'll torture us a bit if we're mouthy but they won't actually kill us."_

"Good," the twins said.

_"The only people in real danger are the ones whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was getting a bit too outspoken in The Quibbler, so they dragged Luna off the train on the way back for Christmas."_

"Oh we know that," some said darkly.

_"Neville, she's all right, we've seen her –"_

_"Yeah, I know, she managed to get a message to me."_

_From his pocket he pulled a golden coin, and Harry recognized it as one of the fake Galleons that Dumbledore's Army had used to send one another messages._

_"These have been great," said Neville, beaming at Hermione. "The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting, stuff like that. Snape hated it."_

"Brilliant," Sirius grinned.

_"You used to?" said Harry, who had noticed the past tense._

_"Well, it got more difficult as time went one," said Neville. "We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never came back after Easter, and the three of us were sort of the leaders._

"Sorry Neville," Ginny and Luna said.

_The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Michael Corner went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off."_

"Not surprised," Petunia said, she knew she wouldn't be in Gryffindor.

_"No kidding," muttered Ron, as the passage began to slope upward._

_"Yeah, well, I couldn't ask people to go through what Michael did, so we dropped those kinds of stunts. But we were still fighting, doing underground stuff, right up until a couple of weeks ago. That's when they decided there was only one way to stop me, I suppose, and they went for Gran."_

Frank groaned but then grinned, "They won't get Mum."

_"They what?" said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together._

_"Yeah," said Neville, panting a little now, because the passage was climbing so steeply, "well, you can see their thinking. It had worked really well, kidnapping kids to force their relatives to behave. I s'pose it was only a matter of time before they did it the other way around. Thing was," he faced them, and Harry was astonished to see that he was grinning, "they bit off a bit more than they could chew with Gran. Little old witch living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway," Neville laughed, "Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run._

"That's Augusta," Alice smiled.

_She sent me a letter," he clapped a hand to the breast pocket of his robes, "telling me she was proud of me, that I'm my parent's son, and to keep it up."_

"If she wasn't I'd hurt her," Frank said.

_"Cool," said Ron._

_"Yea," said Neville happily. "Only thing was, once they realised they had no hold over me, they decided Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don't know whether they were planning to kill me or send me to Azkaban, either way, I knew it was time to disappear."_

_"But," said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't – aren't we heading straight back for Hogwarts?"_

_"'Course," said Neville. "You'll see. We're here."_

The trio grinned remembering their greeting.

_They turned a corner and there ahead of them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through. As Harry followed, he heard Neville call out for unseen people:_

_"Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"_

_As Harry emerged into the room behind the passage, there were several screams and yells: "HARRY!" "It's Potter, it's POTTER!" "Ron!" "Hermione!"_

"They're happy to see you," the twins laughed.

_He had a confused impression of coloured hangings, of lamps and many faces. The next moment, he, Ron, and Hermione were engulfed, hugged, pounded on the back, their hair ruffled, their hands shaken, by what seemed to be more than twenty people. _

"That was a great feeling," Ron grinned, Hermione nodding along with him.

_"Okay, okay, calm down!" Neville called, and as the crowd backed away, Harry was able to take in their surroundings._

_He did not recognize the room at all. It was enormous, and looked rather like the interior of a particularly sumptuous tree house, or perhaps a gigantic ship's cabin. Multicoloured hammocks were strung from the ceiling and from the balcony that ran around the dark wood-panelled and windowless walls, which were covered in bright tapestry hangings. Harry saw the gold Gryffindor lion, emblazoned on scarlet; the black badger of Hufflepuff, set against yellow; and the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw, on blue. The silver and green of Slytherin alone were absent. There were bulging bookcases, a few broomsticks propped against the walls, and in the corner, a large wood-cased wireless._

"Where are you?" Lily asked.

_"Where are we?"_

_"Room of Requirement, of course!" said Neville._

"Cool!" the marauders yelled.

_"Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived."_

"It's like Hogwarts wants you to fight," Alice beamed

_"And the Carrows can't get in?" asked Harry, looking around for the door._

_"No," said Seamus Finnigan, whom Harry had not recognized until he spoke: Seamus's face was bruised and puffy._

"Poor boy," Molly sighed.

_"It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You've got to ask for exactly what you need – like, "I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in' – and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes. Neville's the man!"_

"Great," Mad-Eye said.

"There you go, son," Frank laughed. "You got complimented by Mad-Eye and that's hard to do."

_"It's quite straightforward, really," said Neville modestly. "I'd been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that's when the passage to Hog's Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He's been providing us with food, because for some reason, that's the one thing the room doesn't really do._

_"Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," said Ron to general astonishment._

"I can be smart," Ron muttered, Hermione just laughed and kissed his cheek.

_"So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks," said Seamus, "and it just makes more hammocks every time we need room, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up – "_

_"—and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes," supplied Lavender Brown, _

"Boys and hygiene," many girls muttered eyeing their husbands or children.

_whom Harry had not noticed until that point. Now that he looked around properly, he recognized many familiar faces. Both Patil twins were there, as were Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner._

_"Tell us what you've been up to, though," said Ernie. "There've been so many rumours, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He pointed at the wireless. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"_

"They did," Dudley said.

_"They did!" said Neville. "And the dragon's true too!"_

_There was a smattering of applause and a few whoops; Ron took a bow._

Everyone laughed at Ron, grinning.

_"What were you after?" asked Seamus eagerly._

_As he turned his back hastily on the curious and delighted faces, the Room of Requirement vanished, and he was standing inside a ruined stone shack, and the rotting floorboards were ripped apart at his feet, a disinterred golden box lay open and empty beside the hole, and Voldemort's scream of fury vibrated inside his head._

"He knows the rings gone," Petunia said.

_back to where he stood, swaying, in the Room of Requirement, sweat pouring from his face and Ron holding him up._

"That was a bit scary,"Neville said.

"Sorry, mate," Harry chuckled. "Can't really control it."

_"Are you all right, Harry?" Neville was saying. "What to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't - ?"_

_"No," said Harry. He looked at Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. Time was running out fast: If Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next, they would miss their chance._

"We got it," Ron and Hermione nodded.

"And I got that something was going on," Neville grinned.

_"We need to get going," he said, and their expressions told him that they understood._

_"What are we going to do, then, Harry?" asked Seamus. "What's the plan?"_

"There isn't one," Bill said.

_"Plan?" repeated Harry. He was exercising all his willpower to prevent himself succumbing again to Voldemort's rage: His scar was still burning. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione, and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."_

"I bet you didn't like that," Alice said.

_Nobody was laughing or whooping anymore. Neville looked confused._

_"What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"_

_"We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain. "There's something important we need to do – "_

_"What is it?"_

_"I – I can't tell you."_

_There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted._

_"Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"_

_"Well, yeah – "_

_"Then we'll help you."_

_The other members of Dumbledore's Army were nodding, some enthusiastically, others solemnly. A couple of them rose from their chairs to demonstrate their willingness for immediate action._

Everyone smiled at their loyalty to the Trio.

_"You don't understand," Harry seemed to have said that a lot in the last few hours. "We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it – alone."_

_"Why?" asked Neville._

"Just let them help," Arthur sighed. "You're wasting time."

_"Because … " In his desperation to start looking for the missing Horcrux, or at least have a private discussion with Ron and Hermione about where they might commence their search. Harry found it difficult to gather his thoughts. His scar was still searing. "Dumbledore left the three of us a job," he said carefully, "and we weren't supposed to tell – I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."_

"You don't have to tell the anything specific," Lily said. "Just let them help."

_"We're his army," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own –"_

_"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," said Ron._

Everyone nodded.

_"I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us._

"It wasn't that we didn't trust you," Hermione said

_Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore – loyal to you."_

_"Look," Harry began. The tunnel door had just opened behind him._

_"We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I thought you must be here!"_

_It was Luna and Dean. Seamus gave a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend._

Everyone smiled.

_"Hi, everyone!" said Luna happily. "Oh, it's great to be back!"_

_"Luna," said Harry distractedly, "what are you doing here? How did you - ?"_

_"I sent for her," said Neville, holding up the fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."_

"But it doesn't," Bill laughed.

_"Of course that's what it means," said Luna brightly. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"_

_"Listen," said Harry with a rising sense of panic, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then –"_

_"You're going to leave us in this mess?" demanded Michael Corner._

"Git," James muttered

_"No!" said Ron. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who – "_

_"Then let us help!" said Neville angrily. "We want to be a part of it!"_

_There was another noise behind them, and Harry turned. Ginny was now climbing through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Ginny gave Harry a radiant smile but he had never been less pleased to see her._

"Hey!" Ginny said.

"Sorry," Harry said, although he was smiling slightly.

"That's mean, Harry, she was happy to see you," Dudley chuckled.

"Yes but Harry doesn't want her to be in danger," Lily said to her nephew.

_"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," said Fred, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."_

_Harry's mouth fell open. Right behind Lee Jordan came Harry's old girlfriend, Cho Chang. She smiled at him._

Ginny narrowed her eyes slightly.

_"I got the message," she said, holding up her own fake Galleon and she walked over to sit beside Michael Corner._

_"So what's the plan, Harry?" said George._

_"There isn't one," said Harry, still disoriented by the sudden appearance of all these people, unable to take everything in while his scar was still burning so fiercely._

_"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind," said Fred._

"Mine too," the twins and Sirius said.

_"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane – "_

_"We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though –"_

_"You haven't got a wand-?" began Seamus._

_Ron turned suddenly to Harry._

_"Why can't they help?"_

_"What?"_

_"They can help." He dropped his voice and said, so that none of them could hear but Hermione, who stood between them, "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."_

Lily and Mad-Eye nodded.

_Harry looked from Ron to Hermione, who murmured, "I think Ron's right. We don't even know what we're looking for, we need them." And when Harry looked unconvinced, "You don't have to do everything alone, Harry."_

"Now that's a brilliant point," Neville, Luna, Ginny and Ron said.

_"All right," he said quietly to the other two. "Okay," he called to the room at large, and all noise ceased: Fred and George, who had been cracking jokes for the benefit of those nearest, fell silent, and all of the looked alert, excited._

_"There's something we need to find," Harry said. "Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"_

"The lost Diadem of Ravenclaw," Remus suggested.

_He looked hopefully toward the little group of Ravenclaws, to Padma, Michael, Terry, and Cho, but it was Luna who answered, perched on the arm of Ginny's chair._

_"Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."_

_"Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."_

"Kinda," James grinned.

_"When was it lost?" asked Harry._

_"Centuries ago, they say," said Cho, _

"Damn," Dudley said.

_"Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but," she appealed to her fellow Ravenclaws. "Nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?"_

_They all shook their heads._

_"Sorry, but what is a diadem?" asked Ron._

_"It's a kind of crown," said Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."_

_"Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons – "_

_But Harry cut across Luna._

_"And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?_

_They all shook their heads again. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione and his own disappointment was mirrored back at him. _

_"If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."_

"Great," Alice said perking up.

_For a moment the Room of Requirement swam before him, and he saw instead the dark earth soaring beneath him and felt the great snake wrapped around his shoulders. Voldemort was flying again,: _

"You're running out of time," Petunia said.

_"He's on the move," he said quietly to Ron and Hermione. He glanced at Cho and then back at them. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know – the other one – safe."_

_Cho had got to her feet, but Ginny said rather fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"_

Most people chuckled or giggled.

"Don't trust her, Ginny?" James said.

"Of course not," Ginny said.

"Nice to know you trusted me," Harry grumbled.

"Shut up," Ginny smacked him.

_"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," said Luna happily, as Cho sat down again, looking disappointed._

Ginny smirked.

_"How do we get out?" Harry asked Neville._

_"Over here."_

_"He led Harry and Luna to a corner, where a small cupboard opened onto a steep staircase. "It comes out somewhere different every day, so they've never been able to find it," he said. "Only trouble is, we never know exactly where we're going to end up when we go out. Be careful, Harry, they're always patrolling the corridors at night."_

_"No problem," said Harry._

"He's got the cloak," most said.

_"See you in a bit."_

_He and Luna hurried up the staircase, which was long, lit by torches, and turned corners in unexpected places. At last they reached what appeared to be solid wall._

_"Get under here," Harry told Luna, pulling out the Invisibility Cloak and throwing it over both of them. He gave the wall a little push._

_It melted away at his touch and they slipped outside. Harry glanced back and saw that it had resealed itself at once. They were standing in a dark corridor. Harry pulled Luna back into the shadows, fumbled in the pouch around his neck, and took out the Marauder's Map. Holding it close to his nose he searched, and located his and Luna's dots at last._

_"We're up on the fifth floor," he whispered, watching Filch moving away from them, a corridor ahead. "Come on, this way."_

_They crept off._

_Through squares of moonlight upon the floor, past suits of armour whose helmets creaked at the sound of their soft footsteps, around corners beyond which who knew what lurked. Harry and Luna walked, checking the Marauder's Map whenever light permitted, twice pausing to allow a ghost to pass without drawing attention to themselves. _

_"This way, Harry," breathed Luna, plucking his sleeve and pulling him toward a spiral staircase._

_They climbed in tight, dizzying circles; _

_At last they reached a door. There was no handle and no keyhole: nothing but a plain expanse of aged wood, and a bronze knocker in the shape an eagle._

"Welcome to Ravenclaw Tower," Luna beamed.

_Luna reached out a pale hand, which looked eerie floating in midair, unconnected to arm or body. She knocked once, and in the silence it sounded to Harry like a cannon blast. At once the beak of the eagle opened, but instead of a bird's called, a soft, musical voice said, "Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"_

"It's a riddle!" Lily said, shocked. "That would have been cool."

Some people didn't look as though they agreed.

_"Hmm … What do you think, Harry?" said Luna, looking thoughtful._

_"What? Isn't there a password?"_

_"Oh no, you've got to answer a question," said Luna._

_"What if you get it wrong?"_

_"Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right," said Luna. "That way you learn, you see?"_

"Yes but you haven't got time," Remus said.

_"Yeah … Trouble is, we can't really afford to wait for anyone else, Luna."_

_"No, I see what you mean," said Luna seriously. "Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."_

_"Well reasoned," said the voice, and the door swung open._

"Yes," the twins grinned.

_The deserted Ravenclaw common room was a wide, circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks. By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs, and bookcases, and in a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble._

"That really nice," Petunia said.

"Gryffindor's feels warmer, though," Dudley said.

_Harry recognized Rowena Ravenclaw from the bust he had seen at Luna's house. The statue stood beside a door that led, he guessed, to dormitories above._

_He strode right up to the marble woman, and she seemed to look back at him with a quizzical half smile on her face, beautiful yet slightly intimidating. A delicate-looking circlet had been reproduced in marble on top of her head. It was not unlike the tiara Fleur had worn at her wedding. There were tiny words etched into it. Harry stepped out from under the Cloak and climbed up onto Ravenclaw's plinth to read them._

"No stay under the cloak," Moody grunted.

_"'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'"_

_"Which makes you pretty skint, witless," said a cackling voice._

"No," everyone groaned.

_Harry whirled around, slipped off the plinth, and landed on the floor. The sloping-shouldered figure of Alecto Carrow was standing before him, and even as Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her forearm._

"No," this time everyone exclaimed

_The moment her finger touched the Mark, the starry room vanished from sight, and he was standing upon an outcrop of rock beneath a cliff, and the sea was washing around him– They have the boy._

"Damn," Sirius muttered.

_A loud bang brought Harry back to where he stood. Disoriented, he raised his wand, but the witch before him was already falling forward; she hit the ground so hard that the glass in the bookcases tinkled._

_"I've never Stunned anyone except in our D.A. lessons," said Luna, sounding mildly interested. "That was noisier than I though it would be."_

'It was brilliant," Neville chuckled.

_And sure enough, the ceiling had begun to tremble Scurrying, echoing footsteps were growing louder from behind the door leading to the dormitories. Luna's spell had woken the Ravenclaws sleeping above._

_"Luna, where are you? I need to get under the Cloak!"_

Moody nodded

_Luna's feet appeared out of nowhere,; he hurried to her side and she let the Cloak fall back over them as the door opened and a stream of Ravenclaws, all in their nightclothes, flooded into the common room. there were gasps and cries of surprise as they saw Alecto lying there unconscious. Slowly they shuffled in around her, a savage beast that might wake at any moment and attack them._

_Then one brave little first-year darted up to her and prodded her backside with his big toe._

_"I think she might be dead!" he shouted with delight._

A few people chuckled.

_"Oh look," whispered Luna happily, as the Ravenclaws crowded in around Alecto. "They're pleased!"_

Everyone laughed.

"Who wouldn't be?" Ginny said.

_"Yeah... great... "_

_Harry closed his eyes. He was moving along the tunnel into the first cave... He had chosen to make sure of the locket before coming...but that would not take him long..._

"That'll give you more time," Dora said.

_There was a rap on the common room door and every Ravenclaw froze. From the other side, Harry heard the soft, musical voice that issued from the eagle door knocker: "Where do Vanished objects go?"_

_"I dunno, do I? Shut it!" snarled an uncouth voice that Harry knew was that of the Carrow brother, Amycus, _

"You won't get in like that," Teddy laughed.

_"Alecto? Alecto? Are you there? Have you got him? Open the door!"_

_The Ravenclaws were whispering amongst themselves, terrified. Then without warning, there came a series of loud bangs, as though somebody was firing a gun into the door._

"Doesn't he know they're protected?" Alice asked.

"Obviously not, Alice," Luna said.

_"ALECTO! If he comes, and we haven't got Potter -d'you want to go the same way as the Malfoys? ANSWER ME!" Amycus bellowed, shaking the door for all he was worth, but still it did not open._

_The Ravenclaws were all backing away, and some of the most frightened began scampering back up the stair case to their beds. Then, just as Harry was wondering whether he ought not to blast open the door and Stun Amycus before the Death Eater could do anything else, a second, most familiar voice rang out beyond the door._

_"May I ask what you are doing, Professor Carrow?"_

"McGonagall," James grinned.

_"Trying—to get- through this damned- door!" shouted Amycus. "Go and get Flitwick! Get him to open it, now!"_

_"But isn't your sister in there" asked Professor McGonagall. "Didn't Professor Flitwick let her in earlier this evening, at your urgent request? Perhaps she could open the door for you? Then you needn't wake up half the castle."_

_"She ain't answering, you old besom! You open it! Garn! Do it, now!"_

"Don't talk to her like that," Remus growled.

_"Certainly, if you wish it," said Professor McGonagall, with awful coldness, There was a genteel tap of the knocker and the musical voice asked again._

_"Where do Vanished objects go?"_

_"Into non being, which is to say, everything," replied Professor McGonagall._

_"Nicely phrased," replied the eagle door knocker, and the door swung open._

_The few Ravenclaws who had remained behind sprinted for the stairs as Amycus burst over the threshold, brandishing his wand. Hunched like his sister, he had a pallid, doughy face and tiny eyes, which fell at once on Alecto, sprawled motionless on the floor. He let out a yell of fury and fear._

_"What've they done, the little whelps?" he screamed. "I'll Cruciate the lot of 'em till they tell me who did it_

"You'll do no such thing," Dora snarled.

_-and what's the Dark Lord going to say?" he shrieked,_

"That doesn't matter," Arthur said.

_standing over his sister and smacking himself on the forehead with his fist, "We haven't got him, and they've gone and killed her!"_

"She's not dead," Bill said.

_"She's only Stunned," said Professor McGonagall impatiently, who had stooped down to examine Alecto. "She'll be perfectly all right."_

"Pity," the twins said.

_"No she bludgering well won't!" bellowed Amycus. "Not after the Dark Lord gets hold of her! She's gone and sent for him, I felt me Mark burn, and he thinks we've got Potter!"_

_"'Got Potter'?" said Professor McGonagall sharply, "What do you mean, 'got Potter'?"_

"Don't give her a heart attack, Harry," Lily advised.

_"He told us Potter might try and get inside Ravenclaw Tower, and to send for him if we caught him!"_

_"Why would Harry Potter try to get inside Ravenclaw Tower! Potter belongs in my House!"_

_Beneath the disbelief and anger, Harry heard a little strain of pride in her voice_

Lily and James smiled.

_"We was told he might come in here!" said Carrow. "I dunno why, do I?"_

_Professor McGonagall stood up and her beady eyes swept the room. Twice they passed right over the place where Harry and Luna stood._

_"We can push it off on the kids," said Amycus, his pig like face suddenly crafty. "Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them kids up there" - he looked up at the starry ceiling toward the dormitories –_

"Yes because she'll allow you to do that," Frank scoffed.

_"and we'll say they forced her to press her Mark, and that's why he got a false alarm... He can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference?"_

Everyone was now glaring at him.

"There's a big difference," Neville said, darkly.

_"Only the difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice," said Professor McGonagall, who had turned pale, "a difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate. But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I shall not permit it."_

The twins and marauders cheered.

"You tell him," Teddy grinned.

_"Excuse me?"_

_Amycus moved forward until he was offensively close to Professor McGonagall, his face within inches of hers. She refused to back away, but looked down at him as if he were something disgusting she had found stuck to the lavatory seat._

_"It's not a case of what you'll permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge here now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."_

_And he spat in her face._

"Oi!" everyone yelled.

_Harry pulled the Cloak off himself, raised his wand, and said, "You shouldn't have done that."_

_As Amycus spun around, Harry shouted, "Crucio!"_

"Harry!" Molly and Lily yelled but others looked as though they thought he'd done the right thing.

_The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor._

_"I see what Bellatrix meant," said Harry, "you need to really mean it."_

_"Potter!" whispered Professor McGonagall, clutching her heart._

"I told you not to give her a heart attack," Lily complained. "She's old, Harry!"

_"Potter- you're here! What-? How-?" She struggled to pull herself together. "Potter, that was foolish!"_

_"He spat at you," said Harry._

Several people chuckled.

_"Potter, I - that was very - gallant of you - but don't you realize -?"_

_"Yeah, I do," Harry assured her. "Professor McGonagall, Voldemort's on the way."_

"Stop shocking her," Lily said as people chuckled again at the bluntness of the statement.

_"Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?" asked Luna with an air of interest,pulling off the Invisibility Cloak._

"It won't make much difference," Mad-Eye said.

_The appearance of a second outlaw seemed to overwhelm Professor McGonagall, who staggered backward and fell into a nearby chair, clutching at the neck of her old tartan dressing gown._

"You two," Lily scolded.

"There isn't a way to take of that cloak without shocking people," James smiled.

_"I don't think it makes any difference what we call him," Harry told Luna. "He already knows where I am."_

_In a distant part of Harry's brain, he could see Voldemort sailing fast over the dark lake in the ghostly green boat... He had nearly reached the island where the stone basin stood..._

"You're running out of time," Dudley groaned.

_"You must flee," whispered Professor McGonagall, "Now Potter, as quickly as you can!"_

"Doesn't she know you at all?" Petunia asked.

"I think it was more wishful thinking," Harry chuckled.

_"I can't," said Harry, "There's something I need to do. Professor, so you know where the diadem of Ravenclaw is?"_

_"The d-diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not - hasn't it been lost for centuries?" She sat up a little straighter "Potter, it was madness, utter madness, for you to enter this castle-"_

"Yes, but this is Harry," Fabian said

"And he's is mad," Gideon nodded.

_"I had to," said Harry. "Professor, there's something hidden here that I'm supposed to find, and it could be the diadem- if I could just speak to Professor Flitwick-"_

_There was a sound of movement, of clinking glass. Amycus was coming round._

"No," Neville said.

_Before Harry or Luna could act, Professor McGonagall rose to her feet, pointed her wand at the groggy Death Eater, and said, "Imperio."_

"Even she's using unforgivables," Dora frowned, "but I suppose it wasn't punishable."

_Amycus got up, walked over to his sister, picked up her wand, then shuffled obediently to Professor McGonagall and handed it over along with his own._

The marauders grinned.

_Then he lay down on the floor beside Alecto. Professor McGonagall waved her wand again, and a length of shimmering silver rope appeared out of thin air and snaked around the Carrows, binding them tightly together._

Several people smirked.

_"Potter," said Professor McGonagall, turning to face him again with superb indifference to the Carrows' predicament. "if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does indeed know that you are here-"_

_As she said it, for a second Harry looked down upon a basin whose potion had turned clear, and saw that no golden locket lay safe beneath the surface-._

"He knows that one's gone now," Frank groaned.

_"Potter, are you all right." said a voice, and Harry came back. He was clutching Luna's shoulder to steady himself._

_"Time's running out, Voldemort's getting nearer, Professor, I'm acting on Dumbledore's orders, I must find what he wanted me to find! But we've got to get the students out_

"That'll be hard," James frowned. "There's so many of them."

_while I'm searching the castle- It's me Voldemort wants, but he won't care about killing a few more or less, not now-" not now he knows I'm attacking Horcruxes, Harry finished the sentence in his head._

_"You're acting on Dumbledore's orders?" she repeated with a look of dawning wonder. Then she drew herself up to her fullest height._

_"We shall secure the school against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named while you search for this - this object."_

_"Is that possible?"_

_"I think so," said Professor McGonagall dryly, "we teachers are rather good at magic, you know. I am sure we will be able to hold him off for a while if we all put our best efforts into it. Of course, something will have to be done about Professor Snape-"_

"Definitely," Sirius nodded.

_"Let me -"_

_"-and if Hogwarts is about to enter a state of siege, with the Dark Lord at the gates, it would indeed be advisable to take as many innocent people out of the way as possible. With the Floo Network under observation, and Apparition impossible within the grounds-"_

_"There's a way," said Harry quickly, and he explained about the passageway leading into the Hog's Head._

"That'll still take a long time to get them all out," Lily bit her lip.

"As long as they all got into the room of requirement before Voldemort got to Hogwarts, they'd fine," Hermione said calmly, "which they did."

_"Potter, we're talking about hundreds of students-"_

_"I know, Professor, but if Voldemort and the Death Eaters are concentrating on the school boundaries they won't be interested in anyone who's Disapparating out of Hog's Head."_

"Good point," Moody said.

_"There's something in that," she agreed. She pointed her wand at the Carrows, and a silver net fell upon their bound bodies, tied itself around them, and hoisted them into the air, where they dangled beneath the blue-and-gold ceiling like two large, ugly sea creatures. "Come. We must alert the other Heads of House. You'd better put that Cloak back on."_

"Good idea," Frank said.

_She marched toward the door, and as she did so she raised her wand. From the tip burst three silver cats with spectacle markings around their eyes._

"Her Animagus," the marauders chuckled.

_the Patronuses ran sleekly ahead, filling the spiral staircase with silvery light, as Professor McGonagall, Harry, and Luna hurried back down._

_Along the corridors they raced, and one by one the Patronuses left them. Professor McGonagall's tartan dressing gown rustled over the floor, and Harry and Luna jogged behind her under the Cloak._

_They had descended two more floors when another set of quiet footsteps joined theirs._

Everyone tensed.

_Harry, whose scar was still prickling, heard them first. He felt in the pouch around his neck for the Marauder's Map, but before he could take it our, McGonagall too seemed to become aware of their company. She halted, raised her wand ready to duel, and said, "Who's there?"_

_"It is I," said a low voice._

"Severus," Lily said as Alice made a face – she'd never understood why Lily was friends with him.

_From behind a suit of armor stepped Severus Snape._

_He was not wearing nightclothes, but was dressed in his usual black cloak, and he too was holding his wand ready for a fight._

_"Where are the Carrows?" he asked quietly._

_"Wherever you told them to be, I expect, Severus," said Professor McGonagall._

The marauders grinned.

_Snape stepped nearer, and his eyes flitted over Professor McGonagall into the air around her. Harry held his wand up too, ready to attack._

_"I was under the impression," said Snape, "That Alecto had apprehended an intruder."_

_"Really?" said Professor McGonagall. "And what gave you that impression?"_

_Snape made a slight flexing movement of his left arm, where the Dark Mark was branded into his skin._

Moody narrowed his eyes

_"Oh, but naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "You Death Eaters have your own private means of communication, I forgot."_

Many people scowled.

_Snape pretended not to have heard her. His eyes were still probing the air all about her,_

'Could 'e know zat you are zre?' Fleur asked but she just got a shrug in answer.

_and he was moving gradually closer, with an air of hardly noticing what he was doing._

_"I did not know that it was your night to patrol the corridors Minerva."_

_"You have some objection?"_

_"I wonder what could have brought you out of our bed at this late hour?"_

"She was thirsty," the twins said.

_"I thought I heard a disturbance," said Professor McGonagall._

_"Really? But all seems calm."_

_Snape looked into her eyes._

_"Have you seen Harry Potter, Minerva? Because if you have. I must insist-"_

Harry frowned, wondering if Snape had been trying to tell him everything he was meant to.

_Professor McGonagall moved faster than Harry could have believed. Her wand slashed through the air and for a split second Harry thought that Snape must crumple, unconscious, but the swiftness of his Shield Charm was such that McGonagall was thrown off balance. She brandished her wand at a touch on the wall and it flew out of its bracket. Harry, about to curse Snape, was forced to pull Luna out of the way of the descending flames, which became a ring of fire that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape-_

_Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of pursuing daggers. Snape avoided them only by forcing the suit of armor in front of him, and with echoing clangs the daggers sank, one after another, into its breast-_

"Wow," Dudley said.

_"Minerva!" said a squeaky voice, and looking behind him, still shielding Luna from flying spells, Harry saw Professors Flitwick and Sprout sprinting up the corridor toward them in their nightclothes, with the enormous Professor Slughorn panting along at the rear._

Lily smiled slightly.

_"No!" squealed Flitwick, raising his wand. "You'll do no more murder at Hogwarts!"_

_Flitwick's spell hit the suit of armor behind which Snape had taken shelter. With a clatter it came to life. Snape struggled free of the crushing arms and sent it flying back toward his attackers. Harry and Luna had to dive sideways to avoid it as it smashed into the wall and shattered. When Harry looked up again, Snape was in full flight, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout all thundering after him. He hurtled through a classroom door and, moments later, he heard McGonagall cry, "Coward! COWARD!"_

_"What's happened, what's happened?" asked Luna._

"Good question," Dora said, looking worried.

_Harry dragged her to her feet and they raced along the corridor, trailing the Invisibility Cloak behind them, into the deserted classroom where Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout were standing at a smashed window._

"He jumped," Teddy yelped.

"Is that how he died?" Lily asked.

"Course not," Harry said. "Don't you remember what I told when you came in my office last week?"

"Only those killed by Voldemort or his Death Eaters," James nodded.

_"He jumped," said Professor McGonagall as Harry and Luna ran into the room._

_"You mean he's dead?" Harry sprinted to the window, ignoring Flitwick's and Sprout's yells of shock at his sudden appearance._

"Harry," Molly sighed.

_"No, he's not dead," said McGonagall bitterly. "Unlike Dumbledore, he was still carrying a wand... and he seems to have learned a few tricks from his master."_

_Harry saw in the distance a huge, bat like shape flying through the darkness toward the perimeter wall._

"He can fly!" Frank said, shocked.

_There were heavy footfalls behind them, and a great deal of puffing. Slughorn had just caught up._

_"Harry!" he panted, massaging his immense chest beneath his emerald-green silk pajamas. "My dear boy... what a surprise...Minerva, do please explain...Severus...what...?"_

_"Our headmaster is taking a short break," said Professor McGonagall, pointing at the Snape-shaped hole in the window._

_"Professor!" Harry shouted his hand on his forehead, He could see the Inferi-filled lake sliding beneath him, and he felt a ghostly green boat bump into the underground shore, and Voldemort leapt from it with murder in his heart-_

"Oh on," the twins said.

_"Professor, we've got to barricade the school, he's coming now!"_

_"Very well. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is coming," she told the other teachers. Sprout and Flitwick gasped. Slughorn let out a low groan. "Potter has work to do in the castle on Dumbledore's orders. We need to put in place every protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do."_

_"You realize , of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You-Know-Who indefinitely?" squeaked Flitwick._

"Positive thinking, Filius," Moody said.

_"But we can hold him up." said Professor Sprout._

"That's the attitude," Dora smiled

_"Thank you, Pomona," said Professor McGonagall, and between the two witches there passed a look of grim understanding. "I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those who are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance."_

_"Agreed," said Professor Sprout, already hurrying toward the door. "I shall meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes with my House."_

_And as she jogged out of sight, they could hear her muttering, "Tentacula, Devil's Snare. And Snargaluff pods...yes, I'd like to see the Death Eaters fighting those."_

"That would be good," Alice giggled.

_"I can act from here," said Flitwick, and although he could barely see out of it, he pointed his wand through the smashed window and started muttering incantations of great complexity. Harry heard a weird rushing noise, as though Flitwick had unleashed the power of the wind into the grounds._

_"Professor," Harry said, approaching the little Charms master. "Professor, I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is important. Have you got any idea where the diadem of Ravenclaw is?"_

_"-Protego Horribillis-the diadem of Ravenclaw?" squeaked Flitwick. "A little extra wisdom never goes amiss, Potter, but I hardly think it would be much use in this situation!"_

A few people chuckled.

_"I only meant - do you know where it is? Have you ever seen it?"_

_"Seen it" Nobody has seen it in living memory! Long since lost, boy."_

_"We shall meet you and your Ravenclaws in the Great Hall, Filius!" said Professor McGonagall, beckoning to Harry and Luna to follow her._

_They had just reached the door when Slughorn rumbled into speech._

_"My word," he puffed, pale and sweaty, his walrus mustache aquiver. "What a to-do! I'm not at all sure whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in the most grievous peril-"_

_"I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes also." said Professor McGonagall. "If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage our resistance or take up arms against us within this castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill."_

Moody nodded.

_"Minerva!" he said, aghast._

_"The time has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties," interrupted Professor McGonagall. "Go and wake your students, Horace."_

_Harry did not stay to watch Slughorn splutter. He and Luna stayed after Professor McGonagall, who had taken up a position in the middle of the corridor and raised her wand._

_"Piertotum-oh, for heaven's sake, Filch, not now-"_

_The aged caretaker had just come hobbling into view, shouting "Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!"_

_"They're supposed to be you blithering idiot!" shouted McGonagall._

The marauders cheered.

_"Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!"_

_'P-Peeves?" stammered Filch as though he had never heard the name before._

_"Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peeves! Haven't you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once."_

"Peeves'll be good," Teddy grinned.

_Filch evidently thought Professor McGonagall had taken leave of her senses, but hobbled away, hunch-shouldered, muttering under his breath._

_"And now-Piertotum Locomator!" cried Professor McGonagall. And all along the corridor the statues and suits of armor jumped down from their plinths, and from the echoing crashes from the floors above and below, Harry knew that their fellows throughout the castle had done the same._

_"Hogwarts is threatened!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"_

"That's a good spell," Molly smiled.

_Clattering and yelling, the horde of moving statues stampeded past Harry, some of them smaller, others larger than life. There were animals too, and the clanking suits of armor brandished swords and spiked balls on chains._

_"Now, Potter," said McGonagall., "you and Miss Lovegood had better return to your friends and bring them to the Great Hall - I shall rouse the other Gryffindors."_

_They parted at the top of the next staircase, Harry and Luna turning back toward the concealed entrance to the Room of Requirement. As they ran, they met crowds of students, most wearing traveling cloaks over their pajamas, being shepherded down to the Great Hall by teachers and prefects._

_"That was Potter!"_

_"Harry Potter!"_

_"It was him, I swear, I just saw him!"_

"Still famous," James chuckled

_But Harry did not look back, and at last they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement, Harry leaned against the enchanted wall, which opened to admit them, and he and Luna sped back down the steep staircase._

_"Wh-?"_

_As the room came into view, Harry slipped down a few stairs in shock. It was packed, far more crowded than when he had last been in there. Kingsley and Lupin were looking up at him, as were Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, Bill and Fleur, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley._

"The order knows," the twins nodded.

_"Harry, what's happening?" said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs._

_"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading he school-Snape's run for it-What are you doing here? How did you know?"_

_"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."_

"The more the better," Moody said.

_"What first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"_

_"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."_

_There was a great roar and a surge toward the stairs, he was pressed back against the wall as they ran past him, the mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry's old Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading up into the main castle._

_"Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand, she took it and followed him back up the stairs._

Neville raised an eyebrow at his wife but she just nudged him playfully

_The crowd was thinning. Only a little knot of people remained below in the Room of Requirement, and Harry joined them. Mrs. Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur._

"They aren't going to let you fight," Petunia guessed.

"And neither would this git," Ginny complained as Lily and James smiled slightly at their son.

_"You're underage!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at her daughter as Harry approached "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"_

_"I won't!"_

_Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip._

_"I'm in Dumbledore's Army-"_

_"A teenagers' gang!"_

"A defence group," everyone who'd been part of Dumbledore's army said.

_"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred._

Ginny smiled sadly at that; he was the only one that stood on her side.

_"She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you two were thinking bringing her with you—-"_

_Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of themselves._

_"Mum's right, Ginny," said Bill gently. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."_

_"I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "my whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and -"_

_Her eyes met Harry's for the first time. She looked at him beseechingly, but he shook his head and she turned away bitterly._

"Prat," Ginny muttered annoyed.

Harry just smiled slightly and kissed her temple.

_"Fine," she said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head._

"How come when Harry's said you couldn't you stopped fighting so much?" Bill asked but Ginny just shrugged.

_"I'll say good-by now, then, and-"_

_There was a scuffling and a great thump. Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up no the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said, "Am I too late? Has it started. I only just found out, so I - I -"_

"Percy," everyone smiled.

_Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently he had not expected to run into most of his family. There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension. "So- 'ow eez leetle Teddy?"_

Some people let out a little chuckle.

_Lupin blinked at her, startled. The silence between the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice._

_"I - oh yes- he's fine!" Lupin said loudly. "yes, Tonks is with him- at her mother's -"_

Dora sighed.

_Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one another, frozen._

_"Here, I've got a picture?" Lupin shouted, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to Fleur and Harry, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera._

Teddy turned slightly red.

_"I was a fool!" Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a -"_

_"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred._

The Weasley's, Harry and Ginny nodded.

_Percy swallowed._

_"Yes, I was!"_

_"Well, you can't say fairer than that," said Fred, holding his hand out to Percy._

Molly smiled slightly.

_Mrs. Weasley burst into tears,. She ran forward, pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his father._

_"I'm sorry, Dad," Percy said._

_Mr. Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son._

Everyone grinned, glad that Percy had finally come to his senses.

_"What made you see sense, Perce?" inquired George._

_"It's been coming on for a while," said Percy, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his traveling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I am."_

_"Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said George in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."_

A few people chuckled.

_"So, you're my sister in-law now?" said Percy, shaking hands with Fleur as they hurried off toward the staircase with Bill, Fred, and George._

"Pleasure," Fleur said.

_"Ginny!" barked Mrs. Weasley._

_Ginny had been attempting, under cover of the reconciliations to sneak upstairs too._

"I had to try," Ginny said.

_"Molly, how about this," said Lupin. "Why doesn't Ginny stay here, then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she won't be in the middle of the fighting?"_

"Good idea," Lily and James said causing Ginny to gape at them.

_"I-"_

_"That's a good idea," said Mr. Weasley firmly," Ginny, you stay in this room, you hear me?"_

_Ginny did not seem to like the idea much, but under her father's unusually stern gaze, she nodded. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Lupin headed off to the stairs as well._

_"Where's Ron?" asked Harry, "Where's Hermione?"_

_"They must have gone up the Great Hall already," Mr. Weasley called over his shoulder._

"You idiots," Harry said, half joking half annoyed.

"Sorry, we should have told you," Ron said. "Or at least told Ginny so she could have told you."

Harry nodded firmly, thinking of how he would deal with an Auror doing that.

_"I didn't see them pass me," said Harry._

_"They said something about a bathroom," said Ginny, "not long after you left."_

_"A bathroom?"_

_Harry strode across the room to an open door leading off the Room of Requirement and checked the bathroom beyond. It was empty._

_"You're sure they said bath-?"_

"You don't just wonder off," Moody growled. "Not without telling someone."

"Sorry," Ron and Hermione said.

_But then the Room of Requirement vanished. He was looking through the high wrought-iron gates with winged boats on pillars at either side, looking through the dark grounds toward the castle, which was ablaze with lights. Nagini lay draped over his shoulders. He was possessed of that cold, cruel sense of purpose that preceded murder._

"He's there," Lily gasped.

"Skipping," Harry said.

_The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and scattered with stars, and below it the four long House tables were lined with disheveled students, some in traveling cloaks, others in dressing gowns. Here and there shone the pearly white figures of the school ghosts. Every eye, living and dead was fixed upon Professor McGonagall, who was speaking from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her stood the remaining teaches, including the palomino centaur, Firenze, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix who had arrived to fight._

_"...evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madame Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges in orderly fashion to the evacuation point._

_Many of the students looked petrified._

"Poor dears," Molly sighed.

"They're just children," Lily said shaking her head.

_However, as Harry skirted the walls, scanning the Gryffindor table for Ron and Hermione, Ernie Macmillan stood up at the Hufflepuff table and shouted; "And what if we want to stay and fight?"_

_There was a smattering of applause._

_"If you are of age, you may stay." said Professor McGonagall._

_"What about our things?" called a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"_

"Your lives are more important," Sirius said.

_"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."_

Several people nodded.

_"Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl from the Slytherin table._

"Who cares?" the twins asked.

_"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor McGonagall and a great cheer erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws._

_Harry moved up the Hall alongside the Gryffindor table, still looking for Ron and Hermione._

Harry shot them a look.

_As he passed, faces turned in his direction, and a great deal of whispering broke out in his wake._

_"We have already placed protection around the castle," Professor McGonagall was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects -"_

_But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear._

_There was no telling from where it came. It seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had once commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries._

_"I know that you are preparing to fight."_

Alice and Lily screamed

_There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound._

_"Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."_

"Yes he does," Molly growled.

_There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls._

_"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, _

"No," the marauders growled.

_"and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded._

"The war would just get worse," Dora said.

_"You have until midnight."_

_The silence swallowed them all again. Every head turned, every eye in the place seemed to have found Harry, to hold him forever in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as she raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!"_

Everyone's eyes narrowed.

_Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and Harry, , saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves._

Everyone cheered.

_"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."_

_Harry heard the grinding of the benches and then the sound of the Slytherins trooping out on the other side of the Hall._

_"Ravenclaws, follow on!" cried Professor McGonagall._

_Slowly the four tables emptied. The Slytherin table was completely deserted,_ b_ut a number of older Ravenclaws remained seated while their fellows filed out; even more Hufflepuffs stayed behind, and half of Gryffindor remained in their seats, _

Everyone grinned at the loyalty.

_necessitating Professor McGonagall's descent from the teachers' platform to chivvy the underage on their way._

_"Absolutely not, Creevey, go!_

Everyone who had survived the battle grimaced.

_And you, Peakes!"_

_Harry hurried over to the Weasleys, all sitting together at the Gryffindor table._

_"Where are Ron and Hermione?"_

"Worry my parents, Harry," Ron complained.

"Don't worry me," Harry said back.

_"Haven't you found -?" began Mr. Weasley, looking worried._

_But he broke off as Kingsley had stepped forward on the raised platform to address those who had remained behind._

_"We've only got half an half an hour until midnight, _

"Is that it?" Alice asked.

_so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where they'll have good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus" - he indicated Lupin - "Arthur" - he pointed toward Mr. Weasley, sitting at the Gryffindor table - "and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances or the passageways into the school -"_

_"Sounds like a job for us." called Fred, indicating himself and George,_

"Of course," the trio and Ginny said.

_and Kingsley nodded his approval._

_"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"_

_"Potter," said Professor McGonagall, hurrying up to him, as students flooded the platform, jostling for position, receiving instructions, "Aren't you supposed to be looking for something?"_

"Yeah, Ron and Hermione," he muttered.

_"What? Oh," said Harry, "oh yeah!"_

_He had almost forgotten about the Horcrux, almost forgotten that the battle was being fought so that he could search for it: The inexplicable absence of Ron and Hermione had momentarily driven every other thought from his mind._

"Sorry," they said again as Moody glared at them

_"Then go, Potter, go!"_

_"Right - yeah -"_

_He sensed eyes following him as he ran out of the Great Hall again, into the entrance hall still crowded with evacuating students. He allowed himself to be swept up the marble staircase with them, but at the top he hurried off along a deserted corridor. _

_He slowed down, coming to a halt halfway along a passage, where he sat down on the plinth of a departed statue and pulled the Marauder's Map out of the pouch around his neck. He could not see Ron's of Hermione's names anywhere on it, though the density of the crowd of dots now making its way to the Room of Requirement might be concealing them. He put the map away, pressed his hands over his face, and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate._

_Voldemort thought I'd go to Ravenclaw Tower._

_There it was, a solid fact, the place to start. Voldemort had stationed Alecto Carrow in the Ravenclaw common room, and there could be only one explanation; Voldemort feared that Harry already knew his Horcrux was connected to that House._

"Right," Dora nodded.

_But the only object anyone seemed to associate with Ravenclaw was the lost diadem... and how could the Horcrux be the diadem? How was it possible that Voldemort, the Slytherin, had found the diadem that had eluded generations of Ravenclaws? Who could have told him where to look, when nobody had seen the diadem in living memory?_

"You've got to talk to the Grey Lady," Lily gasped.

_Beneath his fingers, Harry's eyes flew open again. He leapt up from the plinth and tore back the way he had come, now in pursuit of his one last hope. The sound of hundreds of people marching toward the Room of Requirement grew louder and louder as he returned to the marble stairs. Prefects were shouting instructions, trying to keep track of the students in their own houses, there was much pushing and shouting; Harry saw Zacharias Smith bowling over first years to get to the front of the queue,_

"Git," Dudley said.

_here and there younger students were in tears, while older ones called desperately for friends or siblings._

"Poor children," Petunia sighed.

_Harry caught sight of a pearly white figure drifting across the entrance hall below and yelled as loudly as he could over the clamor._

_"Nick! NICK! I need to talk to you!"_

_He forced his way back through the tide of students, finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, where Nearly Headless Nick, ghost of Gryffindor Tower, stood waiting for him._

_"Harry! My dear boy!"_

_Nick made to grasp Harry's hands with both of his own._

_"Nick, you've got to help me. Who's the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"_

"He won't like that," Bill chuckled.

_Nearly Headless Nick looked surprised and a little offended._

_"The Grey Lady, of course; but if it is ghostly services you require -?"_

_"It's got to be her - d'you know where she is?"_

_"Let's see..."_

_Nick's head wobbled a little on his ruff as he turned hither and thither, peering over the heads of the swarming students._

_"That's her over there, Harry, the young woman with the long hair."_

"Perfect," James yelled.

_Harry looked in the direction of Nick's transparent, pointing finger and saw a tall ghost who caught sight of Harry looking at her, raised her eyebrows, and drifted away through a solid wall._

_Harry ran after her. Once through the door of the corridor into which she had disappeared, he saw her at the very end of the passage, still gliding smoothly away from him._

_"Hey - wait - come back!"_

_She consented to pause, floating a few inches from the ground. Harry supposed that she was beautiful, with her waist-length hair and floor-length cloak, but she also looked haughty and proud. _

_"You're the Grey Lady?"_

_She nodded but did not speak._

_"The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"_

_"That is correct."_

_Her tone was not encouraging._

"Don't let that stop you," Luna said. "Get past her barriers and she's actually very nice."

_"Please, I need some help. I need to know anything you can tell me about the lost diadem."_

_A cold smile curved her lips._

_"I am afraid," she said, turning to leave, "that I cannot help you."_

"No," several people groaned.

_"WAIT!"_

_He glanced at his watch as she hovered in front of him. It was a quarter to midnight._

"Quarter to midnight," the twins groaned.

_"This is urgent," he said fiercely. "If that diadem's at Hogwarts, I've got to find it, fast."_

_"You are hardly the first student to covet the diadem," she said disdainfully. "Generations of students have badgered me -"_

"She must realize this is more important?" Molly said, shocked.

_"This isn't about trying to get better marks!" Harry shouted at her, "It's about Voldemort - defeating Voldemort - or aren't you interested in that?"_

"Of course she is," Dora said.

_She could not blush, but her transparent cheeks became more opaque, and her voice was heated as she replied, "Of course I - how dare you suggest -?"_

_"Well, help me then!"_

_Her composure was slipping._

"Good," Neville grinned.

_"It - it is not a question of -" she stammered. "My mother's diadem -"_

"She's Ravenclaw's daughter!" everyone gasped.

_"Your mother's?"_

_She looked angry with herself._

_"When I lived," she said stiffly, "I was Helena Ravenclaw."_

_"You're her daughter? But then, you must know what happed to it."_

_"While the diadem bestows wisdom," she said with an obvious effort to pull herself together, "I doubt that it would greatly increase you chances of defeating the wizard who calls himself Lord -"_

"This isn't about wisdom," Frank sighed, frustrated.

_"Haven't I told you, I'm not interested in wearing it!" Harry said fiercely. "There's no time to explain - but if you care about Hogwarts, if you want to see Voldemort finished, you've got to tell me anything you know about the diadem!"_

"Careful," Moody grunted.

_She remained quite still, floating in midair, staring down at him. _

_He had shaken his head and made to turn away when she spoke in a low voice._

_"I stole the diadem from my mother."_

"Thank God/Merlin," many people sighed.

"But why?" Alice asked.

_"You - you did what?"_

_"I stole the diadem," repeated Helena Ravenclaw in a whisper. "I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it._

_"My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts._

_"Then my mother fell ill - fatally ill. In spite of my perfidy, she was desperate to see me one more time. She sent a man who had long loved me, though I spurned his advances, to find me. She knew that he would not rest until he had done so."_

_Harry waited. She drew a deep breath and threw back her head._

_"He tracked me to the forest where I was hiding. When I refused to return with him, he became violent. The baron was always a hot-tempered man. Furious at my refusal, jealous of my freedom, he stabbed me."_

"The Bloody Baron?" Teddy asked. "So, why's he all covered in blood?"

"You'll see, Ted," Harry smiled. "But don't go badgering her about it."

"Of course," Teddy nodded.

_"The Baron? You mean -?"_

_"The Bloody Baron, yes," said the Gray Lady, and she lifted aside the cloak she wore to reveal a single dark wound in her white chest. "When he saw what he had done, he was overcome with remorse. He took the weapon that had claimed my life, and used it to kill himself. All these centuries later, he wears his chains as an act of penitence ... as he should." she added bitterly._

"I can't believe you got it out of her," Neville said.

_"And - and the diadem?"_

_"It remained where I had hidden it when I heard the Baron blundering through the forest toward me. Concealed inside a hollow tree."_

_"A hollow tree?" repeated Harry. "What tree? Where was this?"_

_"A forest in Albania._

"Voldemort was hiding there," Remus breathed.

_A lonely place I thought was far beyond my mother's reach."_

_"Albania," repeated Harry. "You've already told someone this story, haven't you? Another student?"_

"Tom Riddle," Hermione nodded.

_She closed her eyes and nodded._

_"I had... no idea... He was flattering. He seemed to... understand... to sympathize..."_

"He was like that," Ginny nodded.

_"Well, you weren't the first person Riddle wormed things out of." Harry muttered. "He could be charming when he wanted..."_

_So, Voldemort had managed to wheedle the location of the lost diadem out of the Grey Lady. He had traveled to that far-flung forest and retrieved the diadem from its hiding place, perhaps as soon as he left Hogwarts, before he even started work at Borgin and Burkes._

_And wouldn't those secluded Albanian woods have seemed an excellent refuge when, so much later, Voldemort and needed a place to lie low, undisturbed, for ten long years?_

_But the diadem, once it became his precious Horcrux, had not been left in that lowly tree. . . . No, the diadem had been returned secretly to its true home, and Voldemort must have put it there –_

_"—the night he asked for a job!" said Harry, finishing his thought._

"That's it, boy," Moody roared, making a few jump.

_"I beg your pardon?"_

_"He hid the diadem in the castle, the night he asked Dumbledore to let him teach!" said Harry. "He must've hidden the diadem on his way up to, or down from Dumbledore's office! But it was well worth trying to get the job – then he might've got the chance to nick Gryffindor's sword as well – thank you, thanks!"_

"She's probably so confused," Molly said, half amused.

_Harry left her floating there, looking utterly bewildered. As he rounded the corner back into the entrance hall, he checked his watch. It was five minutes until midnight._

_Harry turned a corner, but he had taken only a few steps down the new corridor when the window to his left broke open with a deafening, shattering crash. As he leapt aside, a gigantic body flew in through the window and hit the opposite wall._

_Something large and furry detached itself, whimpering, from the new arrival and flung itself at Harry._

_"Hagrid!" Harry bellowed,_

_fighting off Fang the boarhound's attentions as the enormous bearded figure clambered to his feet "What the -?"_

_"Harry, yer here! Yer here!"_

"It's just Hagrid," several people said, laughing in relief.

_Hagrid stooped down, bestowed upon Harry a cursory and rib-cracking hug, then ran back to the shattered window._

_"Good boy, Grawpy!" he bellowed through the hole in the window. "I'll se yer in a moment, there's a good lad!"_

_Beyond Hagrid, out in the dark night, Harry saw bursts of light in the distance and heard a weird, keening scream. He looked down at his watch: It was midnight. _

"The battle's began!" the twins yelled.

_"Blimey, Harry," panted Hagrid, "this is it, eh? Time ter fight?"_

_"Hagrid, where have you come from?"_

_"Heard You-Know-Who from up in our cave," said Hagrid grimly. "Voice carried, didn't it? 'Yet got till midnight ter gimme Potter.' Knew yeh mus' be here, knew what mus' be happenin'. Get down, Fang. So we come ter join in, me an' Grawpy an' Fang. Smashed our way through the boundary by the forest, Grawpy was carryin' us, Fang an' me. Told him ter let me down at the castle, so he shoved me through the window, bless him. Not exactly what I meant, bu'_

"Close enough," James managed to chuckle.

– _where's Ron an' Hermione?"_

_"That," said Harry, "is a really good question. Come on."_

"Yes, where are you?" Frank asked, annoyed.

"Bathroom," they said.

_They hurried together along the corridor, Fang lolloping beside them. Harry could hear movement through the corridors all around: running footsteps, shouts; through the windows, he could see more flashes of light in the dark grounds._

_"Where're we goin'?" puffed Hagrid, pounding along at Harry's heels, making the floorboards quake._

_"I dunno exactly," said Harry, making another random turn, "but Ron and Hermione must be around here somewhere. . . ."_

_The first casualties of the battle were already strewn across the passage ahead: The two stone gargoyles that usually guarded the entrance to the staffroom had been smashed apart by a jinx that had sailed through another broken window. Their remains stirred feebly on the floor, and as Harry leapt over one of their disembodied heads, it moaned faintly. "Oh, don't mind me . . . I'll just be here and crumble. . . ."_

The twins snorted.

_He knew, at least, where the Horcrux sat waiting for him. . . ._

"What?" Dora asked, confused. "I think we've missed some thoughts."

"Memories," Harry said. "Don't worry I tell Ron and Hermione."

"So you find them," Lily breathed.

_He was roused by Professor Sprout, who was thundering past followed by Neville and half a dozen others, all of them wearing earmuffs and carrying what appeared to be large potted plants._

_"Mandrakes!" Neville bellowed at Harry over his shoulder as he ran. "Going to lob them over the walls – they won't like this!"_

Alice and Frank chuckled.

_He sped off, with Hagrid and Fang galloping behind him. They passed portrait after portrait, and the painted figures raced alongside them, wizards and witches in ruffs and breeches, in armor and cloaks, cramming themselves into each others' canvases, screaming news from other parts of the castle. As they reached the end of this corridor, the whole castle shook, and Harry knew, as a gigantic vase blew off its plinth with explosive force, that it was in the grip of enchantments more sinister than those of the teachers and the Order._

_"It's all righ', Fang – it's all righ'!" yelled Hagrid, but the great boarhound had taken flight as slivers of china flew like shrapnel through the air, and Hagrid pounded off after the terrified dog, leaving Harry alone._

"Such a coward," the twins said.

_He forged on through the trembling passages, his wand at the ready, and for the length of one corridor the little painted knight, Sir Cadrigan, rushed from painting to painting beside him, clanking along in his armor, screaming encouragement, his fat little pony cantering behind him._

_"Braggarts and rogues, dogs and scoundrels, drive them out, Harry Potter, see them off!"_

"Oh shut up," Sirius groaned.

_Harry hurtled around a corner and found Fred and a small knot of students, including Lee Jordan and Hannah Abbott, standing beside another empty plinth, whose statue had concealed a secret passageway. Their wands were drawn and they were listening at the concealed hole._

_"Nice night for it!" Fred shouted as the castle quaked again, _

Molly smiled slightly.

_and Harry sprinted by, elated and terrified in equal measure. Along yet another corridor he dashed, and then there were owls everywhere, and Mrs. Norris was hissing and trying to bat them with her paws, no doubt to return them to their proper place. . . ._

_"Potter!"_

_Aberforth Dumbledore stood blocking the corridor ahead, his wand held ready._

"He decided to fight," Moody grunted. "Good man."

_"I've had hundreds of kids thundering through my pub, Potter!"_

James and Sirius chuckled.

_"I know, we're evacuating," Harry said, "Voldemort's –"_

_"– attacking because they haven't handed you over, yeah," said Aberforth. "I'm not deaf, the whole of Hogsmeade heard him. And it never occurred to any of you to keep a few Slytherins hostage? There are kids of Death Eaters you've just sent to safety. Wouldn't it have been a bit smarter to keep 'em here?"_

"We can't sink to their level," Luna said. "That's the problem. Good has to fight fair because if they don't and sink to their enemy's level, they're just a bad as them really. Plus a war isn't won if you're your own enemy at the end of it."

_"It wouldn't stop Voldemort," said Harry, "and your brother would never have done it."_

Luna smiled.

_Aberforth grunted and tore away in the opposite direction._

_Harry ran on again and then he skidded around a final corner and with a yell of mingled relief and fury he saw them: Ron and Hermione; both with their arms full of large, curved, dirty yellow objects, Ron with a broomstick under his arms._

"Thank Merlin," Sirius yelled

_"Where the hell have you been?" Harry shouted._

"Good question," Dora couldn't help but snap.

_"Chamber of Secrets," said Ron._

"Of course," Remus said. "Basilisk."

_"Chamber – what?" said Harry, coming to an unsteady halt before them._

_"It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, even if we find the other one, how are we going to get rid of it? We still hadn't got rid of the cup! And then he thought of it! The basilisk!"_

Moody grunted his approval

_"What the – ?"_

_"Something to get rid of Horcruxes," said Ron simply._

_Harry's eyes dropped to the objects clutched in Ron and Hermione's arms: great curved fangs; torn, from the skull of a dead basilisk._

"Did you really need so many?" Teddy asked.

"Better safe than sorry," Hermione smiled.

_"But how did you get in there?" he asked, staring from the fangs to Ron. "You need to speak Parseltongue!"_

_"He did!" whispered Hermione. "Show him, Ron!" Ron made a horrible strangled hissing noise._

_"It's what you did to open the locket," he told Harry apologetically. "I had to have a few goes to get it right, but," he shrugged modestly, "we got there in the end."_

"Good," Petunia said.

_"He was amazing!" said Hermione. "Amazing!"_

_"So . . ." Harry was struggling to keep up. "So . . ."_

_"So we're another Horcrux down," said Ron, and from under his jacket he pulled the mangled remains of Hufflepuff's cup. "Hermione stabbed it. Thought she should. She hasn't had the pleasure yet."_

"Yes, complete pleasure," Hermione sarcastically.

_"Genius!" yelled Harry._

_"It was nothing," said Ron, though he looked delighted with himself. "So what's new with you?"_

_As he said it, there was an explosion from overhead: All three of them looked up as dust fell from the ceiling and they heard a distant scream._

_"I know what the diadem looks like, and I know where it is," said Harry, talking fast. "He hid it exactly where I had my old Potions book, where everyone's been hiding stuff for centuries. He thought he was the only one to find it. Come on."_

"The room of requirement," Ginny said, remembering the three of them telling her to get out.

_As the walls trembled again, he led the other two back through the concealed entrance and down the staircase into the Room of Requirement. It was empty except for three women: Ginny, Tonks_

"Dora!" some people yelled as she grimaced.

"You were supposed to be with Teddy," James said.

'I couldn't stand not knowing,' Dora sighed, she hated that she didn't get to see Teddy grow up but she knew she made the right choice, she fought so her son could have a better life, and she stayed by her husbands side, where she belonged, even in death.

_and an elderly witch wearing a moth-eaten hat, whom Harry recognized immediately as Neville's grandmother._

"My mum," Frank chuckled.

"She still wears that horrible hat," Alice giggled.

_"Ah, Potter," she said crisply as if she had been waiting for him. "You can tell us what's going on."_

_"Is everyone okay?" said Ginny and Tonks together._

_"'S far as we know," said Harry. "Are there still people in the passage to the Hog's Head?"_

_"I was the last to come through," said Mrs. Longbottom. "I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it open now Aberforth has left his pub._

"True," Bill said.

_Have you seen my grandson?"_

_"He's fighting," said Harry._

_"Naturally," said the old lady proudly. "Excuse me, I must go and assist him." _

Alice and Frank smiled.

_With surprising speed she trotted off toward the stone steps. Harry looked at Tonks._

_"I thought you were supposed to be with Teddy at your mother's?"_

_"I couldn't stand not knowing –" Tonks looked anguished. "She'll look after him – have you seen Remus?"_

_"He was planning to lead a group of fighters into the grounds –"_

_Without another word, Tonks sped off._

"Dora," Sirius sighed.

_"Ginny," said Harry, "I'm sorry, but we need you to leave too. Just for a bit. Then you can come back in."_

"You really thought I'd come back in?" Ginny laughed.

"No,' Harry said. "I was planning on dragging you in if you were still nearby."

"I figured you would," she laughed. "That's why I ran."

Some frowned at her.

_Ginny looked simply delighted to leave her sanctuary._

_"And then you can come back in!" he shouted after her as she ran up the steps after Tonks. "You've got to come back in!"_

"No chance," Ginny smiled.

_"Hang on a moment!" said Ron sharply. "We've forgotten someone!"_

_"Who?" asked Hermione._

_"The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"_

_"You mean we ought to get them fighting?" asked Harry._

_"No," said Ron seriously, "I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want anymore Dobbies, do we? We can't order them to die for us –"_

"Oh Merlin, no," Harry groaned.

"What?" many asked worried.

_There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth._

_Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet._

"About time!" Sirius yelled.

"This is not the moment!" Moody yelled.

_"Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "Oi! There's a war going on here!"_

"Exactly," Moody growled.

_Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other._

_"I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?"_

"Now that's a good point," Ginny said.

_"Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?"_

_"Yeah – right – sorry –" said Ron, and he and Hermione set about gathering up fangs, both pink in the face._

Nearly everybody snickered.

_It was clear, as the three of them stepped back into the corridor upstairs, that in the minutes that they had spent in the Room of Requirement the situation within the castle had deteriorated severely: The walls and ceiling were shaking worse than ever; dust filled the air, and through the nearest window, Harry saw bursts of green and red light so close to the foot of the castle that he knew the Death Eaters must be very near to entering the place. Looking down, Harry saw Grawp the giant meandering past, swinging what looked like a stone gargoyle torn from the roof and roaring his displeasure._

_"Let's hope he steps on some of them!" said Ron as more screams echoed from close by._

_"As long as it's not any of our lot!" said a voice:_

_Harry turned and saw Ginny and Tonks, both with their wands drawn at the next window, which was missing several panes. Even as he watched, Ginny sent a well-aimed jinx into a crowd of fighters below._

_"Good girl!" roared a figure running through the dust toward them, and Harry saw Aberforth again, his gray hair flying as he led a small group of students past. "They look like they might be breaching the north battlements, they've brought giants of their own."_

"Damn," the twins said.

_"Have you seen Remus?" Tonks called after him._

_"He was dueling Dolohov," shouted Aberforth, "haven't seen him since!"_

Everyone who survived sighed – Remus didn't survive that duel.

_"Tonks," said Ginny, "Tonks, I'm sure he's okay –"_

_But Tonks had run off into the dust after Aberforth._

_Ginny turned, helpless, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione._

_"They'll be all right," said Harry, though he knew they were empty words. "Ginny, we'll be back in a moment, just keep out of the way, keep safe – _

"Keep safe doesn't mean run into a more dangerous area," Harry said annoyed.

"I'm not sorry," she smiled.

"Course not," he chuckled

_come on!" he said to Ron and Hermione, and they ran back to the stretch of wall beyond which the Room of Requirement was waiting to do the bidding of the next entrant and the door materialized on their third run past._

_The furor of the battle died the moment they crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them: All was silent. They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students._

"This could take a while," James groaned.

_"And he never realised anyone could get in?" said Ron, his voice echoing in the silence._

_"He thought he was the only one," said Harry. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time . . . this way," he added. "I think it's down here. . . ." _

_They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats. . . ._

_"Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere … somewhere…"_

_Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went. There it was, right ahead, a blistered old cupboard, and on top of it, the pockmarked stone warlock wearing a dusty old wig and what looked like an ancient discolored tiara._

"There it is," Luna smiled.

_He had already stretched out his hand, though he remained few feet away, when a voice behind him said, "Hold it, Potter."_

"Crap," Sirius said.

_He skidded to a halt and turned around. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder, wands pointing right at Harry. Through the small space between their jeering faces he saw Draco Malfoy. _

_"That's my wand you're holding, Potter," said Malfoy, pointing his own through the gap between Crabbe and Goyle._

_"Not anymore," panted Harry, tightening his grip on the hawthorn wand. "Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who's lent you theirs?"_

_"My mother," said Draco._

_Harry laughed, though there was nothing very humorous about the situation. He could not hear Ron or Hermione anymore. They seemed to have run out of earshot, searching for the diadem._

_"So how come you three aren't with Voldemort?" asked Harry._

_"We're gonna be rewarded," said Crabbe. His voice was surprisingly soft for such an enormous person: Harry had hardly ever heard him speak before._

The trio sighed, he didn't have long to live.

_Crabbe was speaking like a small child promised a large bag of sweets. "We 'ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to 'im."_

_"Good plan," said Harry in mock admiration. _

"Come on," Teddy said. "Go away."

_He began edging slowly backward toward the place where the Horcrux sat lopsided upon the bust. _

_"So how did you get in here?" he asked, trying to distract them._

_"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," said Malfoy, his voice brittle. "I know how to get in."_

_"We was hiding in the corridor outside," grunted Goyle. "We can do Diss-lusion Charms now!_

"To bad you can't say it," the twins sniggered.

_And then," his face split into a gormless grin, "you turned up right in front of us and said you was looking for a die-dum! What's a die-dum?" _

"None of your business," Dudley said, he hated that these boys reminded him a bit of himself when he was younger.

_"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall to Harry's right. "Are you talking to someone?"_

_With a whiplike movement, Crabbe pointed his wand at the fifty foot mountain of old furniture, of broken trunks, of old books and robes and unidentifiable junk, and shouted, "Descendo!"_

_The wall began to totter, then the top third crumbled into the aisle next door where Ron stood._

"No!" Molly gasped.

_"Ron!" Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight Hermione screamed, and Harry heard innumerable objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the destabilized wall: He pointed his wand at the rampart, cried, "Finite!" and it steadied._

_"No!" shouted Malfoy, staying Crabbe's arm as the latter made to repeat his spell. "If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!"_

_"What's that matter?" said Crabbe, tugging himself free. "It's Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares about a die-dum?"_

"I'm sure Riddle would," Harry said.

_"Potter came in here to get it," said Malfoy with ill-disguised impatience at the slow-wittedness of his colleagues. "so that must mean –"_

_"'Must mean'?" Crabbe turned on Malfoy with undisguised ferocity. "Who cares what you think? I don't take your orders no more, Draco. You an' your dad are finished."_

_"Harry?" shouted Ron again, from the other side of the junk wad. "What's going on?"_

_"Harry?" mimicked Crabbe. "What's going on – no, Potter! Crucio!"_

"No!" Lily shrieked.

_Harry had lunged for the tiara; Crabbe's curse missed him but hit the stone bust, which flew into the air; the diadem soared upward and then dropped out of sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had rested._

"Non," Fleur said, desperately.

_"STOP!" Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing through the enormous room. "The Dark Lord wants him alive –"_

_"So? I'm not killing him, am I?" yelled Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy's restraining arm. "But if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what's the diff – ?"_

_A jet of scarlet light shot past Harry by inches: Hermione had run around the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe's head. It only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way._

"Hermione," several people breathed.

_"It's that Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!"_

Everyone growled.

_Harry saw Hermione dive aside. He shot a Stunning Spell at Crabbe, who lurched out of the way, knocking Malfoy's wand out of his hand; it rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken furniture and bones._

_"Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry: Their split second's hesitation was all Harry needed._

_"Expelliarmus!"_

_Goyle's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him; Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malfoy jumped out of range of Hermione's second Stunning Spell, and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe, which narrowly missed._

"Damn," Neville said.

_Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" again. _

Everyone snarled or growled again.

_Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet of green light. The wand-less Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged toward them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came._

_"It's somewhere here!" Harry yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while I go and help R –"_

_"HARRY!" she screamed._

"What? What?" James asked.

_A roaring, billowing noise behind him gave him a moment's warning. He turned and saw both Ron and Crabbe running as hard as they could up the aisle toward them._

_"Like it hot, scum?" roared Crabbe as he ran._

_But he seemed to have no control over what he had done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch._

"Fiendfyre," Lily breathed.

_"Aguamenti!" Harry bawled, _

"Wont work," Frank said. "Just run."

_but the jet of water that soared from the tip of his wand evaporated in the air._

_"RUN!"_

_Malfoy grabbed the Stunned Goyle and dragged him along; Crabbe outstripped all of them, now looking terrified; Harry, Ron, and Hermione pelted along in his wake, and the fire pursued them. As they turned a corner the flames chased them as though they were alive, sentient, intent upon killing them. Now the fire was mutating, forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: Flaming serpents, chimaeras, and dragons rose and fell and rose again, and the detritus of centuries on which they were feeding was thrown up into the air into their fanged mouths, tossed high on clawed feet, before being consumed by the inferno._

_Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had vanished from view: Harry, Ron and Hermione stopped dead; the fiery monsters were circling them, drawing closer and closer, claws and horns and tails lashed, and the heat was solid as a wall around them._

"How do you get out," Dudley groaned.

_"What can we do?" Hermione screamed over the deafening roars of the fire. "What can we do?"_

_"Here!"_

_Harry seized a pair of heavy-looking broomsticks_

"Brilliant!" the twins roared.

_from the nearest pile of junk and threw one to Ron, who pulled Hermione onto it behind him. Harry swung his leg over the second broom and, with hard kicks to the ground, they soared up in the air, missing by feet the horned beak of a flaming raptor that snapped its jaws at them. The smoke and heat were becoming overwhelming: Below them the cursed fire was consuming the contraband of generations of hunted students, the guilty outcomes of a thousand banned experiments, the secrets of the countless souls who had sought refuge in the room. Harry couldn't see a trace of Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle anywhere. He swooped as low as he dare over the marauding monsters of flame to try to find them, but there was nothing but fire: _

"Where are they?" Lily asked.

"Does it matter?" Sirius asked.

"Of course it does," Harry snapped.

_"Harry, let's get out, let's get out!" bellowed Ron, though it was impossible to see where the door was through the black smoke._

"You can't leave them," Arthur sighed.

_And then Harry heard a thin, piteous human scream from amidst the terrible commotion, the thunder of devouring flame._

_"It's – too – dangerous – !" Ron yelled, but Harry wheeled in the air._

"Noble prat, mate," Ron muttered.

"Harry did the right thing," Hermione said softly.

_His glasses giving his eyes some small protection from the smoke, he raked the firestorm below, seeking a sign of life, a limb or a face that was not yet charred like wood. . . ._

_And he saw them: Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of charred desks, and Harry dived. Malfoy saw him coming and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good. Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's –_

"Come on," Molly said.

_"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice,_

The twins and Marauders smiled slightly.

_and, as a great flaming chimaera bore down upon them, he and Hermione dragged Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling and pitching, into the air once more as Malfoy clambered up behind Harry._

_"The door, get to the door, the door!" screamed Malfoy in Harry's ear, and Harry sped up, following Ron, Hermione, and Goyle through the billowing black smoke, hardly able to breathe: and all around them the last few objects unburned by the devouring flames were flung into the air, as the creatures of the cursed fire cast them high in celebration: cups and shields, a sparkling necklace, and an old, discolored tiara –_

_"What are you doing, what are you doing, the door's that way!" screamed Malfoy,_

"I wonder if you need to get it," Petunia said.

_but Harry made a hairpin swerve and dived. The diadem seemed to fall in slow motion, turning and glittering as it dropped toward the maw of a yawning serpent, and then he had it, caught it around his wrist –_

"You're brilliant," Frank yelled.

"Youngest seeker," Neville laughed. "First year."

_Harry swerved again as the serpent lunged at him; he soared upward and straight toward the place where, he prayed, the door stood open; Ron, Hermione and Goyle had vanished; Malfoy was screaming and holding Harry._

_Then, through the smoke, Harry saw a rectangular patch on the wall and steered the broom at it, and moments later clean air filled his lungs and they collided with the wall in the corridor beyond._

"You're out," everyone breathed.

_Malfoy fell off the broom and lay facedown, gasping, coughing, and retching. Harry rolled over and sat up: The door to the Room of Requirement had vanished, and Ron and Hermione sat panting on the floor beside Goyle, who was still unconscious._

_"C-Crabbe," choked Malfoy as soon as he could speak. "C-Crabbe . . ."_

_"He's dead," said Ron harshly._

"Ron," Molly scolded. "He just lost a friend."

_There was silence, apart from panting and coughing. Then a number of huge bangs shook the castle, and a great cavalcade of transparent figures galloped past on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust under their arms. Harry staggered to his feet when the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: The battle was still going on all around him. He could hear more screams than those of the retreating ghosts. _

_"Where's Ginny?" he said sharply._

"I had to help," Ginny said. "Even if it scared you."

_"She was here. She was supposed to be going back into the Room of Requirement."_

_"Blimey, d'you reckon it'll still work after that fire?" asked Ron, but he too got to his feet, rubbing his chest and looking left and right. "Shall we split up and look – ?"_

"Don't split up," Moody said.

_"No," said Hermione, getting to her feet too._

_Malfoy and Goyle remained slumped hopelessly on the corridor floor; neither of them had wands. "Let's stick together. I say we go – Harry, what's that on your arm?"_

_"What? Oh yeah –"_

_He pulled the diadem from his wrist and held it up. It was still hot, blackened with soot, but as he looked at it closely he was just able to make out the tiny words etched upon it; WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE._

_A bloodlike substance, dark and tarry, seemed to be leaking from the diadem. Suddenly Harry felt the thing vibrate violently, then break apart in his hands, and as it did so, he thought he heard the faintest, most distant scream of pain, echoing not from the grounds or the castle, but from the thing that had just fragmented in his fingers._

"It's gone!" several people cheered.

_"It must have been Fiendfyre!" whimpered Hermione, her eyes on the broken piece._

"That answer's your question, Mum," Dudley chuckled.

_"Sorry?"_

_"Fiendfyre – cursed fire – it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it's so dangerous – how did Crabbe know how to – ?"_

_"Must've learned from the Carrows," said Harry grimly._

_"Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Ron,_

"Mmm," many hummed in agreement.

_whose hair, like Hermione's, was singed, and whose face was blackened. "If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead."_

_"But don't you realize?" whispered Hermione. "This means, if we can just get the snake –"_

Ginny and the trio shock their heads but no one noticed they were all grinning – one more to go.

_But she broke off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of dueling filled the corridor. Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both of them dueling masked and hooded men._

Harry pulled Ginny close as she buried her face in his chest, Ron buried his own in Hermione's hair as everyone looked at them in confusion.

Then Molly let out a gasp, tears welling up and Arthur looked extremely pain – they didn't want to see this.

"Fred," Lily said, softly.

Everyone groaned.

"Anyone want to leave?" Harry asked, knowing none of them would but he had to offer.

"No," many said firmly while others just shock their heads.

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran forward to help: Jets of light flew in every direction and the man dueling Percy backed off, fast: Then his hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair –_

_"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"_

Molly let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob, like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry but didn't want to cry.

_"You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee._

_"You actually are joking, Perce. . . . I don't think I've heard you joke since you were –"_

"Little," Arthur finished, grimacing.

_The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured; and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart, Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms: He heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them –_

_And then the world resolved itself into pain and semidarkness: He was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack. Cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away, and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony of a kind neither flame nor curse could cause, and he stood up, swaying._

_And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three redheaded men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood._

_"No – no – no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"_

"No!" Alice cried as tears streamed down nearly everyone's faces and Molly sobbed desperately on Arthur's shoulder remembering all the pain.

_And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face._

"At – at least he died smiling," James said.

"And he's back now," Lily said, trying to smile.

The Weasley's all nodded thankfully and tried to pull themselves together.

_The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms? Fred Weasley could not be dead, the evidence of all his senses must be lying-_

Everyone let out a sob at Harry's thinking.

_And then a body fell past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads._

_"Get down!" Harry shouted, as more curses flew through the night: He and Ron had both grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the floor,_

"Thanks for that," Hermione said, weakly. "It's always at least one of you pushing me to the floor."

_but Percy lay across Fred's body, shielding it from further harm, and when Harry shouted "Percy, come on, we've got to move!" he shook his head._

"Perce," Bill sighed.

_"Percy!" Harry saw tear tracks streaking the grime coating Ron's face as he sezied his elder brother's shoulders and pulled, but Percy would not budge. "Percy, you can't do anything for him! We're going to-"_

"Please listen to him," Molly cried.

_Hermione screamed, and Harry, turning, did not need to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall. One of Aragog's descendants had joined the fight._

"On no," many groaned.

_Ron and Harry shouted together; their spells collided and the monster was blown backward, its legs jerking horribly, and vanished into the darkness._

_"It brought friends!" Harry called to the others, glancing over the edge of the castle through the hole in the wall the curses had blasted. More giant spiders were climbing the side of the building, liberated from the Forbidden Forest_

"Oh god," Dudley muttered.

_Harry fired Stunning Spells down upon them, knocking the lead monster into its fellows, so that they rolled back down the building and out of sight. Then more curses came soaring over Harry's head, so close he felt the force of them blow his hair._

_"Let's move, NOW!"_

_Pushing Hermione ahead of him with Ron, Harry stooped to seize Fred's body under the armpit. Percy, realizing what Harry was trying to do, stopped clinging to the body and helped: together, crouching low to avoid the curses flying at them from the grounds, they hauled Fred out of the way._

Molly and Arthur smiled at Harry.

"Good," Alice said.

_"Here," said Harry, and they placed him in a niche where a suit of armor had stood earlier. He could not bear to look at Fred a second longer than he had to, and after making sure that the body was well- hidden, he took off after Ron and Hermione. Malfoy and Goyle had vanished but at the end of the corridor, which was now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long gone from windows, he saw many people running backward and forward, whether friends or foes he could not tell. Rounding the corner, Percy let out a bull-like roar: "ROOKWOOD!" and sprinted off in the direction of a tall man, who was pursuing a couple of students._

"It was 'im I'm guessing," Fleur said, bitterly.

_"Harry, in here!" Hermione screamed._

_She had pulled Ron behind a tapestry. They seemed to be wrestling together; then he saw that Hermione was trying to restrain Ron, to stop him running after Percy._

_"Listen to me-LISTEN RON!"_

_"I wanna help-I wanna kill Death Eaters-" His face was contorted, smeared with dust and smoke, and he was shaking with rage and grief._

"We all did," Harry and Hermione sighed.

_"Ron, we're the only ones who can end it! Please-Ron-we need the snake, we've got to kill the snake!" said Hermione._

Many nodded.

_"We will fight!" Hermione said. "We'll have to, to reach the snake! But let's not lose sight now of what we're supposed to be d-doing! We're the only ones who can end it!"_

_She was crying too, and she wiped her face on her torn and singed sleeve as she spoke, but she took great heaving breaths to calm herself as, still keeping a tight hold on Ron, she turned to Harry._

_"You need to find out where Voldemort is, because he'll have the snake with him, won't he? Do it, Harry-look inside him!"_

"The first and last time I ever asked that of you," Hermione smiled weakly.

_He closed his eyes on her command, and at once, the screams and bangs and all the discordant sounds of the battle were drowned until they became distant, as though he stood far, far away from them..._

_He was standing in the middle of a desolate but strangely familiar room, with peeling paper on the walls and all the windows boarded up except for one._

"Shrieking shack," Remus muttered bitterly.

_The sounds of the assault on the castle were muffled and distant. The single unblocked window revealed distant bursts of light where the castle stood, but inside the room was dark except for a solitary oil lamp._

"He's not even fighting," many women screeched in outrage.

"That's a good thing," Mad-Eye grumbled.

_He was rolling his wand between his figners, watching it, his thoughts on the room in the castle, the secret room only he had ever found, the room, like the chamber, that you had to be clever and cunning and inquisitive to discover..._

_He was confident that the boy would not find the diadem...although Dumbledore's puppet had come much farther than he ever expected...too far..._

"Good," Mad-Eye grunted. "He underestimates you."

"And it'll be his downfall," Hermione smirked.

_"My Lord," said a voice, desperate and cracked. He turned: there was Lucius Malfoy sitting in the darkest corner, ragged and still bearing the marks of the punishment he had received after the boy's last escape. One of his eyes remained closed and puffy. "My Lord...please...my son..."_

"He won't care," Ginny sighed.

_"If your son is dead, Lucius, it is not my fault. He did not come and join me, like the rest of the Slytherins. Perhaps he has decided to befriend Harry Potter?"_

_"No-never," whispered Malfoy._

People who had survived snorted.

_"You must hope not."_

_"Aren't-aren't you afraid, my Lord that Potter might die at another hand but yours?" asked Malfoy, his voice shaking. "Wouldn't it be...forgive me...more prudent to call off this battle, enter the castle, and seek him y-yourself?"_

"He won't fall for that," Bill said.

_"Do not pretend Lucius. You wish the battle to cease so that you can discover what has happened to your son. And I do not need to seek Potter. Before the night is out, Potter will have come to find me."_

"Yeah to kill you and your snake," Dora said but she didn't see the looks exchanged.

_Voldemort dropped his gaze once more to the wand in his fingers. _

_"Go and fetch Snape."_

"What does he want with him?" Lily asked, she couldn't help but picture the young boy she had known.

_"Snape, m-my Lord?"_

_"Snape. Now. I need him. There is a -service-I require from him. Go."_

_Frightened, stumbling a little through the gloom, Lucius left the room. Vodlemort continued to stand there, twirling the wand between his fingers, staring at it._

_"It is the only way, Nagini," he whispered, and he looked around, and there was the great thick snake, now suspended in midair, twisting gracefully within the enchanted, protected space he had made for her, a starry, transparent sphere somewhere between a glittering cage and a tank._

"You won't get at her easily then," Frank frowned.

_With a gasp, Harry pulled back and opened his eyes at the same moment his ears were assaulted with the screeches and cries, the smashes and bangs of battle._

_"He's in the Shrieking Shack. The snake's with him, it's got some sort of magical protection around it. He's just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape."_

_"Voldemort's sitting in the shrieking Shack?" said Hermione, outraged. "He's not-he's not even FIGHTING?"_

Many people nodded agreeing with her outrage.

_"He doesn't think he needs to fight," said Harry. "He thinks I'm going to go to him."_

_"But why?"_

_"He knows I'm after Horcruxes-he's keeping Nagini close beside him- -obviously I'm going to have to go to him to get near the thing-"_

_"Right," said Ron, squaring his shoulders. "So you can't go, that's what he wants, what he's expecting. You stay here and look after Hermione, and I'll go and get it-"_

"What is it with you two?" Neville chuckled.

_Harry cut across Ron._

_"You two stay here, I'll go under the Cloak and I'll be back as soon as I-"_

_"No," said Hermione,, "it makes much more sense if I take the Cloak and-"_

"Or three," Alice corrected her son.

_"Don't even think about it," Ron snarled at her._

_Before Hermione could get farther than "Ron, I'm just as capable –" the tapestry at the top of the staircase on which they stood was ripped open. "POTTER!"_

Petunia gasped.

_Two masked Death Eaters stood there, but even before their wands were fully raised, Hermione shouted "Glisseo!"_

_The stairs beneath their feet flattened into a chute and she, Harry, and Ron hurtled down it, _

The twins couldn't help but chuckle and neither could the marauders.

_unable to control their speed but so fast that the Death Eaters' Stunning Spells flew far over their heads. They shot through the concealing tapestry at the bottom and spun onto the floor, hitting the opposite wall._

"Ouch," Dudley muttered.

_"Duro!" cried Hermione, pointing her wand at the tapestry, and there were two loud, sickening crunches as the tapestry turned to stone and the Death Eaters pursuing them crumpled against it._

"Good one," Moody said.

_"Get back!" shouted Ron, and he, Harry, and Hermione hurled themselves against a door as a herd of galloping desks thundered past, shepherded by a sprinting Professor McGonagall. She appeared not to notice them. Her hair had come down and there was a gash on her cheek. As she turned the corner, they heard her scream, "CHARGE!_

The marauders cheered.

_"Harry, you get the Cloak on," said Hermione. "Never mind us-"_

_But he threw it over all three of them; large though they were he doubted anyone would see their disembodied feet through the dust that clogged the air, the falling stone, the shimmer of spells._

_They ran down the next staircase and found themselves in a corridor full of duelers. The portraits on either side of the fighters were crammed with figures screaming advice and encouragement, while Death Eaters, both masked and unmasked, dueled students and teachers._

_Dean had won himself a wand, for he was face-to-face with Dolohov,_

The trio sucked in a breath, Remus was dead at this point and they hadn't even known it.

_Parvati with Travers. Harry, Ron and Hermione raised their wands at once, ready to strike, but the duelers were weaving and darting so much that there was a strong likelihood of hurting on of their own side if they cast curses. Even as they stood braced, looking for the opportunity to act, there came a great "Wheeeeee!" and looking up, Harry saw Peeves zooming over them, dropping Snargaluff pods down onto the Death Eaters, whose heads were suddenly engulfed in wriggling green tubers like fat worms._

_"ARGH!"_

_A fistful of tubers had hit the Cloak over Ron's head; the damp green roots were suspended improbably in midair as Ron tried to shake them loose._

_"Someone's invisible there!" shouted a masked Death Eater, pointing._

"Damn," the twins said.

_Dean made the most of the Death Eater's momentary distraction, knocking him out with a stunning Spell; Dolohov attempted to retaliate, and Parvati shot a Body Bind Curse at him._

"Good one," Arthur smiled

_"LET'S GO!" Harry yelled, and he, Ron, and Hermione gathered the Cloak tightly around themselves and pelted, heads down, through the midst of the fighters, slipping a little in pools of Snargaluff juice, toward the top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall._

_"I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Draco, I'm on your side!"_

"Two faced git," Sirius muttered.

_Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater. Harry Stunned the Death Eater as they passed. Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his savior, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak._

The twins nodded.

_Malfoy fell backward on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused._

_"And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two- faced bastard!" Ron yelled._

The marauders cheered again.

_There were more duelers all over the stairs and in the hall. Death Eaters everywhere Harry looked: Yaxley, close to the front doors, in combat with Flitwick, a masked Death Eater dueling Kingsley right beside them. Students ran in every direction; some carrying or dragging injured friends. Harry directed a Stunnning Spell toward the masked Death Eater; it missed but nearly hit Neville,_

"Sorry about that, Nev," Harry said.

"It missed," Neville shrugged.

_who had emerged from nowhere brandishing armfuls of Venomous Tentacula, which looped itself happily around the nearest Death Eater and began reeling him in._

_Harry, Ron, and Hermione sped won the marble staircase: glass shattered on the left, and the Slytherin hourglass that had recorded House points spilled its emeralds everywhere, so that people slipped and staggered as they ran. Two bodies fell from the balcony overhead as they reached the ground a gray blur that Harry took for an animal sped four-legged across the hall to sink its teeth into one of the fallen._

"No!" Remus roared.

"Greyback," Teddy realised.

_"NO!" shrieked Hermione, and with a deafening blast from her wand, Fenrir Greyback was thrown backward from the feebly struggling body of Lavender Brown._

_He hit the marble banisters and struggled to return to his feet. Then, with a bright white flash and a crack, a crystal ball fell on top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground and did not move._

"Trelawney," Alice laughed. "I knew there was a reason I didn't completely hate her.2

"And I always thought it was because you were mad, Ali,2 Lily laughed, causing Alice to scowl at her.

_"I have more!" shrieked Professor Trelawney from over the banisters. "More for any who want them! Here-"_

_And with a move like a tennis serve, she heaved another enormous crystal sphere from her bag, waved her wand through the air, and caused the ball to speed across the hall and smash through a window._

"A good reason for those balls," Frank chuckled.

_At the same moment, the heavy wooden front doors burst open, and more of the gigantic spiders forced their way into the front hall._

"No," many groaned.

_Screams of terror rent the air: the fighters scattered, Death Eaters and Hogwartians alike, and red and green jets of light flew into the midst of the oncoming monsters, which shuddered and reared, more terrifying than ever._

_"How do we get out?" yelled Ron over all the screaming, but before either Harry or Hermione could answer they were bowled aside; Hagrid had come thundering down the stairs, brandishing his flowery pink umbrella._

"Hagrid!" Molly yelled.

_"Don't hurt 'em, don't hurt 'em!" he yelled. _

_"HAGRID, NO!" Harry forgot everything else: he sprinted out from under the cloak, running bent double to avoid the curses illuminating the whole hall._

_"HAGRID, COME BACK!"_

_But he was not even halfway to Hagrid when he saw it happen: Hagrid vanished amongst the spiders, and with a great scurrying, a foul swarming movement, they retreated under the onslaught of spells, Hagrid buried in their midst._

Lily squeaked.

_"HAGRID!"_

_Harry heard someone calling his own name, whether friend or foe he did not care: He was sprinting down the front steps into the dark grounds, and the spiders were swarming away with their prey, and he could see nothing of Hagrid at all._

_"HAGRID!"_

_He thought he could make out an enormous arm waving from the midst of the spider swarm, but as he made to chase after them, his way was impeded by a monumental foot, which swung down out of the darkness and made the ground on which he stood shudder. He looked up: A giant stood before him, twenty feet high, its head hidden in shadow, nothing but its treelike, hairy shins illuminated by light from the castle doors. With one brutal, fluid movement, it smashed a massive fist through an upper window, and glass rained down upon Harry, forcing him back under the shelter of the doorway._

_"Oh my-!" shrieked Hermione, as she and Ron caught up with Harry and gazed upward at the giant now trying to seize people through the window above. "DON'T!" Ron yelled, grabbing Hermione's hand as she raised her wand. "Stun him and he'll crush half the castle-"_

_"HAGGER?"_

"It's only Grawp," Ginny breathed.

_Grawp came lurching around the corner of the castle; only now did Harry realize that Grawp was, indeed, an undersized giant. The gargantuan monster trying to crush people on the upper floors turned around and let out a roar. The stone steps trembled as he stomped toward his smaller kin, and Grawp's lopsided mouth fell open, showing yellow, half brick-sized teeth; and then they launched themselves at each other with the savagery of lions._

_"RUN!" Harry roared; the night was full of hideous yells and blows as the giants wrestled, and he seized Hermione's hand and tore down the steps into the grounds, Ron bringing up the rear. Harry had not lost hope of finding and saving Hagrid; he ran so fast that they were halfway toward the forest before they were brought up short again._

_The air around them had frozen:_

"Dementors," Dudley moaned.

_. Shapes moved out in the darkness, swirling figures of concentrated blackness, moving in a great wave towards the castles, their faces hooded and their breath rattling..._

_Ron and Hermione closed in beside him as the sounds of fighting behind them grew suddenly muted, deadened, because a silence only dementors could bring was falling thickly through the night, _

_"Come on, Harry!" said Hermione's voice from a very long way away. "Patronuses, Harry, come on!"_

_He raised his wand._

"Come on, Harry," Remus said. "You're brilliant at Patronuses"

_"HARRY, COME ON!" screamed Hermione._

_A hundred dementors were advancing, gliding toward them._

_He saw Ron's silver terrier burst into the air, flicker feebly, and expire; he saw Hermione's otter twist in midair and fade, and his own wand trembled in his hand._

_And then a silver hare, a boar, and fox soared past Harry, Ron, and Hermione's heads: _

"Luna," Neville beamed.

"Me, Ernie and Seamus," Luna smiled.

_the dementors fell back before the creatures' approach. Three more people had arrived out of the darkness to stand beside them, their wands outstretched, continuing to cast Patronuses: Luna, Ernie, and Seamus._

_"That's right," said Luna encouragingly, as if they were back in the Room of Requirement and this was simply spell practice for the D.A., "That's right, Harry...come on think of something happy..." _

"_Something happy?" he said, his voice cracked._

_"We're all still here," she whispered, "we're still fighting. Come on, now..."_

"Thanks Luna," the trio said.

_There was a silver spark, then a wavering light, and then, the stag burst from the end of Harry's wand. It cantered forward, and now the dementors scattered in earnest,_

"There we go," Ginny beamed.

_and immediately the night was mild again, but the sounds of the surrounding battle were loud in his ears._

_"Can't thank you enough," said Ron shakily, turning to Luna, Ernie, and Seamus "you just saved-"_

_With a roar and an earth-quaking tremor, another giant came lurching out of the darkness from the direction of the forest, brandishing a club taller than any of them._

"Run!" Arthur and the twins yelled.

_"RUN!" Harry shouted again, but the others needed no telling; They all scattered, and not a second too soon, for the next moment the giant's vast foot had fallen exactly where they had been standing._

Frank let out a low, painful whistle.

_Harry looked round: Ron and Hermione were following him, but the other three had vanished back into the battle._

_"Let's get out of range!" yelled Ron as the giant swung its club again and its bellows echoed through the night, across the grounds where bursts of red and green light continued to illuminate the darkness._

_"The Whomping willow," said Harry, "go!"_

_He sprinted, ignoring the jets of light flying in the darkness all around him, and the sound of the lake crashing like the sea, and the creaking of the Forbidden Forest though the night was windless; through grounds that seemed themselves to have risen in rebellion, he ran faster than he had ever moved in his life, and it was he who saw the great tree first, the Willow that protected the secret at its roots with whiplike, slashing branches._

"I hate that tree," Lily said.

"Me too," Remus and the other two marauders agreed.

_Panting and gasping, Harry slowed down, skirting the willow's swiping branches, peering through the darkness toward its thick trunk_

_Ron and Hermione caught up, Hermione so out of breath that she could not speak._

_"How-how're we going to get in?" panted Ron. "I can-see the place- -if we just had-Crookshanks again-"_

"Crookshanks, Weasley!" Mad-Eye roared. "A cat!"

_"Crookshanks?" wheezed Hermione, bent double, clutching her chest. "Are you a wizard, or what?"_

The trio managed a chuckle as they remembered Ron said the same thing first year.

_"Oh-right-yeah-"_

_Ron looked around, then directed his wand at a twig on the ground and said "Wingardium Leviosa!" The twig flew up from the ground, spun through the air as if caught by a gust of wind, then zoomed directly at the trunk through the Willow's ominously swaying branches. It jabbed at a place near the roots, and at once, the writhing tree became still._

_"Perfect!" panted Hermione._

_"Wait."_

_For one teetering second, while the crashes and booms of the battle filled the air, Harry hesitated. _

_"Harry, we're coming, just get in there!" said Ron, pushing him forward._

_Harry wriggled into the earthy passage hidden in the tree's roots. It was a much tighter squeeze than it had been the last time they had entered it. The tunnel was low-ceilinged: they had had to double up to move through it nearly four years previously; now there was nothing for it but to crawl._

_Harry went first, his wand illuminated, expecting at any moment to meet barriers, but none came. They moved in silence, Harry's gaze fixed upon the swinging beam of the wand held in his fist._

_At last, the tunnel began to slope upward and Harry saw a sliver of light ahead. Hermione tugged at his ankle._

_"The Cloak!" she whispered. "Put the Cloak on!"_

"Good idea," Lily nodded.

_He groped behind him and she forced the bundle of slippery cloth into his free hand. With difficulty he dragged it over himself, murmured, "Nox," extinguishing his wandlight, and continued on his hands and knees, as silently as possible, all his senses straining, expecting every second to be discovered, to hear a cold clear voice, see a flash of green light._

_And then he heard voices coming from the room directly ahead of them, only slightly muffled by the fact that the opening at the end of the tunnel had been blocked up by what looked like an old crate. Hardly daring to breathe, Harry edged right up to the opening and peered through a tiny gap left between crate and wall._

_The room beyond was dimly lit, but he could see Nagini, swirling and coiling like a serpent underwater, safe in her enchanted, starry sphere, which floated unsupported in midair. He could see the edge of a table, and a long-fingered white hand toying with a wand. Then Snape spoke, and Harry's heart lurched: Snape was inches away from where he crouched, hidden._

_"...my Lord, their resistance is crumbling-"_

"No, it wasn't," all the fighters said.

_"-and it is doing so without your help," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice. "Skilled wizard though you are, Severus, I do not think you will make much difference now. We are almost there...almost." _

_"Let me find the boy. Let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please."_

"You keep away from him Snape," James growled.

_Snape strode past the gap, and Harry drew back a little, keeping his eyes fixed upon Nagini, _

"Don't do anything," Fleur said.

_Voldemort stood up. Harry could see him now, see the red eyes, the flattened, serpentine face, the pallor of him gleaming slightly in the semidarkness._

_"I have a problem, Severus," said Voldemort softly._

"A mental one," the twins said.

_"My Lord?" said Snape._

_Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, holding it as delicately and precisely as a conductor's baton._

_"Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?"_

"Oh," Remus gasped.

_"My-my lord?" said Snape blankly. "I do not understand. You-you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand."_

_"No," said Voldemort. "I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary, but this wand...no. It has not revealed the wonders it has promised. I feel no difference between this wand and the one I procured from Ollivander all those years ago."_

"No," Lily squeaked, realizing what Remus already had.

Everyone tensed.

_Voldemort's tone was musing, calm,_

_. "No difference," said Voldemort again. Snape did not speak. Harry could not see his face. He wondered whether Snape sensed danger, was trying to find the right words to reassure his master._

_Voldemort started to move around the room: Harry lost sight of him for seconds as he prowled, speaking in that same measured voice._

_"I have thought long and hard, Severus...do you know why I have called you back from battle?"_

_And for a moment Harry saw Snape's profile. His eyes were fixed upon the coiling snake in its enchanted cage._

_"No, my Lord, but I beg you will let me return. Let me find Potter."_

_"You sound like Lucius. Neither of you understands Potter as I do. He does not need finding. Potter will come to me. I knew his weakness you see, his one great flaw. He will hate watching the others struck down around him, knowing that it is for him that it happens. He will want to stop it at any cost._

"That's true," everyone said.

_He will come."_

_"But my Lord, he might be killed accidentally by someone other than yourself-"_

_"My instructions to the Death Eaters have been perfectly clear. Capture Potter. Kill his friends-the more, the better-_

Sirius growled.

_but do not kill him."_

_"But it is of you that I wished to speak, Severus, not Harry Potter. You have been very valuable to me. Very valuable."_

"Have been," Alice gasped, paling rapidly.

_"My Lord knows I seek only to serve him. But-let me go and find the boy, my Lord. Let me bring him to you. I know I can-"_

_"I have told you, no!" said Voldemort, and Harry caught the glint of red in his eyes as he turned again, and the swishing of his cloak was like the slithering of a snake. "My concern at the moment, Severus, is what will happen when I finally meet the boy!"_

_"My Lord, there can be no question, surely-?"_

_"-but there is a question, Severus. There is." Voldemort halted, and Harry could see him plainly again as he slid the Elder Wand through his white fingers, staring at Snape. "Why did both the wands I have used fail when directed at Harry Potter?"_

_"I-I cannot answer that, my Lord."_

_"Can't you?"_

Lily squeaked again.

_Harry forced his own fist into his mouth to stop himself from crying out in pain. He closed his eyes, and suddenly he was Voldemort, looking into Snape's pale face._

"Oh god," Petunia breathed.

_"My wand of yew did everything of which I asked it, Severus, except to kill Harry Potter. Twice it failed. Ollivander told me under torture of the twin cores, told me to take another's wand. I did so, but Lucius's wand shattered upon meeting Potter's."_

_"I-I have no explanation, my Lord."_

_Snape was not looking at Voldemort now. His dark eyes were still fixed upon the coiling serpent in its protective sphere._

_"I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore."_

_And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape's face was like a death mask, it was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes._

_"My Lord-let me go to the boy-"_

_"All this long night when I am on the brink of victory, I have sat here," said Voldemort, his voice barely louder than a whisper, "wondering, wondering, why the Elder Wand refuses to be what it ought to be, refuses to perform as legend says it must perform for its rightful owner...and I think I have the answer." _

Everyone else had finally realised what was going to happen and nearly everyone yelled out – many may hate him but he didn't deserve to be killed by Voldemort.

_Snape did not speak._

_"Perhaps you already know it? You are a clever man, after all, Severus. You have been a good and faithful servant, and I regret what must happen."_

"No, you don't," Teddy spat.

_"My Lord-"_

_"The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine."_

_"My Lord!" Snape protested, raising his wand._

_"It cannot be any other way," said Voldemort. "I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last."_

Harry reached out and grabbed Teddy round the shoulders, pulling towards him so he didn't watch but his actions caused everyone else to tense.

_And Voldemort swiped the air with the Elder Wand. It did nothing to Sanpe, who for a split second seemed to think he had been reprieved: but then Voldemort's intention became clear. The snake's cage was rolling through the air, and before Snape could do anything more than yell, it had encased him, head and shoulders, and Voldemort spoke in Parseltongue._

"No need," Molly said, weakly.

_There was a terrible scream. _

Lily sobbed as many began to cry.

_Harry saw Snape's face losing the little color it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake's fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor._

_"I regret it," said Voldemort coldly._

"Sure you do," Dora snarled.

_He turned away; there was no sadness in him, no remorse. It was time to leave this shack and take charge, with a wand that would now do his full bidding. He pointed it at the starry cage holding the snake, which drifted upward, off Snape, who fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck. Voldemort swept from the room without a backward glance, and the great serpent floated after him in its huge protective sphere._

_Back in the tunnel and his own mind, Harry opened his eyes; He had drawn blood biting down on his knuckles in an effort not to shout out. Now he was looking through the tiny crack between crate and wall, watching a foot in a black boot trembling on the floor._

"He's still alive," Lily breathed, tears streaming down her face.

_"Harry!" breathed Hermione behind him, but he had already pointed his wand at the crate blocking his view. It lifted an inch into the air and drifted sideways silently. As quietly as he could, he pulled himself up into the room._

_He saw Snape's white face, and the fingers trying to staunch the bloody wound at his neck. Harry took off the invisibility cloak and looked down upon the man he hated, whose widening black eyes found Harry as he tried to speak. Harry bent over him, and Snape seized the front of his robes and pulled him close._

"What's he doing?" Dudley asked.

_A terrible rasping, gurgling noise issued from Snape's throat._

_"Take...it...Take...it..."_

_Something more than blood was leaking from Snape. Silvery blue, neither gas nor liquid, it gushed form his mouth and his ears and his eyes._

"Memories," Luna croaked.

_A flask, conjured from thin air, was thrust into his shaking hand by Hermione. Harry lifted the silvery substance into it with his wand. When the flask was full to the brim, and Snape looked as though there was no blood left in him, his grip on Harry's robes slackened._

_"Look...at...me..." he whispered._

_The green eyes found the black,_

James sucked in an annoyed breath.

_but after a second, something in the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them fixed, blank, and empty. The hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more._

"No," Lily moaned.

"Snape was Lily's childhood best friend," Petunia whispered to Dudley who looked at his aunt in pity.

_Harry remained kneeling at Snape's side, simply staring down at him, until quite suddenly a high, cold voice spoke so close to them that Harry jumped on his feet, the flask gripped tightly in his hands, thinking that Voldemort had reentered the room._

"No, no," Dora said as Harry let Teddy go but turned him so he couldn't see Snape.

_Voldemort's voice reverberated from the walls and floor, and Harry realised that he was talking to Hogwarts and to all the surrounding area, that the residents of Hogsmeade and all those still fighting in the castle would hear him as clearly as if he stood beside them, his breath on the back of their necks, a deathblow away._

_"You have fought," said the high, cold voice, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery._

"Do you?" Fabian spat.

_"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste._

_"Lord Voldemort is merciful._

"No, you're not," Gideon snarled.

_I command my forces to retreat immediately._

_"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured._

"Why is he doing this?" Frank asked.

"You'll see," Neville told his father.

_"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself._

"You 'aven't," Fleur said.

_I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."_

"Don't listen to him," Alice begged even though they were watching the memory she couldn't help but see the small one year old, wide emerald green eyes and a mob of black hair sitting in front of Voldemort.

_Both Ron and Hermione shook their heads frantically, looking at Harry._

_"Don't listen to him," said Ron._

_"It'll be all right," said Hermione wildly. "Let's – let's get back to the castle, if he's gone to the forest we'll need to think of a new plan – "_

"Listen to her," Dora pleaded.

_She glanced at Snape's body, then hurried back to the tunnel entrance. Ron followed her. Harry gathered up the Invisibility Cloak, then looked down at Snape. _

_They crawled back through the tunnel, none of them talking._

_Small bundles seemed to litter the lawn at the front of the castle. It could only be an hour or so from dawn, yet it was pitch-black. The three of them hurried toward the stone steps. A lone clog, the size of a small boat, lay abandoned in front of them. There was no other sign of Grawp or of his attacker._

_The castle was unnaturally silent. There were no flashes of light now, no bangs or screams or shouts. The flagstones of the deserted entrance hall were stained with blood. Emeralds were still scattered all over the floor, along with pieces of marble and splintered wood. Part of the banisters had been blown away._

_"Where is everyone?" whispered Hermione._

"Great Hall," Ginny said.

_Ron led the way to the Great Hall. Harry stopped in the doorway._

_The House tables were gone and the room was crowded. The survivors stood in groups, their arms around each other's necks. The injured were being treated upon the raised platform by Madam Pomfrey and a group of helpers. Firenze was amongst the injured; his flank poured blood and he shook where he lay, unable to stand._

_The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. Harry could not see Fred's body, because his family surrounded him. George was kneeling at his head; Mrs. Weasley was lying across Fred's chest, her body shaking. Mr. Weasley stroking her hair while tears cascaded down his cheeks._

Everyone looked extremely pained again as they looked around at all the bodies.

_Without a word to Harry, Ron and Hermione walked away. Harry saw Hermione approach Ginny, whose face was swollen and blotchy, and hug her. Ron joined Bill, Fleur, and Percy, who flung an arm around Ron's shoulders. As Ginny and Hermione moved closer to the rest of the family, Harry had a clear view of the bodies lying next to Fred. ._

_Remus and Tonks, pale and still and peaceful-looking, apparently asleep beneath the dark, enchanted ceiling._

Teddy grimaced as Harry rubbed comforting circles on his back as he had done when he was younger.

_The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. _

Remus sighed.

_He turned away and ran up the marble staircase. _

_The castle was completely empty; even the ghosts seemed to have joined the mass mourning in the Great Hall. Harry ran without stopping, clutching the crystal flask of Snape's last thoughts, and he did not slow down until he reached the stone gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office._

_"Password?"_

_"Dumbledore!" said Harry without thinking, and to his surprise the gargoyle slid aside revealing the spiral staircase behind._

"Really," Lily managed to say.

_But when Harry burst into the circular office he found a change. The portraits that hung all around the walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or headmistress remained to see him; all, it seemed, had flitted away, charging through the paintings that lined the castle so that they could have a clear view of what was going on._

_Harry glanced hopelessly at Dumbledore's deserted frame, which hung directly behind the headmaster's chair, then turned his back on it. The stone Pensieve lay in the cabinet where it had always been. Harry heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape's memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edge.. The memories swirled, silver white and strange, and without hesitating, Harry dived._

"Right," Harry said, slightly hoarse, he cleared his throat. "These aren't all the memoires Snape gave because well, some of them are – well they're things he'd rather keep between us and those who already knew,"- Harry looked at his mother and aunt – "childhood stuff but it's most of them – the most important bits."

"Fair enough," Lily smiled, rolling her eyes at the sound of her own voice as everyone else nodded their understanding.

_He stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone… His fear infected Harry too, even though he knew that he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for –_

_Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air. Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand._

_"Don't kill me!"_

"Whose there?" Remus asked.

_"That was not my intention."_

"Dumbledore," Bill smiled slightly.

_Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand._

_"Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?"_

Lily frowned.

_"No – no message – I'm here on my own account!"_

_Snape was wringing his hands. He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him._

_"I – I come with a warning – no, a request – please – "_

_Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other._

_"What request could a Death Eater make of me?"_

_"The – the prophecy…the prediction…Trelawney…"_

_"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore. "How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"_

"Everything, probably," Sirius said.

_"Everything – everything I heard!" said Snape. "That is why – it is for that reason – he thinks it means Lily Evans!"_

"He turned his back on Voldemort for you," Luna said.

"He loved me," Lily said. "But I never felt the same way."

_"The prophecy did not refer to a woman," said Dumbledore. "It spoke of a boy born at the end of July – "_

_"You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down – kill them all – "_

_"If she means so much to you," said Dumbledore, "surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?"_

_"I have – I have asked him – "_

Everyone glared.

"He didn't care about you!" Lily shrieked.

_"You disgust me," said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. _

Everyone nodded in agreement

_Snape seemed to shrink a little, "You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?"_

James' eyes narrowed.

_Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore._

_"Hide them all, then," he croaked. "Keep her – them – safe. Please."_

_"And what will you give me in return, Severus?"_

_"In – in return?" Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, "Anything."_

Some smiled softly.

_The hilltop faded, and Harry stood in Dumbledore's office, and something was making a terrible sound, like a wounded animal. Snape was slumped forward in a chair and Dumbledore was standing over him, looking grim. After a moment or two, Snape raised his face, and he looked like a man who had lived a hundred years of misery since leaving the wild hilltop._

Several people sighed, guessing what had just happened.

_"I thought…you were going…to keep her…safe…"_

_"She and James put their faith in the wrong person," said Dumbledore. "Rather like you, Severus. Weren't you hoping that Lord Voldemort would spare her?"_

_Snape's breathing was shallow._

_"Her boy survives," said Dumbledore._

_With a tiny jerk of the head, Snape seemed to flick off an irksome fly._

_"Her son lives. He has her eyes, precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans's eyes, I am sure?"_

"That's just cruel," Dora said.

_"DON'T!" bellowed Snape. "Gone…dead…"_

_"Is this remorse, Severus?"_

_"I wish…I wish I were dead…"_

_"And what use would that be to anyone?" said Dumbledore coldly. "If you loved Lily Evans, if you truly loved her, then your way forward is clear."_

Remus frowned.

_Snape seemed to peer through a haze of pain, and Dumbledore's words appeared to take a long time to reach him._

_"What – what do you mean?"_

_"You know how and why she died. Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily's son."_

_"He does not need protection. The Dark Lord has gone – "_

_"The Dark Lord will return, and Harry Potter will be in terrible danger when he does."_

Molly sighed.

_There was a long pause, and slowly Snape regained control of himself, mastered his own breathing. At last he said, "Very well. Very well. But never – never tell, Dumbledore! This must be between us! Swear it! I cannot bear…especially Potter's son…I want your word!"_

_"My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?" Dumbledore sighed, looking down into Snape's ferocious, anguished face. "If you insist…"_

"That's why he never told anyone," Bill realised.

_The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore._

_" – mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent – "_

"He better not be talking about you," Sirius said.

_"You see what you expect to see, Severus," said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. "Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child."_

Lily and James beamed.

"Child?" Petunia asked. "When is this?"

_Dumbledore turned a page, and said, without looking up, "Keep an eye on Quirrell, won't you?"_

"First year," Dudley said. "And he knew!"

Harry nodded.

_A whirl of color, and now everything darkened, and Snape and Dumbledore stood a little apart in the entrance hall, while the last stragglers from the Yule Ball passed them on their way to bed._

_"Well?" murmured Dumbledore._

_"Karkaroff's Mark is becoming darker too._

"Fourth year," Hermione said.

_He is panicking, he fears retribution; you know how much help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell." Snape looked sideways at Dumbledore's crooked-nosed profile. "Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark burns."_

"Coward," Moody grunted.

"Good for us though," Frank said. "One less Death Eater."

_"Does he?" said Dumbledore softly, as Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies came giggling in from the grounds. _

Fleur blushed slightly.

_"And are you tempted to join him?"_

_"No," said Snape, his black eyes on Fleur's and Roger's retreating figures. "I am not such a coward."_

Lily nodded.

_"No," agreed Dumbledore. "You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon…"_

The marauders nodded, although they didn't like the idea of sharing a dorm with him

_He walked away, leaving Snape looking stricken…_

_And now Harry stood in the headmaster's office yet again. It was nighttime, and Dumbledore sagged sideways in the throne like chair behind the desk, apparently semiconscious. His right hand dangled over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore's throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore's eyelids fluttered and opened._

_"Why," said Snape, without preamble, "why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realised that. Why even touch it?"_

"Just before sixth year," Hermione guessed.

_Marvolo Gaunt's ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it._

"He wanted to see his family," Alice sighed.

_Dumbledore grimaced._

_"I…was a fool. Sorely tempted…"_

"Any one would be," Arthur sighed.

_"Tempted by what?"_

_Dumbledore did not answer._

_"It is a miracle you managed to return here!" Snape sounded furious. "That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being – "_

_Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio._

_"You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?" Dumbledore's tone was conversational; he might have been asking for a weather forecast._

"Does he have to be so calm," Neville muttered.

_Snape hesitated, and then said, "I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually, it is the sort of curse that strengthens over time."_

"He was already dying," the twins gasped.

_Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him._

_"I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus."_

_"If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!" said Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. "Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?"_

"No," Ron smirked.

"_Something like that…I was delirious, no doubt…" said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened himself in his chair. "Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward."_

"What?" Dudley asked.

_Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled._

_"I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me."_

_Snape sat down in the chair Harry had so often occupied, across the desk from Dumbledore. Harry could tell that he wanted to say more on the subject of Dumbledore's cursed hand, but the other held it up in polite refusal to discuss the matter further. Scowling, Snape said, "The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius's recent failures. Slow torture for Draco's parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price."_

"That's just cruel," Teddy grimaced.

_"In short, the boy has had a death sentence pronounced upon him as surely as I have," said Dumbledore. "Now, I should have thought the natural successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?"_

Neville nodded.

_There was a short pause._

_"That, I think, is the Dark Lord's plan."_

_"Lord Voldemort foresees a moment in the near future when he will not need a spy at Hogwarts?"_

_"He believes the school will soon be in his grasp, yes."_

_"And if it does fall into his grasp," said Dumbledore, almost, it seemed, as an aside, "I have your word that you will do all in your power to protect the students at Hogwarts?"_

_Snape gave a stiff nod._

"Did he?" Sirius growled.

"As best as he could," Ginny said. "Without being discovered."

"His punishments weren't half as bad as the Carrows," Luna said.

_"Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help and guidance, he ought to accept, he likes you – "_

_" –much less since his father has lost favour. Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius's position."_

_"All the same, try. I am concerned less for myself than for accidental victims of whatever schemes might occur to the boy. Ultimately, of course, there is only one thing to be done if we are to save him from Lord Voldemort's wrath."_

_Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, "Are you intending to let him kill you?"_

_"Certainly not. You must kill me."_

Several people closed their eyes.

_There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cuttlebone._

_"Would you like me to do it now?" asked Snape, his voice heavy with irony. "Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph?"_

"Sev," Lily scolded.

_"Oh, not quite yet," said Dumbledore, smiling. "I daresay the moment will present itself in due course. Given what has happened tonight," he indicated his withered hand, "we can be sure that it will happen within a year."_

"He had a lot to do," Arthur said.

_"If you don't mind dying," said Snape roughly, "why not let Draco do it?"_

_"That boy's soul is not yet so damaged," said Dumbledore. "I would not have it ripped apart on my account."_

_"And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?"_

"Yours is already ripped," Sirius said.

_"You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation," said Dumbledore. "I ask this one great favour of you, Severus, because death is coming for me as surely as the Chudley Cannons will finish bottom of this year's league._

Ron scowled

_I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved – I hear Voldemort has recruited him? Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it."_

"Lovely," Petunia said.

_His tone was light, but his blue eyes pierced Snape as they had frequently pierced Harry, as though the soul they discussed was visible to him. At last Snape gave another curt nod._

_Dumbledore seemed satisfied._

_"Thank you, Severus…"_

_The office disappeared, and now Snape and Dumbledore were strolling together in the deserted castle grounds by twilight._

_"What are you doing with Potter, all these evenings you are closeted together?" Snape asked abruptly._

_Dumbledore looked weary._

_"Why? You aren't trying to give him more detentions, Severus? The boy will soon have spent more time in detention than out."_

"That's not true," Harry muttered.

"At least you're not as bad as your father and his friends," Lily said.

"Mmm," Alice nodded. "What was it at least a detention every other day?"

"Nah," Sirius grinned. "That's just me and Prongs, Moony was the good one."

"Shut up, Padfoot," Remus chuckled. "I only got detentions because you two idiots dragged me along with your pranks."

_"He is his father over again – "_

"He had Lily's personality more," Remus and Sirius said.

"Even I can tell that," Alice nodded, winking at Lily.

_"In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother's. I spend time with Harry because_

"You enjoy his company," James said.

_I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late."_

_"Information," repeated Snape. "You trust him…you do not trust me."_

_"It is not a question of trust. I have, as we both know, limited time. It is essential that I give the boy enough information for him to do what he needs to do."_

_"And why may I not have the same information?"_

_"I prefer not to put all of my secrets in one basket, particularly not a basket that spends so much time dangling on the arm of Lord Voldemort."_

_"Which I do on your orders!"_

_"And you do it extremely well. Do not think that I underestimate the constant danger in which you place yourself, Severus. To give Voldemort what appears to be valuable information while withholding the essentials is a job I would entrust to nobody but you."_

_"Yet you confide much more in a boy who is incapable of Occlumency, whose magic is mediocre, _

"There's nothing wrong with my son's magic, Severus," Lily snapped.

"And Harry's has extraordinary magical talent," Hermione beamed.

_and who has a direct connection into the Dark Lord's mind!"_

_"Voldemort fears that connection," said Dumbledore. "Not so long ago he had one small taste of what truly sharing Harry's mind means to him. It was pain such as he has never experienced. He will not try to possess Harry again, I am sure of it. Not in that way."_

_"I don't understand."_

_"Lord Voldemort's soul, maimed as it is, cannot bear close contact with a soul like Harry's. Like a tongue on frozen steel, like flesh in flame – "_

"We were talking about minds," Petunia said.

_"Souls? We were talking of minds!"_

_"In the case of Harry and Lord Voldemort, to speak of one is to speak of the other."_

"What does that mean?" Teddy asked.

_Dumbledore glanced around to make sure that they were alone. They were close by the Forbidden Forest now, but there was no sign of anyone near them._

_"After you have killed me, Severus – "_

_"You refuse to tell me everything, yet you expect that small service of me!" snarled Snape, and real anger flared in the thin face now. "You take a great deal for granted, Dumbledore! Perhaps I have changed my mind!"_

_"You gave me your word, Severus. And while we are talking about services you owe me, I thought you agreed to keep a close eye on our young Slytherin friend?"_

_Snape looked angry, mutinous. Dumbledore sighed._

_"Come to my office tonight, Severus, at eleven, and you shall not complain that I have no confidence in you…"_

Molly raised her eyebrows, wondering what Dumbledore would tell Snape to satisfy him.

_They were back in Dumbledore's office, the windows dark, and Fawkes sat silent as Snape sat quite still, as Dumbledore walked around him, talking._

_"Harry must not know, not until the last moment, not until it is necessary, otherwise how could he have the strength to do what must be done?"_

_"But what must he do?"_

Hermione and Ginny's eyes filled with tears.

_"That is between Harry and me. Now listen closely, Severus. There will come a time – after my death – do not argue, do not interrupt! There will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake."_

"So now," Bill said his voice tight.

_"For Nagini?" Snape looked astonished._

_"Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding, but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry."_

_"Tell him what?"_

"Yes, what?" Dudley asked.

_Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes._

_"Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a fragment of Voldemort's soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself onto the only living soul left in that collapsed building._

Everyone gasped as Harry grimaced.

Lily closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, wondering how her son was standing there.

"You're a Horcrux," Alice sighed.

"Was," Hermione said. "Was."

"That's how you can speak Parseltongue,! Dora realised, "and why you can look into Voldemort's head."

Harry nodded and then gestured to the memory.

_Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, _

Lily shivered.

_and it is that which gives him the power of speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort's mind that he has never understood. And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to and protected by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die."_

"He wants you to walk to your own death," James groaned.

_"So the boy…the boy must die?" asked Snape quite calmly._

_"And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus. That is essential."_

_Another long silence. Then Snape said, "I thought…all those years…that we were protecting him for her. For Lily."_

_"We have protected him because it has been essential to teach him, to raise him, to let him try his strength," said Dumbledore, his eyes still tight shut. "Meanwhile, the connection between them grows ever stronger, a parasitic growth. Sometimes I have thought he suspects it himself. If I know him, he will have arranged matters so that when he does set out to meet his death, it will truly mean the end of Voldemort."_

_Dumbledore opened his eyes. Snape looked horrified._

_"You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment?"_

"He does care about you," Lily beamed.

"In a way," Harry said slowly.

_"Don't be shocked, Severus. How many men and women have you watched die?"_

_"Lately, only those whom I could not save," said Snape. _

Some people smiled.

_He stood up. "You have used me."_

_"Meaning?"_

_"I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter's son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter – "_

"He does care," Lily nodded firmly.

"Only because he's your son," Hermione sighed, tears still swimming in her eyes.

_"But this is touching, Severus," said Dumbledore seriously. "Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?"_

_"For him?" shouted Snape. "Expecto Patronum!"_

_From the tip of his wand burst the silver doe._

"It was him," Sirius said.

_She landed on the office floor, bounded once across the office, and soared out of the window. Dumbledore watched her fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears._

_"After all this time?"_

_"Always," said Snape._

_And the scene shifted. Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk._

_"You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry's departure from his aunt and uncle's," said Dumbledore._

"So that's how they knew," Moody grunted.

_"Not to do so will raise suspicion, when Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought to ensure Harry's safety. Try Confunding Mundungus Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly…I am counting upon you to remain in Lord Voldemort's good books as long as possible, or Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows…"_

_Now Snape was head to head with Mundungus in an unfamiliar tavern, Mundungus's face looking curiously blank, Snape frowning in concentration._

_"You will suggest to the Order of the Phoenix," Snape murmured, "that they use decoys. Polyjuice Potion. Identical Potters. It's the only thing that might work. You will forget that I have suggested this. You will present it as your own idea. You understand?"_

_"I understand," murmured Mundungus, his eyes unfocused…_

_Now Harry was flying alongside Snape on a broomstick through a clear dark night: He was accompanied by other hodded Death Eaters, and ahead were Lupin and a Harry who was really George… A Death Eater moved ahead of Snape and raised his wand, pointing it directly at Lupin's back._

_"Sectumsempra!" shouted Snape._

_But the spell, intended for the Death Eater's wand hand, missed and hit George instead._

"He didn't mean to curse George," Dora smiled slightly

_And now Snape stood again in the headmaster's study as Phineas Nigellus came hurrying into his portrait._

_"Headmaster! They are camping in the Forest of Dean! The Mudblood – "_

_"Do not use that word!"_

_" – the Granger girl, then, mentioned the place as she opened her bag and I heard her!_

Hermione frowned, she should have been more careful if Snape hadn't been on their side …

_"Good. Very good!" cried the portrait of Dumbledore behind the headmaster's chair. "Now, Severus, the sword! Do not forget that it must be taken under conditions of need and valour – and he must not know that you give it! If Voldemort should read Harry's mind and see you acting for him –"_

_"I know," said Snape curtly. He approached the portrait of Dumbledore and pulled at its side. It swung forward, revealing a hidden cavity behind it from which he took the sword of Gryffindor._

_"And you still aren't going to tell me why it's so important to give Potter the sword?" said Snape as he swung a travelling cloak over his robes._

"It wasn't necessary for you to know," James said.

_"No, I don't think so," said Dumbledore's portrait. "He will know what to do with it. And Severus, be very careful, they may not take kindly to your appearance after George Weasley's mishap – "_

"Damn right we wouldn't," the trio said.

_Snape turned at the door._

_"Don't worry, Dumbledore," he said coolly. "I have a plan…"_

"Did he have to put it in a freezing cold lake," Lily complained.

_And Snape left the room. Harry rose up out of the Pensieve, and moments later he lay on the carpeted floor in exactly the same rooms Snape might just have closed the door._

_Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last that he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms. Along the way, he was to dispose of Voldemort's remaining links to life, so that when at last he flung himself across Voldemort's path, and did not raise a wand to defend himself, the end would be clean, and the job that ought to have been done in Godric's Hollow would be finished. Neither would live, neither could survive._

Many people shuddered.

_He felt his heart pounding fiercely in his chest. How strange that in his dread of death, it pumped all the harder, valiantly keeping him alive. But it would have to stop, and soon._

Ginny shook her head as the tears Hermione had had shimmering in her eyes for a while began to fall.

_Its beats were numbered. How many would there be time for, as he rose and walked through the castle for the last time, out into the grounds and into the forest?_

"Damn it, Harry," Alice said. "Stop thinking."

_Would it hurt to die?_

"Nah, it doesn't," he chuckled.

_All those times he had thought that it was about to happen and escaped, he had never really thought of the thing itself: His will to live had always been so much stronger than his fear of death._

"That's the opposite of Voldemort," Mad-Eye mused.

_Yet it did not occur to him now to try to escape, to outrun Voldemort. It was over, he knew it, and all that was left was the thing itself: dying._

Ginny squeaked beginning to cry.

_If he could only have died on that summer's night when he had left number four, Privet Drive, for the last time, when the noble phoenix feather wand had saved him! If he could only have died like Hedwig, so quickly he would not have known it had happened! Or if he could have launched himself in front of a wand to save someone he loved . . . He envied even his parents' deaths now. This cold-blooded walk to his own destruction would require a different kind of bravery._

"But still just a much," Bill said. "If not more."

_Slowly, very slowly, he sat up, Why had he never appreciated what a miracle he was, brain and nerve and bounding heart? It would all be gone . . . or at least, he would be gone from it. His breath came slow and deep, and his mouth and throat were completely dry, but so were his eyes._

"I wouldn't be able to do this," Dudley said, marvelling at his cousin.

"Not many people could," Ron said.

_Dumbledore's betrayal was almost nothing. Of course there had been a bigger plan: Harry had simply been too foolish to see it, he realised that now. He had never questioned his own assumption that Dumbledore wanted him alive._

James frowned.

_Now he saw that his life span had always been determined by how long it took to eliminate all the Horcruxes. Dumbledore had passed the job of destroying them to him, and obediently he had continued to chip away at the bonds tying not only Voldemort, but himself, to life! How neat, how elegant, not to waste any more lives, but to give the dangerous task to the boy who had already been marked for slaughter, and whose death would not be a calamity, but another blow against Voldemort._

"Ali told you to stop thinking," Lily cried.

_And Dumbledore had known that Harry would not duck out, that he would keep going to the end, even though it was his end, because he had taken trouble to get to know him, hadn't he? Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it..._

_But Dumbledore had overestimated him. He had failed: The snake survived. One Horcrux remained to bind Voldemort to the earth, even after Harry had been killed. True, that would mean an easier job for somebody. He wondered who would do it . . . Ron and Hermione would know what needed to be done, of course . . . That would have been why Dumbledore wanted him to confide in two others . . . so that if he fulfilled his true destiny a little early, they could carry on . . ._

"I doubt that's why," Ron said.

"And I doubt we could do it without you," Hermione sighed sadly.

_Like rain on a cold window, these thoughts pattered against the hard surface of the incontrovertible truth, which was that he must die. I must die. It must end._

Hermione sobbed.

_There would be no good-byes and no explanations, he was determined of that. _

Everyone who'd been there at the time glared at him.

_This was a journey they could not take together, and the attempts they would make to stop him would waste valuable time._

_He looked down at the battered gold watch he had received on his seventeenth birthday. Nearly half of the hour allotted by Voldemort for his surrender had elapsed._

_He stood up. He did not look back as he closed the office door._

_The castle was empty.. The portrait people were still missing from their frames; the whole place was eerily still, as if all its remaining lifeblood were concentrated in the Great Hall where the dead and the mourners were crammed._

_Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak over himself and descended through the floors, at last walking down the marble staircase into the entrance hall. Perhaps some tiny part of him hoped to be sensed, to be seen, to be stopped, but the Cloak was, as ever, impenetrable, perfect, and he reached the front doors easily._

Everyone took a deep breath.

_Then Neville nearly walked into him. He was one half of a pair that was carrying a body in from the grounds. Harry glanced down and felt another dull blow to his stomach: Colin Creevey,_

"He must have sneaked back in," Dora sighed.

_though underage, must have sneaked back just as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had done. He was tiny in death._

_"You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville," said Oliver Wood, and he heaved Colin over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carried him into the Great Hall._

_Neville leaned against the door frame for a moment and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked like an old man._

"It's always hard," Frank said, clapping Neville on the shoulder. "Going looking for bodies."

_Then he set off on the steps again into the darkness to recover more bodies._

_Harry took one glance back at the entrance of the Great Hall. People were moving around, trying to comfort each other, drinking, kneeling beside the dead, but he could not see any of the people he loved, no hint of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, or any of the other Weasleys, no Luna._

_He felt he would have given all the time remaining to him for just one last look at them; but then, would he ever have the strength to stop looking? _

Harry shook his head.

_It was better like this._

"Bloody well wasn't," Ron growled, he knew the image of his brother lying 'dead' in Hagrid's arms would haunt him until he, himself, died.

_He moved down the steps and out into the darkness. It was nearly four in the morning, and the deathly stillness of the grounds felt as though they were holding their breath, waiting to see whether he could do what he must._

_Harry moved toward Neville, who was bending over another body._

_"Neville."_

Neville glared angrily at Harry.

_"Blimey, Harry, you nearly gave me heart failure!"_

_Harry had pulled off the Cloak._

_"Where are you going, alone?" Neville asked suspiciously._

_"It's all part of the plan," said Harry. "There's something I've got to do. Listen - Neville -"_

_"Harry!" Neville looked suddenly scared. "Harry, you're not thinking of handing yourself over?"_

_"No," Harry lied easily._

Everyone glared at Harry as Neville said, "I'm still angry at you for that."

_"'Course not . . . this is something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. You know Voldemort's snake. Neville? He's got a huge snake . . . Calls it Nagini . . ."_

_"I've heard, yeah . . . What about it?"_

_"It's got to be killed. Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they -"_

_"Just in case they're - busy - and you get the chance -"_

_"Kill the snake?"_

_"Kill the snake," Harry repeated._

"That was a good idea, Potter," Mad-Eye nodded

_"All right, Harry. You're okay, are you?"_

_"I'm fine. Thanks, Neville."_

_But Neville seized his wrist as Harry made to move on._

_"We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?"_

Alice and Frank smiled proudly at their son.

_"Yeah, I -"_

_Neville patted Harry on the shoulder, released him, and walked away to look for more bodies._

_Harry swung the Cloak back over himself and walked on. Someone else was moving not far away, stooping over another prone figure on the ground. He was feet away from her when he realised it was Ginny._

Ginny was now glaring at Harry.

_He stopped in his tracks. She was crouching over a girl who was whispering for her mother._

_"It's all right," Ginny was saying. "It's ok. We're going to get you inside."_

_"But I want to go home," whispered the girl. "I don't want to fight anymore!"_

"Poor girl," Molly sighed.

_"I know," said Ginny, and her voice broke. "It's going to be all right."_

_He wanted to shout out to the night, he wanted Ginny to know that he was there, he wanted her to know where he was going. He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home. . . ._

"I would have too," she muttered, but she kept up her glare.

_But he was home. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found home here. . . ._

Everyone sighed.

_Ginny was kneeling beside the injured girl now, holding her hand. Harry forced himself on. He thought he saw Ginny look around as he passed,_

"I knew it was you," Ginny said bitterly closing her eyes and shaking her head.

_but he did not speak, and he did not look back._

_Hagrid's hut loomed out of the darkness. There were no lights, no sound of Fang scrabbling at the door, his bark booming in welcome. All those visits to Hagrid, and the gleam of the copper kettle on the fire, and rock cakes and giant grubs, and his great bearded face, and Ron vomiting slugs, and Hermione helping him save Norbert . . ._

The trio smiled at memories.

_He moved on, and now he reached the edge of the forest, and he stopped._

_A swarm of dementors was gliding amongst the trees; he could feel their chill, and he was not sure he would be able to pass safely through it. He had not strength left for a Patronus. _

Arthur sighed.

_He could no longer control his own trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to die. _

"Nobody expected it to be," Luna smiled softly.

_Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious: To think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and he was clinging to each second. At the same time he thought that he would not be able to go on, and knew that he must. The long game was ended, the Snitch had been caught, it was time to leave the air. . ._

"The snitch," James yelled.

_His nerveless fingers fumbled for a moment with the pouch at his neck and he pulled it out._

_I open at the close._

_Breathing fast and hard, he stared down at it. Now that he wanted time to move as slowly as possible, he seemed to have sped up, and understanding was coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed though. This was the close. This was the moment._

_He pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, "I am about to die."_

Petunia couldn't help but take a deep, shuddering breath even though she knew he was fine.

_The metal shell broke open. He lowered his shaking hand, raised Draco's wand beneath the Cloak, and murmured, "Lumos."_

_The black stone with is jagged crack running down the centre sat in the two halves of the Snitch. The Resurrection Stone had cracked down the vertical line representing the Elder Wand. The triangle and circle representing the Cloak and the stone were still discernible._

"The Resurrection Stone," Neville breathed.

_And again Harry understood without having to think. It did not matter about bringing them back, for he was about to join them. He was not really fetching them: They were fetching him._

"We're going to be there," James beamed.

_He closed his eyes and turned the stone over in his hand three times._

_He knew it had happened, because he heard slight movements around him that suggested frail bodies shifting their footing on the earthy, twig-strewn ground that marked the outer edge of the forest. _

"Does that sound like more than two to you?" Dora asked and most people nodded.

_He opened his eyes and looked around._

_They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward him. And on each face, there was the same loving smile._

_James was exactly the same height as Harry. He was wearing the clothes in which he had died, and his hair was untidy and ruffled, and his glasses were a little lopsided, like Mr. Weasley's._

James smiled.

_Sirius was tall and handsome, and younger by far than Harry had seen him in life. He loped with an easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face._

"Cool," Sirius beamed. "I'm there."

_Lupin was younger too, and much less shabby, and his hair was thicker and darker. He looked happy to be back in this familiar place, scene of so many adolescent wanderings._

Remus smiled fondly at Harry.

_Lily's smile was widest of all. She pushed her long hair back as she drew closer to him, and her green eyes, so like his, searched his face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at him enough._

_"You've been so brave."_

Everyone nodded in agreement.

_He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her._

_"You are nearly there," said James. "Very close. We are . . . so proud of you."_

"Definitely," James nodded.

_"Does it hurt?"_

_The childish question had fallen from Harry's lips before he could stop it._

_"Dying? Not at all," said Sirius. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep."_

"Was he right?" Molly asked.

"You do realize I didn't actually die right?" Harry asked, "and there are 8 people here who died."

"Shh," Molly chuckled.

"He's right," the eight and Harry said.

_"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over," said Lupin._

_"I didn't want you to die," Harry said. These words came without his volition. "Any of you. I'm sorry -"_

_He addressed Lupin more than any of them, beseeching him._

_"- right after you'd had your son . . . Remus, I'm sorry -"_

Remus sighed.

"Hey, what made you change from Lupin to Remus?" he asked but Harry just shrugged.

_"I am sorry too," said Lupin. "Sorry I will never know him . . . _

"Hi, Dad," Teddy chuckled and he got a strained smile in return.

_but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."_

Teddy nodded and smiled at his mother and father, he knew.

_A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart of the forest lifted the hair at Harry's brow. He knew that they would not tell him to go, that it would have to be his decision._

_"You'll stay with me?"_

_"Until the very end," said James._

_"They won't be able to see you?" asked Harry._

_"We are part of you," said Sirius. "Invisible to anyone else."_

_Harry looked at his mother._

_"Stay close to me," he said quietly._

"Always," she whispered.

_And he set of. The dementors' chill did not overcome him; he passed through it with his companions, and they acted like Patronuses to him, and together they marched through the old trees that grew closely together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled and twisted underfoot. Harry clutched the Cloak tightly around him in the darkness, travelling deeper and deeper into the forest, with no idea where exactly Voldemort was, but sure that he would find him. Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin, and Lily, and their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other._

The four smiled softly at him.

_A thud and a whisper: Some other living creature had stirred close by. _

Everyone tense.

_Harry stopped under the Cloak, peering around, listening, and his mother and father, Lupin and Sirius stopped too._

_"Someone there," came a rough whisper close at hand. "He's got an Invisibility Cloak. Could it be - ?"_

_Two figures emerged from behind a nearby tree: Their wands flared, and Harry saw Yaxley and Dolohov peering into the darkness, directly at the place Harry, his mother and father and Sirius and Lupin stood. Apparently they could not see anything._

"Would it have made a difference if they caught you?" Teddy asked.

"Of course,' Harry smiled. "The difference between walking into the arena with your head held high and being dragged – plus they would have taken my wand and that –"

"Would have been bad," Ginny nodded, thinking about what happened

_"Definitely heard something," said Yaxley. "Animal, d'you reckon?"_

_"That head case Hagrid kept a whole bunch of stuff in here," said Dolohov, glancing over his shoulder._

"Hagrid isn't a head case," Hermione muttered.

_Yaxley looked down at his watch._

_"Time's nearly up. Porter's had his hour. He's not coming."_

_"Better go back," said Yaxley. "Find out what the plan is now."_

"They'll lead you there," Dudley said.

_He and Dolohov turned and walked deeper into the forest. Harry followed them. He glanced sideways, and his mother smiled at him, and his father nodded encouragement._

"I can't believe we're encouraging you to walk to your death," Lily said shaking her head.

_They had travelled on mere minutes when Harry saw light ahead, and Yaxley and Dolohov stepped out into a clearing that Harry knew had been the place where the monstrous Aragog had once lived. The remnants of his vast web were there still, but the swarms of descendants he had spawned had been driven out by the Death Eaters, to fight for their cause._

_A fire burned in the middle of the clearing, and its flickering light fell over a crowd of completely silent, watchful Death Eaters. Some of them were still masked and hooded; others showed their faces. Two giants sat on the outskirts of the group, casting massive shadows over the scene, their faces cruel, rough-hewn like rock. Harry saw Fenrir, skulking, chewing his long nails; the great blond Rowle was dabbing at his bleeding lip. He saw Lucius Malfoy, who looked defeated and terrified, and Narcissa, whose eyes were sunken and full of apprehension._

_Every eye was fixed upon Voldemort, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over the Elder Wand in front of him. He might have been praying, or else counting silently in his mind._

_Behind his head, still swirling and coiling, the great snake Nagini floated in her glittering, charmed cage, like a monstrous halo._

_When Dolohov and Yaxley rejoined the circle, Voldemort looked up._

_"No sign of him, my Lord," said Dolohov._

_Voldemort's expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew the Elder Wand between his long fingers._

_"My Lord -"_

_Bellatrix had spoken: She sat closest to Voldemort, dishevelled, her face a little bloody but otherwise unharmed._

"Shame," Sirius muttered angrily.

_Voldemort raised his hand to silence her, and she did not speak another word, but eyed him in worshipful fascination._

_"I thought he would come," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. "I expected him to come."_

"Sadly while you understood that part that helped us kill him," Ron said. "He knew that about you."

"It's surprising really," Hermione said. "I'm mean, he doesn't understand or feel love, and yet he understands that Harry wouldn't want anyone he loved to be killed."

_Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as Harry, whose heart was now throwing itself against his ribs as though determined to escape the body he was about to cast aside. His hands were sweating as he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath his robes, with his wand. He did not want to be tempted to fight. "I was, it seems . . . mistaken," said Voldemort._

"You weren't," many said, sadly.

_"You weren't."_

_Harry said it as loudly as he could, with all the force he could muster: He did not want to sound afraid._

_The Resurrection Stone slipped from between his numb fingers, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin vanish as he stepped forward into the firelight. At that moment he felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It was just the two of them._

_The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The giants roared as the Death Eaters rose together, and there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. Voldemort had frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found Harry, and he stared as Harry moved toward him, with nothing but the fire between them._

_Then a voice yelled: "HARRY! NO!"_

_He turned: Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby._

"Hagrid," the twins yelled. "He's gonna have to see."

_His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate._

_"NO! NO! HARRY, WHAT'RE YEH - ?"_

_"QUIET!" shouted Rowle, and with a flick of his wand, Hagrid was silenced._

_Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving. The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Voldemort's head._

"How is anyone going to get to that snake?" Frank muttered, Harry just smirked and glanced at Neville.

_Still, Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and now Voldemort tilted his head a little to the side, considering the boy standing before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the lipless mouth._

_"Harry Potter," he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The Boy Who Lived."_

_None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: Everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his –_

Ginny smiled at Harry, tears falling out of her eyes and kissed him lovingly on the cheek, slightly shock he'd thought of her at, what he thought, were his finally moments.

_Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear -_

_He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone._

Hermione let out a sob, she didn't need to see her brother killed.

_A great domed glass roof glittered high above him in sunlight. _

"Where are we?" Petunia asked.

"What's going on?" Alice asked.

_Perhaps it was a palace. All was hushed and still, except for those odd thumping and whimpering noises coming from somewhere close by in the mist. . . ._

"What's that?" Moody grunted.

_Harry turned slowly on the spot, and his surroundings seemed to invent themselves before his eyes. A wide-open space, bright and clean, a hall larger by far than the Great Hall, with that clear domed glass ceiling. It was quite empty. He was the only person there, except for –_

_He recoiled. He had spotted the thing that was making the noises. It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking, and it lay shuddering under a seat where it had been left, unwanted, stuffed out of sight, struggling for breath._

Everyone looked revolted.

"That must be the part of his soul," Dora shuddered.

_He drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to touch it, _

_"You cannot help."_

"Who's there?" Arthur asked.

_He spun around. Albus Dumbledore was walking toward him, sprightly and upright, wearing sweeping robes of midnight blue._

"Dumbledore," many people breathed.

_"Harry." He spread his arms wide, and his hands were both whole and white and undamaged. "You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man._

Everyone seemed in complete agreement with what Dumbledore had said even Moody was looking approving which didn't happen too often.

_Let us walk."_

_Stunned, Harry followed as Dumbledore strode away from where the flayed child lay whimpering, leading him to two seats that Harry had not previously noticed, set some distance away under that high, sparkling ceiling. Dumbledore sat down in one of them, and Harry fell into the other, staring at his old headmaster's face. Dumbledore's long silver hair and beard, the piercingly blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles, the crooked nose: Everything was as he had remembered it. And yet . . ._

_"But you're dead," said Harry._

"Exactly," Bill nodded, looking confused.

_"Oh yes," said Dumbledore matter-of-factly._

_"Then . . . I'm dead too?"_

"Non," Fleur smiled.

_"Ah," said Dumbledore, smiling still more broadly. "That is the question, isn't it? On the whole, dear boy, I think not."_

_They looked at each other, the old man still beaming._

_"Not?" repeated Harry._

_"Not," said Dumbledore._

_"But . . ." Harry raised his hand instinctively toward the lightning scar. It did not seem to be there. "But I should have died – I didn't defend myself! I meant to let him kill me!"_

_"And that," said Dumbledore, "will, I think, have made all the difference."_

"He knew what he was dong," Molly shook her head.

"But what if something had been off?" Hermione asked, her face streaked with her tears. "What if Dumbledore had been wrong?"

"Don't think about it," Ginny said, firmly, looking as though she too was trying not to. She was gripping Harry's hand in a tight grip as though she was scared he would disappear, that all these years had just been a dream and she would wake up in her bed right now with him really dead.

_Happiness seemed to radiate from Dumbledore like light; like fire: Harry had never seen the man so utterly, so palpably content._

_"Explain," said Harry._

_"But you already know," said Dumbledore. He twiddled his thumbs together._

_"I let him kill me," said Harry. "Didn't I?"_

_"You did," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Go on!"_

_"So the part of his soul that was in me . . ."_

_Dumbledore nodded still more enthusiastically, urging Harry onward, a broad smile of encouragement on his face._

_". . . has it gone?"_

_"Oh yes!" said Dumbledore. "Yes, he destroyed it. Your soul is whole, and completely your own, Harry."_

"So that's why you can't understand the Parseltongue in the memories," Dudley realised.

"Why he gets no more pains in his scar," Hermione nodded, agreeing to tell Dudley he was correct.

_"But then . . ."_

_Harry trembled over his shoulder to where the small, maimed creature trembled under the chair._

_"What is that, Professor?"_

_"Something that is beyond either of our help," said Dumbledore._

_"But if Voldemort used the Killing Curse," Harry started again, "and nobody died for me this time – how can I be alive?"_

_"I think you know," said Dumbledore. "Think back. Remember what he did, in his ignorance, in his greed and his cruelty."_

_"He took my blood," said Harry._

_"Precisely!" said Dumbledore. "He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!"_

"Neither can live while the other survives," Petunia whispered still a bit confused.

_"I live . . . while he lives? But I thought . . . I thought it was the other way around! I thought we both had to die? Or is it the same thing?" _

_He was distracted by the whimpering and thumping of the agonized creature behind them and glanced back at it yet again._

_"Are you sure we can't do anything?"_

"You don't want to," Fabian said.

_"There is no help possible."_

"Thank Merlin," Gideon nodded.

_"Then explain . . . more," said Harry, and Dumbledore smiled._

_"You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry, the Horcrux he never meant to make. He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart when he committed those acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of your parents, the attempted killing of a child. But what escaped from that room was even less than he knew. He left more than his body behind. He left part of himself latched to you, the would-be victim who had survived._

_"And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped._

"Good," many muttered

_"He took your blood believing it would strengthen him. He took into his body a tiny part of the enchantment your mother laid upon you when she died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort's one last hope for himself."_

_Dumbledore smiled at Harry, and Harry stared at him._

_"And you knew this? You knew – all along?"_

"Of course he did," Arthur said, shaking his head.

_"I guessed. But my guesses have usually been good," said Dumbledore happily, and they sat in silence for what seemed like a long time, while the creature behind them continued to whimper and tremble._

_"There's more," said Harry. "There's more to it. Why did my wand break the wand he borrowed?"_

_"As to that, I cannot be sure."_

_"Have a guess, then," said Harry, and Dumbledore laughed._

So did everyone in the room.

"That's such a Lily thing to say," James chuckled.

_"What you must understand, Harry, is that you and Lord Voldemort have journeyed together into realms of magic hitherto unknown and untested. But here is what I think happened, and it is unprecedented, and no wandmaker could, I think, ever have predicted or explained it to Voldemort._

_"Without meaning to, as you now know, Lord Voldemort doubled the bond between you when he returned to a human form. A part of his soul was still attached to yours, and, thinking to strengthen himself, he took a part of your mother's sacrifice into himself. If he could only have understood the precise and terrible power of that sacrifice, he would not, perhaps, have dared to touch your blood. . . . But then, if he had been able to understand, he could not be Lord Voldemort, and might never have murdered at all._

"I'm extremely confused," Dudley said.

"You're not the only one," Teddy muttered frowning.

_"Having ensured this two-fold connection, having wrapped your destinies together more securely than ever two wizards were joined in history, Voldemort proceeded to attack you with a wand that shared a core with yours. And now something very strange happened, as we know. The cores reacted in a way that Lord Voldemort, who never knew that your wand was a twin of his, had ever expected._

_"He was more afraid than you were that night, Harry. You had accepted, even embraced, the possibility of death, something Lord Voldemort has never been able to do. Your courage won, your wand overpowered his. And in doing so, something happened between those wands, something that echoed the relationship between their masters._

_"I believe that your wand imbibed some of the power and qualities of Voldemort's wand that night, which is to say that it contained a little of Voldemort himself. So your wand recognized him when he pursued you, recognized a man who was both kin and mortal enemy, and it regurgitated some of his own magic against him, magic much more powerful than anything Lucius's wand had ever performed. Your wand now contained the power of your enormous courage and of Voldemort's own deadly skill:_

"That would be powerful," Neville chuckled.

_What chance did that poor stick of Lucius Malfoy's stand?"_

_"But if my wand was so powerful, how come Hermione was able to break it?" asked Harry._

_"My dear boy, its remarkable effects were directed only at Voldemort, who had tampered so ill-advisedly with the deepest laws of magic. Only toward him was that wand abnormally powerful. Otherwise it was a wand like any other . . . though a good one, I am sure," Dumbledore finished kindly._

"That makes sense," Hermione nodded.

_Harry sat in thought for a long time, or perhaps seconds. _

_"He killed me with your wand."_

"He failed to kill you,"Teddy said, firmly.

_"He failed to kill you with my wand," Dumbledore corrected Harry. "I think we can agree that you are not dead – though, of course," he added, as if fearing he had been discourteous, "I do not minimize your sufferings, which I am sure were severe."_

"Wasn't that bad," Harry shrugged.

_"I feel great at the moment, though," said Harry, looking down at his clean, unblemished hands. "Where are we, exactly?"_

_"Well, I was going to ask you that," said Dumbledore, looking around. "Where would you say that we are?"_

_"It looks," he said slowly, "like King's Cross station. Except a lot cleaner and empty, and there are no trains as far as I can see."_

A few people chuckled.

_"King's Cross station!" Dumbledore was chuckling immoderately. "Good gracious, really?"_

_"Well, where do you think we are?" asked Harry, a little defensively._

_"My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, your party."_

_He glared at him._

_"The Deathly Hallows," he said, and he was glad to see that the words wiped the smile from Dumbledore's face._

_"Ah, yes," he said. He even looked a little worried._

_"Well?"_

_For the first time since Harry had met Dumbledore, he looked less than an old man, much less. He looked fleetingly like a small boy caught in wrongdoing._

"He seems to be showing a lot of emotions here," Luna said.

"He has nothing to hide from Harry now," Hermione smiled

_"Can you forgive me?" he said. "Can you forgive me for not trusting you? For not telling you? Harry, I only feared that you would fail as I had failed. I only dreaded that you would make my mistakes. I crave your pardon, Harry. I have known, for some time now, that you are the better man."_

"Whoa," the twins said.

_"What are you talking about?" asked Harry, startled by Dumbledore's tone, by the sudden tears in his eyes._

_"The Hallows, the Hallows," murmured Dumbledore. "A desperate man's dream!"_

_"But they're real!"_

_"Real, and dangerous, and a lure for fools," said Dumbledore. "And I was such a fool. But you know, don't you? I have no secrets from you anymore. You know."_

_"What do I know?"_

_Dumbledore turned his whole body to face Harry, and tears still sparkled in the brilliantly blue eyes._

"Dumbledore," Lily sighed.

_"Master of death, Harry, master of Death! Was I better, ultimately, than Voldemort?"_

"Of course," everyone said.

_"Of course you were," said Harry. "Of course – how can you ask that? You never killed if you could avoid it!"_

_"True, true," said Dumbledore, and he was like a child seeking reassurance. "Yet I too sought a way to conquer death, Harry."_

_"Not the way he did," said Harry. "Hallows, not Horcruxes."_

_"Hallows," murmured Dumbledore, "not Horcruxes. Precisely."_

_There was a pause. The creature behind them whimpered, but Harry no longer looked around._

_"Grindelwald was looking for them too?" he asked._

_Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment and nodded._

_"It was the thing, above all, that drew us together," he said quietly. "Two clever, arrogant boys with a shared obsession. He wanted to come to Godric's Hollow, as I am sure you have guessed, because of the grave of Ignotus Peverell. He wanted to explore the place the third brother had died."_

_"So it's true?" asked Harry. "All of it? The Peverell brothers –"_

_"—were the three brothers of the tale," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Oh yes, I think so. Whether they met Death on a lonely road . . . I think it more likely that the Peverell brothers were simply gifted, dangerous wizards who succeeded in creating those powerful objects. _

"That does sound more reasonable," James grinned.

_The story of them being Death's own Hallows seems to me the sort of legend that might have sprung up around such creations._

_"The Cloak, as you know now, travelled down through the ages, father to son, mother to daughter, right down to Ignotus's last living descendant, who was born, as Ignotus was, in the village of Godric's Hollow."_

"You," Hermione said.

_Dumbledore smiled at Harry._

_"Me?"_

_"You. You have guessed. You know, why the Cloak was in my possession on the night your parents died. James had showed it to me just a few days previously. It explained much of his undetected wrongdoing at school!_

James and Sirius grinned as Remus shook his head, a fond smile on his lips.

_I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I asked to borrow it, to examine it. I had long since given up my dream of uniting the Hallows, but I could not resist, could not help taking a closer look. . . . It was a Cloak the likes of which I had never seen, immensely old, perfect in every respect . . . and then your father died, and I had two Hallows at last, all to myself!"_

_His tone was unbearably bitter._

_"The Cloak wouldn't have helped them survive, though," Harry said quickly. "Voldemort knew where my mum and dad were. The Cloak couldn't have made them curse-proof."_

_"True," sighed Dumbledore. "True."_

"I hope he doesn't feel bad about that,2 Lily sighed.

_Harry waited, but Dumbledore did not speak, so he prompted him._

_"So you'd given up looking for the Hallows when you saw the Cloak?"_

_"Oh yes," said Dumbledore faintly. It seemed that he forced himself to meet Harry's eyes. "You know what happened. You know. You cannot despise me more than I despise myself."_

"'e doesn't despise you," Fleur said.

_"But I don't despise you –"_

_"Then you should," said Dumbledore. He drew a deep breath. "You know the secret of my sister's ill health, what those Muggles did, what she became. You know how my poor father sought revenge, and paid the price, died In Azkaban. You know how my mother gave up her own life to care for Ariana._

_"I resented it, Harry."_

_Dumbledore stated it baldly, coldly. He was looking now over the top of Harry's head, into the distance._

_"I was gifted, I was brilliant. I wanted to escape. I wanted to shine. I wanted glory._

Everyone either looked sad at these comments while other's frowned.

_"Do not misunderstand me," he said, and pain crossed the face so that he looked ancient again. "I loved them, I loved my parents, I loved my brother and my sister_

"I knew he loved them," Molly said.

_but I was selfish, Harry, more selfish than you, who are a remarkably selfless person, could possibly imagine._

_"So that, when my mother died, and I was left the responsibility of a damaged sister and a wayward brother, I returned to my village in anger and bitterness. Trapped and wasted, I thought! And then of course, he came. . . ."_

"Grindelwald," Frank sighed.

_Dumbledore looked directly into Harry's eyes again._

_"Grindelwald. You cannot imagine how his ideas caught me, Harry, inflamed me. Muggles forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. Grindelwald and I, the glorious young leaders of the revolution._

Petunia and Dudley frowned.

_"Oh, I had a few scruples. I assuaged my conscience with empty words. It would all be for the greater good, and any harm done would be repaid a hundredfold in benefits for wizards. Did I know, in my heart of hearts, what Gellert Grindelwald was? I think I did, but I closed my eyes. If the plans we were making came to fruition, all my dreams would come true._

_"And at the heart of our schemes, the Deathly Hallows! How they fascinated him, how they fascinated both of us! The unbeatable wand, the weapon that would lead us to power!_

"I wish he would stop talking about this,'' Alice mumbled.

_The Resurrection Stone – to him, though I pretended not to know it, it meant an army of Inferi! To me, I confess, it meant the return of my parents, and the lifting of all responsibility from my shoulders._

_"And the Cloak . . . somehow, we never discussed the Cloak much, Harry. Both of us could conceal ourselves well enough without the Cloak, the true magic of which, of course, is that it can be used to protect and shield others as well as its owner. I thought that, if we ever found it, it might be useful in hiding Ariana, but our interest in the Cloak was mainly that it completed the trio, for the legend said that the man who had united all three objects would then be truly master of death, which we took to mean 'invincible.'_

"That's not it," Mad-Eye grunted.

_"Invincible masters of death, Grindelwald and Dumbledore! Two months of insanity, of cruel dreams, and neglect of the only two members of my family left to me._

_"And then . . . you know what happened. Reality returned in the form of my rough, unlettered, and infinitely more admirable brother. I did not want to hear the truths he shouted at me. I did not want to hear that I could not set forth and seek Hallows with a fragile and unstable sister in tow._

_"The argument became a fight. Grindelwald lost control. That which I had always sensed in him, though I pretended not to, now sprang into terrible being. And Ariana . . . after all my mother's care and caution . . . lay dead upon the floor."_

Molly muffled a dry sob.

_Dumbledore gave a little gasp and began to cry in earnest._

"Dumbledore," Bill sighed.

_Harry reached out and was glad to find that he could touch him: He gripped his arm tightly and Dumbledore gradually regained control._

_"Well, Grindelwald fled, as anyone but I could have predicted. He vanished, with his plans for seizing power, and his schemes for Muggle torture, and his dreams of the Deathly Hallows, dreams in which I had encouraged him and helped him. He ran, while I was left to bury my sister, and learn to live with my guilt and my terrible grief, the price of my shame._

"That must have been terrible," Neville muttered, finding it hard to watch his old headmaster crying.

_"Years passed. There were rumours about him. They said he had procured a wand of immense power. I, meanwhile, was offered the post of Minister of Magic, not once, but several times. Naturally, I refused. I had learned that I was not to be trusted with power."_

"So that's why he refused," Sirius murmured.

_"But you'd have been better, much better, than Fudge or Scimgeour!" burst out Harry._

_"Would I?" asked Dumbledore heavily. "I am not so sure. I had proven, as a very young man, that power was my weakness and my temptation. It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well._

"You did take it well," Luna, Ginny, Neville, Ron and Hermione said.

_"I was safer at Hogwarts. I think I was a good teacher –"_

"The best," all the wizards that had been at school when he was headmaster said.

_"You were the best -"_

_"- you are very kind, Harry. But while I busied myself with the training of young wizards, Grindelwald was raising an army. They say he feared me, and perhaps he did, but less, I think, than I feared him._

_"Oh, not death," said Dumbledore, in answer to Harry's questioning look. "Not what he could do to me magically. I knew that we were evenly matched, perhaps that I was a shade more skilful. It was the truth I feared. You see, I never knew which of us, in that last, horrific fight, had actually cast the curse that killed my sister. You may call me cowardly: You would be right, Harry. I dreaded beyond all things the knowledge that it had been I who brought about her death, not merely through my arrogance and stupidity, but that I actually struck the blow that snuffed out her life._

"Zat's only natural," Fleur said

_"I think he knew it, I think he knew what frightened me. I delayed meeting him until finally, it would have been too shameful to resist any longer. People were dying and he seemed unstoppable, and I had to do what I could._

_"Well, you know what happened next. I won the duel. I won the wand."_

_Another silence_

_They sat in silence for a long time, and the whimperings of the creature behind them barely disturbed Harry anymore._

_At last he said, "Grindelwald tried to stop Voldemort going after the wand. He lied, you know, pretended he had never had it."_

"That's true,"Ron nodded.

_Dumbledore nodded, looking down at his lap, tears still glittering on the crooked nose._

_"They say he showed remorse in later years, alone in his cell at Nurmengard. I hope that is true. I would like to think that he did feel the horror and shame of what he had done. Perhaps that lie to Voldemort was his attempt to make amends . . . to prevent Voldemort from taking the Hallow . . ."_

_". . .or maybe from breaking into your tomb?" suggested Harry, and Dumbledore dabbed his eyes._

_After another short pause Harry said, "You tried to use the Resurrection Stone."_

_Dumbledore nodded._

_"When I discovered it, after all those years, buried in the abandoned home of the Gaunts - the Hallow I had craved most of all, though in my youth I had wanted it for very different reasons - I lost my head, Harry. I quite forgot that it was now a Horcrux, that the ring was sure to carry a curse. I picked it up, and I put it on, and for a second I imagined that I was about to see Ariana, and my mother, and my father, and to tell them how very, very sorry, I was. . . ._

"You would want to see your family," Frank nodded.

_"I was such a fool, Harry. After all those years I had learned nothing. I was unworthy to unite the Deathly Hallows, I had proved it time and again, and here was final proof."_

_"Why?" said Harry. "It was natural! You wanted to see them again. What's wrong with that?"_

_"Maybe a man in a million could unite the Hallows, Harry. I was fit only to possess the meanest of them, the least extraordinary. I was fit to own the Elder Wand, and not boast of it, and not to kill with it. I was permitted to tame and use it, because I took it, not for gain, but to save others from it._

"Not many could do that," Gideon said.

_"But the Cloak, I took out of vain curiosity, and so it could never have worked for me as it works for you, its true owners._

"How can it not work as well?" Petunia asked but just got shrugs in return.

_The stone I would have used in an attempt to drag back those who are at peace, rather than enable my self-sacrifice, as you did. You are the worthy possessor of the Hallows."_

_Dumbledore patted Harry's hand, and Harry looked up at the old man and smiled; he could not help himself._

_"Why did you have to make it so difficult?"_

_Dumbledore's smile was tremulous._

_"I am afraid I counted on Miss Granger to slow you up, Harry._

"Should I take offense to that?" Hermione asked.

_I was afraid that your hot head might dominate your good heart. I was scared that, if presented outright with the facts about those tempting objects, you might seize the Hallows as I did, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. If you laid hands on them, I wanted you to possess them safely. You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying."_

"Of course there are," Fabian said.

_"And Voldemort never knew about the Hallows?"_

_"I do not think so; because he did not recognize the Resurrection Stone he turned into a Horcrux. But even if he had known about them, Harry. I doubt that he would have been interested in any except the first. He would not think that he needed the Cloak, and as for the stone, whom would he want to bring back from the dead? He fears the dead. He does not love."_

"No soul," Luna smiled.

"Well he did," Neville chuckled. "It was just in pieces."

_"But you expected him to go after the wand?"_

_"I have been sure that he would try, ever since your wand beat Voldemort's in the graveyard of Little Hangleton. At first, he was afraid that you had conquered him by superior skill. Once he had kidnapped Ollivander, however, he discovered the existence of the twin cores. He thought that explained everything. Yet the borrowed wand did no better against yours! So Voldemort, instead of asking himself what quality it was in you that had made your wand so strong, what gift you possessed that he did not, naturally set out to find the one wand that, they said, would beat any other. For him, the Elder Wand has become an obsession to rival his obsession with you. He believes that the Elder Wand removes his last weakness and makes him truly invincible. Poor Severus . . ."_

"Mmm," Lily sighed.

_"If you planned your death with Snape, you meant him to end up with the Elder Wand, didn't you?"_

_"I admit that was my intention," said Dumbledore, "but it did not work as I intended, did it?"_

_"No," said Harry. "That bit didn't work out."_

"And know Voldemort has the Elder Wand," Frank groaned.

_The creature behind them jerked and moaned, and Harry and Dumbledore sat without talking for the longest time yet. _

_"I've got to go back, haven't I?"_

"Of course you have," Teddy said, looking scared at the thought of him not coming back.

_"That is up to you."_

"He has a choice?" Hermione asked.

_"I've got a choice?"_

_"Oh yes," Dumbledore smiled at him. "We are in King's Cross you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to . . . let's say . . . board a train."_

_"And where would it take me?"_

"On," Lily said, biting her lip.

_"On," said Dumbledore simply._

_Silence again._

_"Voldemort's got the Elder Wand."_

'You better not of been thinking of boarding a train,' Ginny snapped.

_"True. Voldemort has the Elder Wand."_

_"But you want me to go back?"_

_"I think," said Dumbledore, "that if you choose to return, there is a chance that he may be finished for good. I cannot promise it. But I know this, Harry that you have less to fear from returning here than he does."_

_Harry glanced again at the raw looking thing that trembled and choked in the shadow beneath the distant chair._

_"Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, they we saw good-bye for the present."_

"That's true," Dudley said.

_Harry nodded and sighed._

"You actually thought about staying didn't you?" Hermione said, looking pained.

Harry sighed and nodded slowly, causing Ginny to hit him.

_. He stood up, and Dumbledore did the same, and they looked for a long moment into each other's faces._

_"Tell me one last thing," said Harry, "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"_

_Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure._

_"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?"_

Everyone chuckled, although some looked upset that Harry had thought of moving on.

_He was flying facedown on the ground again. He could feel the cold hard ground beneath his cheek, and the hinge of his glasses which have been knocked sideways by the fall cutting into his temple. Every inch of him ached, and the place where Killing Curse had hit him felt like the bruise of an iron-clad punch._

"Don't move," Moody grunted.

_He did not stir, but he remained exactly where he had fallen, with his left arm bent out at an awkward angle and his mouth gaping._

Ron managed a snort.

_He had expected to hear cheer of triumph and jubilation at his death, but instead hurried footsteps, whispers, and solicitous murmurs filled the air._

"Something must have happened to Voldemort," Alice said.

_"My Lord... my Lord..."_

_It was Bellatrix's voice, and she spoke as if to a lover._

Sirius snarled.

"Isn't she married?" Frank chuckled.

_Harry did not dare open his eyes._

_"My Lord..."_

_"That will do," said Voldemort's voice._

_More footsteps. Several people were backing away from the same spot. Desperate to see what was happening and why, Harry opened his eyes by a millimetre_

"Careful, Harry," James said.

_Voldemort seemed to be getting to his feet. Various Death Eaters were hurrying away from him, returning to the crowd lining the clearing. Bellatrix alone remained behind, kneeling beside Voldemort._

_Harry closed his eyes again and considered what he had seen. The Death Eaters have been huddled around Voldemort, who seem to have fallen to the ground. Something had happened when he had hit Harry with the Killing Curse. Had Voldemort too collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of them had briefly fallen unconscious and both of them had now returned. . ._

_"My Lord, let me -"_

_"I do not require assistance," said Voldemort coldly, and though he could not see it, Harry pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand. "The boy . . . Is he dead?"_

"Oh no," Dora gasped.

_There was a complete silence in the clearing. Nobody approached Harry._

_"You," said Voldemort, and there was a bang and a small shriek of pain. "Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead."_

_Harry did not know who had been sent to verify. He could only lie there, with his heart thumping traitorously, and wait to be examined, but at the same time nothing, small comfort through it was, that Voldemort was wary of approaching him, that Voldemort suspected that all had not gone to plan . . . ._

_Hands, softer than he had been expecting, touched Harry's face, and felt his heart._

Lily bit her lip.

_He could hear the woman's fast breathing, his pounding of life against his ribs._

_"Is Draco alive? Is he in the castle?"_

"Cissy!" Sirius said, not sure whether to smile or groan.

_The whisper was barely audible, her lips were an inch from his ear, her head bent so low that her long hair shielded his face from the onlookers._

_"Yes," he breathed back._

_He felt the hand on his chest contract: her nails pierced him. Then it was withdrawn. She had sat up._

_"He is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers._

"Thank you!" Lily and Dora breathed.

_And now they shouted, now they yelled in triumph and stamped their feet, and through his eyelids, Harry saw bursts of red and silver light shoot into the air in celebration._

"Jerks," Teddy muttered.

_"You see?" screeched Voldemort over the tumult. "Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now! Watch! Crucio!"_

"No!" the twins yelled.

_He was lifted into the air, yet the pain he expected did not come._

"What?" Moody grunted.

"I don't know but at least he's not in pain," Ginny grinned.

_He was thrown once, twice, three times into the air. His glasses flew off _

"No!" Remus yelped. "You need them."

_and he felt his wand slide a little beneath his robes, but he kept himself floppy and lifeless, and when he fell no ground for the last time, the clearing echoed with jeers and shrieks of laughter._

"This isn't funny," Teddy snapped.

_"Now," said Voldemort, "we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their hero. Who shall drag the body?_

"No, he will not be dragged," James growled.

_No - Wait - "_

_There was a fresh outbreak of laughter, and after a few moments Harry felt the ground trembling beneath him._

_"You carry him," Voldemort said. "He will be nice and visible in your arms, will he not? Pick up your little friend, Hagrid._

"Poor Hagrid," Molly sighed.

_And the glasses - put on the glasses - he must be recognizable - "_

_Someone slammed Harry's glasses back onto his face with deliberate force,_

"At least you can see," Dudley said.

_but the enormous hands that lifted him into the air were exceedingly gentle. Harry could feel Hagrid's arms trembling with the force of his heaving sobs; great tears splashed down upon him as Hagrid cradled Harry in his arms, _

"Oh Hagrid," Arthur muttered.

_"Move," said Voldemort, and Hagrid stumbled forward, forcing his way through the close-growing trees, back through the forest._

_Branches caught at Harry's hair and robes, but he lay quiescent, his mouth lolling open, his eyes shut, and in the darkness, while the Death Eaters crowded all around them, and while Hagrid sobbed blindly, nobody looked to see whether a pulse beat in the exposed neck of Harry Potter. . . ._

_The two giants crashed along behind the Death Eaters; Harry could hear trees creaking and falling as they passed; they made so much din that birds toes shrieking into the sky, and even the jeers of the Death Eaters were drowned. The victorious procession marched on toward the open ground, and after a while Harry could tell, by the lightening of the darkness through his closed eyelids, that the trees were beginning to thin._

_"BANE!"_

"Centaurs," Bill said.

_"Happy now, are yeh, that yeh didn't fight, yeh cowardly bunch o' nags? Are yeh happy Harry Potter's - d-dead . . . ?"_

"I can't believe zey didn't fight," Fleur muttered.

"They don't really care about wizarding wards," Frank said.

_Hagrid could not continue, but broke down in fresh tears. Some of the Death Eaters called insults at the centaurs as they left them behind. A little later, Harry sensed, by a freshening of the air, that they had reached the edge of the forest._

_"Stop."_

_Harry thought that Hagrid must have been forced to obey Voldemort's command, because he lurched a little. And now a chill settled over them where they stood, and Harry heard the rasping breath of the dementors that patrolled the other trees. They would not affect him now._

_Someone passed close by Harry, and he knew that it was Voldemort himself because he spoke a moment later, his voice magically magnified so that it swelled through the ground, crashing upon Harry's eardrums._

_"Harry Potter is dead._

"You all heard that didn't you?" Lily asked.

Ginny nodded.

"It was horrible," Hermione said. "We couldn't find him, and then Neville came up to us asking what the plan was –"

"The look on their faces, I just knew he'd done it," Neville shivered. "That's when the voice came."

"How did it feel?" Sirius asked, weakly.

Several people looked at him angrily for his lack of tack and was surprised when Molly answered him.

"Horrible," she said, tears appearing in her eyes and falling down her pained face."I can't really describe it other than that; I just remember wondering how Harry could be dead. He was the strongest of all of us, as strange as that sounds, he couldn't be gone. It would kill Ron and Ginny. I kept thinking that Ron wouldn't be able to take it; he couldn't lose two brothers, especially Harry. He and Harry were like Fred and George; you don't have one without the other. When one is gone the other can't move on, or it'll take a long time if they do. And Ginny…

"Plus, Arthur and I couldn't lose another son, not that night, and hopefully not ever."

_He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him._

"He would never do that," Bill snapped.

_We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."_

Molly, Ginny, Ron and Hermione shuddered.

_"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."_

"Did anyone?" Remus asked, the only answer he got was a few nods, or shrugs.

_There was silence in the grounds and from the castle. _

_"Come," said Voldemort, and Harry heard him move ahead, and Hagrid was forced to follow. Now Harry opened his eyes a fraction, and saw Voldemort striding in front them, wearing the great snake Nagini around his shoulders, now free of her enchanted cage. _

"That makes it easier," Alice smiled.

_But Harry had no possibility of extracting the wand concealed under his robes without being noticed by the Death Eaters, who marched on the either side of them through the slowly lightening darkness..._

_"Harry," sobbed Hagrid. "Oh, Harry . . . Harry . . ."_

"Hagrid," Lily sighed not being able to help the tears streaming down her face.

_Harry shut his eyes tight again. He knew that they were approaching the castle and strained his ears to distinguish, above the gleeful voices of the Death Eaters and their tramping footsteps, signs of life from those within._

_"Stop."_

_The Death Eaters came to a halt; Harry heard them spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. He could see, even though his closed lids, the reddish glow that meant light streamed upon him from the entrance hall. _

_"NO!"_

_The scream was the more terrible because he had never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound._

"She screamed first?" Petunia said, pressing her lips together and trying to stop her tears at this woman's pain.

"She was the first on out there," Hermione said, not bothering to hide her tears.

_He heard another women laughing nearby, and knew that Bellatrix gloried in McGonagall's despair._

"Bitch," Sirius muttered.

_He squinted again for a single second and saw the open doorway filling with people, as the survivors of the battle came out onto the front steps to face their vanquishers and see the truth of Harry's death for themselves. He saw Voldemort standing a little in front of him, stroking Nagini's head with a single white finger. He closed his eyes again._

_"No!"_

_"No!"_

_"Harry! HARRY!"_

_Ron's, Hermione's, and Ginny's voices were worse than McGonagall's;_

Ron, Hermione and Ginny flinched grasping on to their partners.

_Harry wanted nothing more than to call back, yet he made himself lie silent, and their cries acted like a trigger; the crowd of survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eathers, until -_

_"SILENCE!" cried Voldemort, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upn them all. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"_

"He doesn't belong there," Lily snarled.

_Harry felt himself lowered onto the grass._

_"You see?" said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding backward and forward right beside the place where he lay. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"_

"He beat you," Sirius spat.

_"He beat you!" yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more._

'The spells aren't binding,' James grinned.

_"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," said Voldemort, and there was a relish in his voice for the lie. "killed while trying to save himself - "_

"He'd never do that," Dudley said.

_But Voldemort broke off: Harry heard a scuffle and a shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and grunt of pain; he opened his eyes an infinitesimal amount. Someone had broken free of the crowd and charged at Voldemort: Harry saw the figure hit the ground. Disarmed, Voldemort throwing the challenger's wand aside and laughing._

"On no," Alice fretted. "Who's that?"

_"And who is this?" he said in his soft snake's hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"_

_Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh._

_"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord!_

"Neville," Frank said, half groaning.

_The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"_

_"Ah, yes, I remember," said Voldemort, looking down at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man's-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy? Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists._

"So what if he is?" the twins said.

_"So what if I am?" said Neville loudly._

_"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."_

"He would never join you," Luna said, her eyes narrowing slightly.

_"I'll join you when hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom Voldemort's Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold._

_"Very well," said Voldemort, and Harry heard more danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most powerful curse. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head," he said quietly, "be it."_

"Oh no," Alice whimpered.

_Still watching through his lashes, Harry saw Voldemort wave his wand. Seconds later, out of one of the castle's shattered windows, something that looked like a misshapen bird flew through the half light and landed in Voldemort's hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end and it dangled, emtpy and ragged: the Sorting Hat._

"The Sorting Hat?" Moody grunted. "What's that idiot going to do?"

_"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," said Voldemort. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"_

"No," Sirius said.

_He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, then forced the hat onto Neville's head, so that it slipped down below his eyes. There were movements from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay._

_"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort, and with a flick of his wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames._

"No!" Lily and Alice shrieked as Franks eye's widened then narrowed.

_Screams split the dawn, and Neville was a flame, rooted to the spot, unable to move, and Harry could not bear it: He must act - And then many things happened at the same moment._

_They heard uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted toward the castle, uttering loud war cries. At the same time, Grawp came lumbering around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!" His cry was answered by roars from Voldemort's giants: They ran at Grawp like bull elephants making the earth quake._

"No!" James said.

_Then came hooves and the twangs of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death Eaters, who broke ranks, shouting their surprise._

"Centaurs," Dora beamed.

_Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from inside his robes, swung it over himself, and sprang to his feet, as Neville moved too._

_In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming ha fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle –_

"Atta boy, son!" Frank yelled as the Marauders and twins cheered.

_The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds of the clashing giants or of the stampeding centaurs, and yet, it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke Neville sliced off the great snake's head,_

"Brilliant!" the twins yelled, as everyone else beamed at the last Horcrux being destroyed.

"Voldemorts human," Remus grinned.

_which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from the entrance hall, and Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet-_

_Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry cast a Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could raise his wand stamps of the battling giants, Hagrid's yell came loudest of all._

_"HARRY!" Hagrid shouted. "HARRY - WHERE'S HARRY?"_

"Ssh," Moody, James, Frank and Dora hissed.

_Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was feeling the giants' stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where; Harry saw great winged creatures soaring the heads of Voldemort's giants, thestrals and Buckbeak the hippogriff scratching at their eyes_

"Nice," Teddy grinned. "You got the creatures fighting for you."

_while Grawp punched and pummelled them and now the wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike were being forced back into the castle. Harry was shooting jinxes and curses at any Death Eater he could see, and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit them, and their bodies were trampled by the retreating crowd._

"That's good," Moody nodded. "You've got the advantage of being invisible."

_Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Harry was buffered into the entrance hall: He was searching for Voldemort and saw him across the room, firing spells from his wand as he backed into the Great Hall, still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying left and right; Harry cast more Shield Charms, and Voldemort's would-be victims. Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott, darted past him into the Great Hall, where they joined the fight already flourishing inside it. And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and Harry saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn, who was still wearing his emerald pyjamas. They seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight along with the shop keeps and homeowners of Hogsmeade. The centaurs Bane, Ronan and Magorian burst into the hall with a great clatter of hooves,_

"I can't believe they are fighting," the twins grinned.

_as behind Harry the door that led to the kitchens was blasted off its hinges._

_The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleaver, and at their head, the locker of Regulus Black bouncing on his chest, was Kreacher, his bullfrog's voice audible even above this din: "Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!"_

Sirius and Harry laughed.

_They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and shim of Death Eaters their tiny faces alive with malice, and everywhere Harry looked Death Eaters were folding under sheer weight of numbers, overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply attempting to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde._

_But it was not over yet: Harry sped between duellers, past struggling prisoners, and into he Great Hall._

_Voldemort was in the centre of the battle, and he was striking and smiting al within reach. Harry could not get a clear shot, but fought his way nearer, still invisible, and the Great Hall became more and more crowded as everyone who could walk forced their way inside._

_Harry saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan,_

The twins grinned

_saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick's hands,_

The trio and Ginny cheered looking at Remus

_saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground._

"Nice one, Hagrid," the marauders yelled.

_He saw Ron and Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback._

"Careful," Remus muttered.

_Aberforth Stunning Rookwood, Arthur and Percy flooring Thicknesse,_

"Go, Arthur," the twins applauded.

_and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son._

_Voldemort was now duelling McGonagall, Slughorn, Kingsley all at once, and there was a cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him - Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she duelled three at once: Hermione, Ginny and Luna,_

"Oh be careful," Lily fretted, looking at what she guessed where the three most important females in Harry's life.

_all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and Harry's attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch –_

Lily and Molly shrieked slightly.

_He changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than Voldemort,_

"Harry," Ginny sighed fondly.

_but before he had gone a few steps he was knocked sideways._

_"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"_

"Molly," the twins yelped, staring at their sister in shock.

_Mrs. Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms,_

_Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger._

_"OUT OF MY WAY!" shouted Mrs. Weasley to the three girls, and with a simple swipe of her wand she began to duel. Harry watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix Lestrange's smile faltered and became a snarl._

"Come on, Molly," Sirius and Dora smirked.

_Jets of light flew from both wands, the floor around the witches' feet became hot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill._

_"No!" Mrs. Weasley cried as a few students ran forward, trying to come to her aid. "Get back! Get back! She is mine!"_

_Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, Voldemort and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and Harry stood, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that he would not hit the innocent._

_"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"_

The twins growled protectively.

_"You - will - never - touch - our - children - again!" screamed Mrs. Weasley._

Lily and Alice smiled while nodding firmly.

_Bellatrix laughed the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward through the veil._

"She's dead now," Remus said, causing some to look at him

_Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart._

_Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled,_

Everyone in the room cheered as Molly smirked slightly.

_and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed._

_Harry felt as though he turned into slow motion: he saw McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last, best leutenant exploded with the force of a bomb, Voldemort raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley._

"No!" James gasped.

_"Protego!" roared Harry, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, _

"Thank you, Harry," the Weasley said.

_and Voldemort stared around for the source as Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak at last._

"That was brilliant," Ron and Hermione grinned.

_The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of :"Harry!" "HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other._

_"I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, and in the total silence his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."_

"And those two walk back to the sides," Neville chuckled, glancing at Ron and Hermione

_Voldemort hissed._

"He's terrified," Dora laughed.

_"Potter doesn't mean that," he said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"_

_"Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good. . . ."_

James smirked.

_"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"_

"They weren't accidents," Teddy chuckled.

_"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for Harry no face existed but Voldemort's. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"_

_"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but they two. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and snivelled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"_

"He didn't not," Lily snapped in a slightly higher voice than normal.

_"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people - "_

_"But you did not!"_

"He meant to," Frank said.

"So he's done what Lily did," Arthur smiled.

_" - I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"_

"He won't like that," Sirius grinned, evilly.

_"You dare -"_

_"Yes, I dare," said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"_

_Voldemort did not speak, but prowled in a circle, and Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that Harry might indeed know a final secret. . . ._

_"Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like and old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach,_

Everyone glared at him.

_Potter - and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?"_

_"Just one thing," said Harry, and still they circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret._

_"If it is not love that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"_

_"I believe both," said Harry, and he saw shock flit across the snakelike face,_

Mad-Eye's face twisted into something like a grin.

_though it was instantly dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humourless and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall._

Everyone shuddered.

_"You think you know more magic than I do?" he said. "Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"_

"He dreamed of it," Bill said. "But that's it, he only dreamed of it."

_"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."_

_"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"_

"He wasn't weak," Dudley sad.

_"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."_

_"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"_

_"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."_

"Wrong way to phrase zat, 'Arry," Fleur said.

_For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one._

_"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as though they would cause him unendurable pain. "His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"_

_"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."_

_"What childish dream is this?" said Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's._

_"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's._

"No one could believe that," Neville laughed,

_Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"_

_Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart._

_"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realised," he said as he saw Voldemort's nostrils flare, "he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"_

"He really should've," Petunia said. "But it's good he didn't."

_"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him - "_

"Of course he said that," James muttered.

_"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"_

_"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort,_

"Actually it matter's very much," Hermione smirked.

_who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, _

The Marauders hissed.

_Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!_

_"Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy - I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it; I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"_

_"Yeah, it did." said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you think what you've done... Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle. . . ."_

_"What is this?"_

_Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had socked Voldemort like this. Harry saw is pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten._

_"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left. . . . I've seen what you'll be otherwise. . . . Be a man. . . try. . . Try for some remorse. . . ."_

"Why are giving him a chance?" Frank groaned

"It was the right thing to do," Harry said, Lily and James smiled proudly at their son.

_"You dare - ?" said Voldemort again._

"We've already done this," Fabian smirked.

"Of course he dares," Gideon finished.

_"Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."_

"How?" Alice asked.

_Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco's very tightly. The moment, he knew, was seconds away._

_"That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."_

_"He killed - "_

"It's not the same thing," Lily gasped.

"Malfoy," Remus said. "And if Malfoy was the master of it then that means …"

He trailed off but Harry nodded at him anyway.

_"Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"_

_"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"_

"No its not," Mad-Eye grunted.

_"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard . . . The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance . . ."_

_Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face._

_"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."_

Remus nodded slightly.

_Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone._

_"But what does it matter?" he said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone . . . and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy . . ."_

"I'd pity Draco," Luna said. "But, you know, there's no need."

_"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him."_

_Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it._

_"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does . . . I am the true master of the Elder Wand."_

Sirius grinned.

_A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco's wand:_

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

_"Expelliarmus!"_

"Expelliarmus!" everyone but those who had been there yelled.

_The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead centre of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Harry saw Voldemort's green jet meet his own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell._

"Yes!" everyone cheered.

"You did it," Frank yelled. "You killed him!"

"My son killed Voldemort!" James shouted in complete shock.

_One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward him, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened him._

"That's only right!" Sirius laughed.

_Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last –_

"I bet the fame got bigger," the twins chuckled.

"You have no idea," Harry, Ginny and Teddy grumbled causing most to chuckle.

_The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and light. Harry was an indispensible part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. They wanted him there with them, their leader and symbol, their savoir and their guide, and that he had not slept, that he craved the company of only a few of them, seemed to occur to no one. He must speak to the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic._

_They moved Voldemort's body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away form the bodies of Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had died fighting him. McGonagall had replaced the House tables, not nobody was sitting according to House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in the corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth. After a while, exhausted and drained, Harry found himself sitting on a bench beside Luna._

_"I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me," she said._

"Thank you, Luna," Harry grinned.

"You quite welcome," Luna smiled.

_"I'd love some," he replied._

_"I'll distract them all," she said. "Use your cloak."_

_And before he could say a word, she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!" and pointed out the window. Everyone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the Cloak up over himself, and got to his feet._

_Now he could move through the Hall without interference. He spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder:_

Ginny sighed, she'd have loved to talk to Harry but she needed her mother and her mother needed her.

_There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk._

_He saw Neville, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside his plate as he ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers._

_Along the aisle between the tables he walked, and he spotted the three Malfoys, huddled together as though unsure whether or not they were supposed to be there, but nobody was paying them any attention. Everywhere he looked, he saw families reunited, and finally, he saw the two whose company he craved most._

_"It's me," he muttered, crouching down between them. "Will you come with me?"_

"You scared the hell out of me," Hermione said.

"Did you hit him?" Teddy asked.

"Eventually," she smirked. "He deserved it."

_They stood up at once, and together he, Ron and Hermione left the Great Hall. Great chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred ever few steps as their climbed._

_Somewhere in the distance they could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:_

_We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one,_

_And Voldy's gone moldy, so now let's have fun!_

Everyone laughed as Sirius and James cheered.

_"Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" said Ron, pushing open a door to let Harry and Hermione through._

Several people chuckled.

_Happiness would come, Harry thought, but at the moment it was muffled by exhaustion,_

"Definitely," Ron and Hermione nodded.

"I was ready to just sit down and sleep," she sighed.

_Painstakingly he recounted what he had seem in the Pensieve and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement, when at last they arrived at the place to which they had been walking, though none of them had mentioned their destination._

_Since he had last seen it, the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the headmaster's study had been knocked aside; it stood lopsided, looking a little punch-drunk, and Harry wondered whether it would be able to distinguish passwords anymore._

_"Can we go up?" he asked the gargoyle._

_"Feel free," groaned the statue._

_They clambered over him and onto the spiral stone staircase that moved slowly upward like an escalator. Harry pushed open the door at the top._

_He had one, brief glimpse of the stone Pensieve on the desk where he had left it, and then an ear splitting noise made him cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort -_

_But it was applause. _

"Are they trying to give you a heart attack?" Dudley chuckled.

_All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving him a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other's hands; they danced up and down on their chairs in which they have been painted: Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly;_

The twins smirked a bit,

_Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Niggelus called, in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"_

Dora and Sirius rolled their eyes.

_But Harry had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled Harry with the same balm as phoenix song._

_At last, Harry held up his hands, and the portraits fell respectfully silent, beaming and mopping their eyes and waiting eagerly for him to speak. He directed his words at Dumbledore, however, and chose them with enormous care. Exhausted and bleary-eyed though he was, he must make one last effort, seeking one last piece of advice._

_"The thing that was hidden in the Snitch," he began, "I dropped it in the forest. I don't exactly know where, but I'm not going to go looking for it again. Do you agree?"_

"Of course he does," Lily smiled.

_"My dear boy, I do," said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. "A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone know else know where it fell?"_

_"No one," said Harry, and Dumbledore nodded his satisfaction._

"We do know," Ron laughed.

"Yes, but are you going to go into Argogs old layer," Hermione laughed.

_"I'm going to keep Ignotus's present, though," said Harry, and Dumbledore beamed._

"You better," James muttered.

_"But of course, Harry, it is yours forever, until you pass it on!"_

_"And then there's this."_

_Harry held up the Elder Wand, and Ron and Hermione looked at it with a reverence._

_"I don't want it." said Harry._

_"What?" said Ron loudly. "Are you mental?"_

"No, he's extremely wise," Ginny smiled.

_"I know it's powerful," said Harry wearily. "But I was happier with mine. So . . ."_

_He rummaged in the pouch hung around his neck, and pulled out the two halves of holly still just connected by the finest threat of phoenix feather. _

_He laid the broken wand upon the headmaster's desk, touched it with the very tip of the Elder Wand, and said, "Reparo."_

_As his wand resealed, red sparks flew out of its end.. He picked up the holly and phoenix wand and felt a sudden warmth in his fingers, as though wand and hand were rejoicing at their reunion._

"That's amazing," Lily exclaimed.

_"I'm putting the Elder Wand," he told Dumbledore, who was watching him with enormous affection and admiration, "back where it came from. It can stay there. If I die a natural death like Ignotus, its power will be broken, won't it? The previous master will never have been defeated. That'll be the end of it."_

_Dumbledore nodded. They smiled at each other._

_"Are you sure?" said Ron. There was the faintest trace of longing in his voice as he looked at the Elder Wand._

_"I think Harry's right," said Hermione quietly._

Most people nodded, looking slightly in awe.

_"That wand's more trouble than it's worth." said Harry. "And quite honestly," he turned away from the painted portraits, thinking now only of the four-poster bed lying waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower, and wondering whether Kreacher might bring him a sandwich there, "I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."_

"No kidding," Sirius said, rubbing a hand across his face as he remembered the last week and the landed back in the family room.

The room was pitch-black the sun having set long ago but they had been in the pensieve so long that they hadn't known the time. Harry waved his wand and the small wall lamps illuminated the whole room and the fire roared to life sending a wave of warmth their way.

"I can't believe you're still alive," Lily sighed.

"I wonder that sometimes," Ginny muttered. "Actually, quite a lot but then I'm just so grateful that I don't question it."

Harry squeezed her to his side and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"What did you do then?" James chuckled, knowing the answer.

"Ate a load of food Kreacher brought us –" Harry smiled.

"And then slept for nearly twenty-four hours," Hermione added.

"Being woken up by my family every few hours to 'make sure we hadn't died'" Ron muttered annoyed.

"We were just making sure," Molly defended. "Plus Madam Pomfrey told us too."

As soon as she finished speaking Ron's stomach rumbled.

Everyone laughed as the tension in the room dropped.

"Dinner!" Harry yelled and those hungriest ran out the room.

Harry chuckled, put and arm around Ginny's shoulders and led them out of the room with everyone else.


	27. Chapter 26 - Living Again

"Wotcher," Dora sang as she sat down next to her son at breakfast the next morning.

"Morning," Harry and Teddy said.

"Good morning, Dora," Ginny smiled. "You're up early today."

"I was going to say the same thing about, Teddy," Dora laughed, looking at son. "Isn't it a bit early for a teenage boy to be up on the holidays?"

"Nope," Teddy grinned, taking a bit of his pancakes. "Although, I did think of skiving today."

"Why?" Harry chuckled.

"Because you are going to embarrass me," Teddy groaned.

"We'll see," Harry laughed as James walked in.

"Morning," he said, sitting down looking more awake than he had in days.

"Sleep well?" Teddy asked.

"Much better than usual, yes," James grinned cheerfully, helping himself to some of the food spread in front of him. "No more people threatening my son."

"That is if you don't count Hermione," Ginny laughed.

Harry scowled as Teddy laughed; remembering all the times that Hermione had made his godfather looked absolutely terrified.

"Yes, I can picture that," Sirius laughed his bark-like laugh as he walked in.

"Shut up," Harry grumbled.

"Are they picking on you?" Remus chuckled, joining them.

Harry grinned at him before shaking his head in defeat, "don't even worry about it."

Remus laughed quietly as he helped himself to breakfast, Petunia and Dudley joined a few minutes later but five minutes after their arrival, Lily still hadn't joined them.

"Where's Mum?" Harry asked.

'I don't know,' Sirius shrugged, shovelling food into his mouth. "Ask your father!"

"She got up at the same time as me," James frowned, looking at the door.

"I'm right here," Lily laughed, entering the room. "No need to send out a search party."

"Sorry," Harry smiled. "But you're usually one of the first to be at breakfast."

"Well," Lily sighed. "I slept better today."

Everyone nodded, remembering what James said or guessing why as they were the same.

"Right, nice calm memories today," Hermione beamed, once everyone had eaten and they had been joined by Molly, Arthur, Fabian, Gideon, Mad-Eye, Ron and Hermione.

"Fantastic," Petunia beamed.

They landed in the pensieve to find Harry sitting on a bay window in the Gryffindor dormitory staring out of the lake that was twinkling innocently in the suns rays, perfectly still and Ginny opening the door an unreadable expression on her face.

'_Harry?' Ginny asked standing in the door way. 'You know I'm not sure whether to hug you or curse you right now. Nine months! Nine months, Harry, you were gone and not a word, we were worried sick -!' _

"Are you going to hex him?" Sirius asked, warily.

"He would've disserved it," Lily muttered, thinking how mad she would have been had it been James.

_Harry had slowly turned his head to look at her causing Ginny to bit her lip and her words of anger to die in her throat when she saw his face. It was bruised and cut from the battle but it was his eyes that looked the worse – they were darker than normal, red-rimmed and the swimming with tears. He looked broken._

"Oh Harry," Dora sighed, while Teddy looked at his godfather, slightly shocked. He'd never seen his godfather cry, not once, not even when his grandmother died although now he was older he suspected Harry had cried for her when on his own or with Ginny but it was still odd to see this broken Harry even if he was much younger.

_She walked slowly over to him sitting beside him and curving her body to fit him, slipping her hand into his larger one._

"_Harry," Ginny sighed, reaching up her other hand to cup his cheek. _

"_Shouldn't you be down with your family?" Harry said._

_Ginny flinched slightly at his voice, it was hoarse and sounded as defeated as he looked but it was sharp. _

Everyone else flinched as well.

_He probably didn't notice her flinch since he had turned back to the window._

_"__Or did they send you up here to check on me?"_

"We might of," Arthur chuckled.

"_I thought you'd like some company," she muttered._

"_Hmm," Harry hummed neither an agreement nor a disagreement. "That sounds different to your entrance."_

"Yes, it does," James grinned.

"Yeah well I wasn't planning on getting annoyed at you," she muttered sadly.

"I prefer the anger," he said quietly.

"Why?" Dudley asked.

They were silent for a few minutes before Ginny spoke again.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked.

"Couldn't stand the crowd," he whispered. "I'm tired of people thanking me. They should be shouting at me, as you rightly did, blaming me for their friends and family's death."

"Harry," everyone sighed, annoyed.

"_No," Ginny whispered. "Harry, people's deaths aren't your fault."_

_"__So you don't blame me for Fred's?" he asked softly._

"_No, I don't, _of course_ I don't," she smiled sensitively, "and neither do my family."_

_He snorted slightly, "I'm actually surprised you haven't hexed me, yet."_

"So am I," the twins laughed.

"_I thought about it," Ginny teased but then fell silent for several long minutes and when she spoke again it sounded as though she was going to cry. "We thought you were dead. Dead, Harry, dead!"_

"_Yeah, sorry," he said, hoarsely. "Had to be done."_

"Not going to help," Hermione grimaced remembering what she and Ron had been like.

"_Had, to be!" she said, her temper rising again. 2Had to be done! You didn't even say goodbye. Did you, by any chance, know you were going to survive?"_

Ginny glared at Harry even though she understood.

"_Of course I didn't," he muttered._

_"__Then why?" she snapped. "Why didn't you say goodbye? Don't you think we deserved at least that?"_

"He would have been too easy to be talked back," Moody grunted. "Especailly by you."

2_If I did, you would have tried to talk me out of it," he said, turning to face her once again the same broken look on his face._

"_Of course I would have," she snapped. "I would have dragged you back."_

Lily and Dora nodded approvingly.

"_Exactly," Harry said, a small smile playing around his lips but soon it fell never making it to a full smile. "It wouldn't have taken much persuading, either; I would have stayed, had you asked me. But that couldn't happen, or we'd still be in war right now."_

"Sadly that's true," Petunia muttered

_She glared at him for a while, before sighing and saying, "are you going to tell where you've been and what you've been doing?"_

"Of course he will," Remus said, wisely. "It's just too fresh now."

"_One day," he muttered. "But it's all too fresh right now."_

"I guess you were right, Dad," Teddy chuckled.

"Well, I have to know him quite well to name him godfather," Remus shrugged, although inside he was happy he knew Harry well despite the amount of things Harry had done that he never knew about..

"_Do you promise?" she whispered gently. _

"_Of course," he replied, kissing her temple hesitantly. _

"_I missed you," she sighed._

"_Hmm," he hummed in agreement a small smile breaking out on his face, which was rewarded with a larger one from Ginny. "You too."_

_She reached up and kissed him just as the door banged open._

_"__Oi!" Ron grunted._

"Ron!" Hermione groaned. "Couldn't you leave them alone, they needed time to talk?"

"That was by accident," Ron said.

"Sure it was," Ginny, Harry and Hermione said nodding.

"That's the problem with going out with your best mates little sister then," Dudley chuckled.

"Yep," Harry grinned. "It's extremely annoying."

"You got of way to easy with her," Lily informed him.

"I know," Harry grimaced. "It's continuing."

_Harry stood outside Andromeda's house, _

"Oh Merlin," Teddy groaned.

_it took him a few minutes to ring the bell and in them he seemed to be preparing himself. Andromeda opened the door extremely quickly, as though she had been standing behind it all the time._

"She probably saw you coming up the path," Dora laughed.

"_Morning, Mrs Tonks," Harry smiled._

"_Good morning, Harry," she smiled, looking extremely stressed as she showed him into the house "and it's Andy, not Mrs Tonks. It took you a long while to open the door, I saw you coming up the path"_

"See," Dora laughed.

"That's Grandma," Teddy nodded, although he could remember little of her.

"_Yeah, well," Harry said but she just smiled knowingly at him._

_"__Teddy's asleep at the moment," she said, and there was obvious amusement in her voice. "Would you like drink?"_

"_Sure, why not," Harry agreed._

"_Tea's all I have, I'm afraid," she said, looking in the cupboards and fridge. "Sit down."_

"_Tea's fine," Harry grinned, taking a seat at the table she had indicated to._

"_So what have you been doing?" she asked as she waved her wand at the kettle and sat down opposite him._

2_Repairing Hogwarts, that's it really," Harry said. "We've been working a lot."_

"I bet that took a while," Lily grimaced.

"It took ages," Molly sighed. "It was horrible seeing Hogwarts in such a state."

"_Yes, I suppose Hogwarts would be quite a mess," Andromeda frowned. _

"_That being an understatement," Harry nodded, frowning as well. "How are you?"_

"_I thought we'd get to that eventually," she said, her frowning disappearing to make a slight smile. "I'm fine, a little stressed. You probably think I'm cold hearted saying that, but I've had a lot of lose in my life and I deal with it fairly well."_

Everyone raised their eyebrows at her, obviously not believing a word of it.

_Harry raised an eyebrow at her and his eyes flickered down to a picture on the table which was wet. Her eyes travelled down to it as well and she sighed, knowing she'd been caught out. It was a picture of the Lupin family, Remus, Dora and Teddy, all looking so happy. Andromeda got up to as the kettle whistled, poured them both tea before sitting back opposite him again._

"_I just don't want to talk about it," she smiled slightly, sipping her tea._

"_I'm sorry," Harry sighed._

"_Don't be," Andromeda sighed as well. "It's not your fault; surely your friends have told you that."_

"Yep," Ron, Hermione and Ginny nodded.

"_My girlfriend has been trying to drum that into me, yes," Harry chuckled._

"But you just have to have such a thick scull when it comes to things like that," Ginny grumbled.

"You're official together again," Lily beamed.

_Andromeda opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud wail from upstairs._

"Teddy," Remus sighed.

_"__I'll be back in a minute," she muttered, standing up. "Make yourself at home."_

_Ten minutes later, Teddy was still crying, so Harry got up and followed the sounds of cries. Andromeda was sitting in a room with brightly coloured walls, a cot and a single bed, on which she sat on. _

"This was my room," Dora beamed.

"Really?" Teddy asked.

She looked up as Harry entered, looking more stressed than when she opened the door.

"I wondered if I could help," Harry smiled.

"Did you know anything about babies?2 Molly asked.

"Nope," Harry chuckled.

"Please don't drop me," Teddy complained.

"I didn't drop you," Harry said sternly.

"We shall see," Teddy frowned as Harry rolled his eyes.

"_Knock yourself out," she sighed, passing him the two month old baby, who had a tufted of red hair, dark eyes with amber flecked in them and a heart-shaped face which was red from all the crying and screaming._

"You're not happy," Dora whistled.

_He quietened almost immediately, as Harry held him, rocking him from side to side, speaking soothing words, which soon turned into him just talking to the baby, as though it could understand him._

_"__You're okay," he murmured. "You're safe, no one's going to hurt you and you're certainly not alone, you'll never be alone, as annoying as that might be. Trust me, I heard Molly going on about coming to see you and then she'll make sure the whole family will come and I know Hermione and Ron are planning to coming too, as well as Ginny, you're going to be one spoilt kid…_

"Were you?" Remus chuckled, watching Harry talk to his kid.

"A little," Teddy said, sheepishly.

_and you're always going to have me, although I know absolutely nothing about kids what so ever plus you've got your grandma whom I can see loves you so much, I thinks it's kill her …"_

"Nice," James chuckled.

_"__Harry, he's asleep," Andromeda whispered smiling fondly at him, five minutes later. "He must really like you; the only other person who could do that was Remus."_

"Handy that," Remus grinned.

"No fair,' Dora groaned. "It always took me ages to calm him down."

"Sorry, Mum," Teddy chuckled.

_Harry smiled slightly at her before looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms, now sleeping his hair had turned a light brown. They stayed up there a few minutes until Andromeda spoke again._

"_Come on, he's sound asleep," she said. "Let's go downstairs so we don't wake him."_

_Harry careful put Teddy in the crib and he and Andromeda slowly walked out, shutting the door quietly behind them._

"See, I didn't drop you," Harry said to Teddy.

"Yes and I thank you for it," Teddy grinned.

_Once down stairs, Andromeda did a warming charm on the cups of tea and they sat chatting for a while._

"_You'll come back?" Andromeda asked, as they stood in the doorway. "I could use someone to help me – especially someone who can put him to sleep and calm him down so quickly."_

"Was I that bad?" Teddy frowned.

"You were a nightmare for anyone but Harry," Hermione nodded.

Teddy smiled a bit sheepishly, wondering how much trouble he'd been.

"_I'm not repairing Hogwarts next Sunday," Harry smiled, stepping out the door. "And I'll be around for as long as you and Teddy want me._

"Like we ever didn't," Teddy grinned.

_I'm going to help you, Andy; you're not going to be doing this alone."_

"_Thank you," she said, looking slightly tearful._

_Harry lowered his head slightly and turned to leave._

"_Oi," she said, smacking his head. "No need for the formal head nod."_

Everyone laughed.

_She wrapped him in a warm hug before showing him down the path._

"Did that embarrass you very much?" Petunia asked.

"No," Teddy admitted, "but knowing Uncle Harry he'll do something."

"I like your trust in me, Teddy," Harry frowned, changing the memory.

"What's now?" Mad-Eye grunted, although you could tell he was smiling slightly.

"You'll figure it out," Harry shrugged

"_I can't believe you're not coming back," Hermione sighed to Harry, as the whole Weasley family and Harry stood on Platform 9 and 3/4. _

"You didn't go back to school," Lily groaned.

"Didn't need to," Harry shrugged but Lily still didn't look very happy.

"_Did you expect these two come back?" Ginny smirked, her hand in Harry's._

"_I know," Hermione sighed, looking sad. "It'll just be so strange. Hogwarts without these two."_

"Of course," Petunia smiled.

"It was odd," Hermione frowned. "I'd spent seven, eight months living with both of them and then another month with just Harry, at Hogwarts they had always been there, I'd gotten used to them being, like right next to me when I need them and now they weren't even in the same country."

"_You'll be fine," Harry chuckled, as Ron came back._

"Where have you been?" James asked.

"Put 'Mione's trunk on the train," Ron said.

"Good man," Sirius said before raising his eyebrow at his godson.

"Hey, I'd already done it," Harry said, raising his hands.

"He had," Hermione and Ginny nodded.

"He told Ron to," Hermione giggled.

Lily smiled.

"_Why wouldn't she?" Ron asked, taking her hand._

"_Hermione's not to happy about going back to Hogwarts without us," Harry smiled._

"_Aw, we're flattered, Mione," Ron smirked._

"Shut up," Hermione said.

"_Fine, make fun of me all you like," Hermione huffed. "It'll still be odd."_

"_Don't worry," Ginny nudged. "We'll be sharing a dorm."_

"_And that's the perk," Hermione said, a smile on his previous sad face._

_Just the whistle on the train went of and there was a flurry of movement. _

"Say goodbye," Dora said.

_Ginny kissed Harry, wrapping her arms around his neck._

"_See you Christmas," she sighed, she then kissed his cheek before moving to say goodbye to Ron as Hermione wrapped Harry in a hard, sisterly hug._

"_Smile, Hermione," Harry said, rubbing her back. "You love Hogwarts."_

_She sniffed, pulled back and nodded, looking close to tears. _

"Yes, but she loves you two more," Molly smiled.

_The whistle went again. Ginny jumped on the train as Hermione kissed Harry's cheek and hoped on after her. They moved into a compartment with Luna, smiling happily, and waved out the window at them._

"_She's right though," Ron muttered to Harry, waving at the girls. "It'll be odd not having her around."_

"Ha!" Hermione said, victoriously.

_Harry snorted, "tell me about it."_

_The train began to move and they heard Ginny and Hermione call out the window, "see you Christmas!"_

"_Have fun," they called back._

_The train gathered speed and was soon out of the station._

"_Right, we better get to work," Harry said, after a few minutes._

"Work?" Remus asked.

"Auror training," Ron said.

"You were an Auror, too?" Dora asked.

"Yep," he nodded. "Me and Neville were for a bit but Harry's the only one who kept it up after all the Death Eaters were rounded up."

"So you stopped…" Fabian trailed off.

"When?" Gideon asked.

"2003," Ron said. "Went to work with George and Neville went to Hogwarts."

_Ron nodded in agreement, and they followed the whole Weasley family back out into the Muggle world._

"Skipping a few years," Harry said. "Summer 2001."

"Bit of a leap," Lily observed.

"_Mum? Dad?" Ginny's voice called through the Burrow. "Are you home?"_

"_In the kitchen, dear!" Molly called._

"Where else?" Gideon said, fondly.

_Harry and Ginny walked into the happy kitchen but were hugged before they could even see the room._

"That's Molly," Fabian chuckled.

"Shut up," Molly said.

"_How are you?" Molly asked. "We haven't seen you in ages, Harry dear, what's been happening? Actually Ginny, if you could help with Dinner and Harry you could get Arthur, he's in his shed."_

"You're happy to see them." Dudley smiled.

"_Right," Harry said, slipping out the back door._

_Harry walked across the natural untidy and over grown garden, toward the small hut at the end._

"_Arthur?" Harry said, knocking on the door. "Dinner."_

_The door swung open._

_"__Brilliant," Arthur smiled, putting a telephone down. "I'm starving."_

"Telephone?" Petunia asked. "What are you doing with a telephone?"

"Well, I –"Arthur began but Molly said, "not now, Arthur."

_"__Still trying to find out how a telephone works?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh as they walked back up the garden._

"_Yes," Arthur grinned. "It's fascinating really but it's all a bit confusing."_

_Harry raised his eyebrows, "really, I've never thought about it."_

"Not many people do," Ron chuckled.

_Arthur talked about it all the way back up to the house where they were met by the sound of shrieking, they hurried inside._

"_What's going on?" Arthur asked his hand on his wand._

"The wars over, you two," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Constant Vigilance," Mad-Eye shouted

"One thing I definitely hadn't missed," Ginny muttered to Harry.

"_Nothing," Ginny laughed. "Calm down, it's fine. We were going to this later but take a seat."_

"_Mum saw the ring," Ginny muttered to Harry as Molly and Arthur sat down, both smiling as though they knew what was going on._

"That would explain it," Teddy laughed.

"Ring?" Lily asked.

"You'll see," Ginny beamed.

_Harry and Ginny sat down opposite them both smiling widely. Harry nodded to Ginny._

"_We're engaged," she grinned bluntly. _

"You're engaged," Lily repeated beaming, although she wondered how young they were when the got married, they only looked about 21 or 22 in this memory.

_Molly shrieked and hugged her while Arthur shook Harry's hand, saying something he couldn't hear over Molly's screams of happiness and Ginny's laughter. Molly then wrapped Harry in a tight hug and when she released him she patted his cheek fondly. Arthur had hugged his only daughter, smiling, whispering something in her ear._

"I wonder what your reactions would have been like if you hadn't know," Remus chuckled, remembering how they had seemed to know what was happening to begin with.

"_This is a cause for wine," Arthur grinned once he'd released her. _

_Molly bustled off, of fetch it, while Arthur got four glasses down in a jubilant mood._

"_That's two married," he grinned. "And one to be."_

"So Bills married, obviously," Dora said. "Who else is?"

"Percy and Audrey," Molly smiled.

_Molly came back in now with a bottle of champagne, which Arthur poured into the glasses, handed them out before raising his glass._

_"__Congratulations," he grinned, flicking his glass in the air before clinking it to Molly's._

_They all took a sip before Molly put hers down as a strange smell was starting to come from the stove._

"_Oh dear," she said, waving her wand. _

"You distracted her while she's cooking," Ron frowned at them.

_Five minutes later they were sat down at the table, drinking, eating and laughing. Molly was insisting they had an engagement party, while Arthur was chuckling at his wife and chatting aimlessly with Harry as the two women rambled on._

'_Fine, fine,' Ginny said, eventually. 'We'll have a party, but you're planning it.'_

'_Of course,' Molly said._

'_Fine,' Ginny sighed. 'Just don't make it to fancy, please.'_

"Because that's going to happen," Dora nodded.

'_You'll love it,' Molly assured her, Harry and Arthur exchanged amused glances._

'_Right,' Harry said, checking his watch. 'I've got to go to work, I'll see you later, okay.'_

_Ginny sighed and smiled slightly, she kissed him before he said goodbye to Molly and Arthur and left through the front door. _

"Next memory," Ginny smiled.

The memory resumed with everyone in the marquee that they had used at the wedding, everything was a little laid-back, nothing was too fancy.

"Yay," Ginny now whispered.

"_Hey," Hermione said, approaching Harry and Ginny. "Why do I get a feeling this isn't a normal gathering?"_

"_What do you mean?" Harry asked, furrowing his eyebrows._

"_Molly seems unusually happy," Hermione said slowly._

"It's the engagement party, isn't it?" Dora laughed.

"You didn't tell her!" Lily gasped when Harry and Ginny nodded.

"It was so funny," Ginny giggled.

"_You're imagining things, Hermione," Ginny smiled._

"Was not," Hermione grumbled.

"_So you don't think …?" she trailed off. "And you're not …?" _

"Engaged?" Sirius suggested. "Yes, they are."

"_Not what?" Harry asked but as Hermione opened her mouth to answer Arthur and Molly stepped up onto a slightly higher area of the floor._

"_Can we have your attention, please?" Molly called, there were a few confused looks as everyone turned to look at them._

"_Does everyone have a drink?" Arthur asked, raising his own._

_Most people nodded, while others went to get one, Harry, Ginny and Hermione moved nearer Molly and Arthur, to where Ron stood._

_Hermione raised an eyebrow at them, silently asking them a question, which they both ignored._

"I was wondering why we were moving," Hermione shrugged.

"_It's our greatest pleasure," Arthur said once everyone was still again, "to announce that that Ginny and Harry are engaged, we just want to –"_

_But the rest of his speech was drowned out by the sudden movement._

"_Engaged!" Hermione shrieked happily. "You're engaged and you didn't tell us!"_

"_It was more fun this way," Ginny laughed, as Hermione hugged her._

"_How long?" Ron asked, clapping Harry on the back before hugging Ginny._

"_A month," Harry chuckled, _

"Wrong thing to say," James laughed.

_causing Hermione to pause in the act of hugging him to hit him._

"Yeah," Harry muttered.

"_A month," she repeated._

_"__Maybe a little less," Harry said hastily then muttered to Ginny, "or a little more."_

"Harry!" Hermione said. "Ginny!"

_"__I can't believe you didn't notice the ring," Ginny laughed, holding up her left hand._

_Hermione took it as Harry got dragged away by Slughorn._

"Oh no," Remus grimaced.

"_Congratulations, Harry, m'boy," he laughed jubilantly. "And you, Ginny."_

_He said grapping Ginny's hand as she turned for Hermione._

"_Thank you, Professor," she smiled as Harry chuckled._

"_Horace," he said. _

"He likes you two," Mad-Eye observed.

"_Saw this coming a mile off."_

"Really," Petunia said, amused.

"Sure you did," the twins muttered.

"_Really?" Harry said, although he was more holding off laughing as he glanced at Ginny who had an amused smile on her face._

_"__Yes, yes," Slughorn grinned. "Knew it before you started going out, I said to myself, no two people better suited."_

"That's nice of him," Dudley chuckled.

_He walked away leaving Harry and Ginny with amused smiles on their faces just then Arthur called for everyone's attention again._

"_Now as it was saying," he chuckled. "We just wanted to say congratulations and that we know you will have many happy years together."_

_Everyone clapped as him and Molly stepped down._

"_I can't believe you didn't tell us," Ron muttered as Bill and Fleur came over._

"_Congratulations," Fleur said, kissing Harry on both cheeks as Bill hugged Ginny._

'_Thanks,' Harry said while Ginny giggled at something Bill had said._

_Fleur went to hug Ginny while Bill shook Harry's hand happily._

"_Well done," he smiled before glancing at Ron and Hermione. "You didn't tell them, did you?"_

"_Nope," Harry laughed._

"_Ah well," Bill said, laughing as well. "I didn't tell any of the family until a few weeks later, the twins reactions were hilarious."_

"They were," Ron laughed.

"_I could guess that," Harry grinned._

_Bill smiled, clapped him on the back before he and Fleur went to dance to the music which had just started up._

_"__So proud of you," Hermione muttered, coming to stand next to him._

"_Now you really sound like an older sister," Harry chuckled._

"It's what she is," Molly smiled.

"_It's what I am, isn't it?" Hermione teased. "I'd be worried if it didn't."_

_Harry laughed and took two drinks from a waiter walking around gave one to Hermione as they wondered over to where Ginny stood with George._

"_Well, well, well," George grinned in a way that made Harry, Hermione and Ginny look wary. "If it isn't the husband to be of my little sister himself."_

"Watch out," many muttered.

"_Hello George," Harry smiled and as George opened his mouth Harry said. "I have something to ask you, come over here."_

"Yes," Arthur nodded. "Don't let him get started."

_Ginny grinned as Harry and George walked off, they saw Ginny grab Hermione's hand and pull her in a different direction._

"_What is it?" George asked, seriously although his grin still suggested mischief. _

"_I was just wondering if you'd be a groomsman on the day," Harry said, chuckling as Georges face changed to shock._

"He'll do nothing to you now," Sirius laughed.

_"__Wha- what?" George said as Harry laughed quietly. "Definitely. Sure."_

"I can't believe you shocked George," Dora laughed.

_Harry laughed as George clapped him on the back_

"_Great," Harry grinned. "Thanks. Did you want to say something?"_

"_Huh?" George said, although it was obvious he knew what Harry was talking about. "No, never mind."_

Several people laughed.

_Harry chuckled as they made there way towards the shrieking. Once there they saw Ginny_ _laughing and Hermione hugging her._

"You asked her to be maid-of-honour didn't you?" Lily guessed and Ginny nodded.

"_Everything alright?" George laughed._

"_Yep," Ginny giggled as Hermione let her go. She walked to stand by Harry. "Hermione's just trying to kill me."_

"_In that case, Hermione please let me marry her first," Harry chuckled, causing Ginny to hit him on the chest. "Have you seen Ron?"_

"Best man," James grinned.

_Hermione grinned at him before pointing to Ron, who was standing with a drink in his hand chatting, unwillingly it seemed, to McGonagall._

"It was still odd talking to her like a friend," Ron muttered.

"It was like that when I became a teacher and had to call her Minerva," Remus nodded.

"_Thanks," Harry said before muttering to Ginny. "Get it all done today."_

"_Good idea," she whispered back, before grabbing Hermione and going over to Luna._

_10 minutes later, Harry and Ginny met again on the dance floor, Harry having asked Ron to be his best man and Neville to be a groomsman, while Ginny had asked Luna and Fleur. Harry took her hand and they walked to the middle of the dance floor. _

_Ginny laughed as he spun her around as a shout alerted them both to the young child flying in their direction._

"_Unca Harry," Teddy shouted._

"Teddy," Lily and Dora beamed.

_Harry bent down when Teddy was in arms reached, picked him and span him round in a circle both putting him down and hugging him._

"He's so cute," Dora grinned causing Teddy to groan and Harry to chuckle.

"You were a cute toddler, Ted," Ginny smiled.

_Andromeda was following behind._

_"__Congratulations," she said, hugging Ginny and then, when Harry stood back him, him. "I'm so pleased for the both of you – you deserve that happiness you bring each other."_

_"__Thank you," Ginny beamed. "Look we wanted to ask you if it would be okay for Teddy to be a ring bearer at the wedding."_

Remus and Dora grinned.

"You know Harry saying it was okay would have been enough," Andromeda laughed. "He's got half custody."

"We know," Ginny smiled. "But it's okay with you?"

"I think it's a brilliant idea," she grinned.

"What's a brilliant idea?" Teddy said, obviously not paying attention to the conversation until now.

"For you to carry the rings at the wedding," Harry smiled.

"What if I drop them?" Teddy asked, looking worried.

"So you knew you were clumsy," Sirius chuckled.

"_Don't worry about it," Harry chuckled._

_Teddy grinned as Harry ruffled his hair_

_The rest of the evening was spent dancing, receiving congratulations and chatting with friends. Teddy and Andromeda went home early since Teddy was starting to fall asleep in his chairs as was Victoire so Bill and Fleur went._

_Soon, it was just Ron, Hermione, Molly, Arthur, Harry and Ginny sitting round a table at the back._

"_We have work tomorrow, mate," Ron said._

"So you're still an Auror," Remus noted.

"It's 2001," Ron nodded.

"Two more years then," Mad-Eye said.

"_Nothing to tiring, though," Harry chuckled. "Just paperwork."_

_"__Well then," Ron said, standing up and getting his coat. "We better get some sleep so we don't fall asleep doing it."_

"Good idea," James nodded.

"_Good point," Harry nodded, grabbing his coat. "You women staying or coming?"_

"_We're going to stay awhile," Hermione said for them both._

"_Right," Ginny said._

_Harry and Ron nodded, kissed them goodbye as well as saying it to Molly and Arthur before heading out the marquee._

"What's next?" Dudley asked, smiling,

"Dudley," Harry said.

Dudley sent him a confused and worried look but didn't question it.

_Harry was sitting in a red booth with a 3 year old Teddy and Ginny sipping a cup of coffee. They were all dressed in Muggle clothing as was everyone around – they were in the Muggle world. It was a café on what looked like a busy muggle street; people were rushing past, some chatting on phones, other's holding shopping bags or gossiping to friends._

"Avoiding the crowds?" the twins chuckled.

"Yep," Harry and Ginny nodded.

_The little family chatted happily for a few minutes, Teddy making random exclamations now and then causing the two adults with him to chuckled merrily._

"_Why that man looking?" Teddy asked is godfather pointing to a muscled, blond haired man._

"Dudley?" Lily said, shocked.

"That's me," Dudley nodded, know realizing what Harry meant by just saying his name.

"You've changed since the last memory you were in," Sirius said.

"_Don't point, dear," Ginny smiled as she and her fiancé turned to look where he had indicated._

"_H-Harry?" the blond man stuttered, staring at Harry in shock._

"_Dudley," Harry acknowledged._

"_Wait," Ginny said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Dudley? As in Dudley Dursley?"_

_"__Yeah," Dudley said, looking ashamed._

"I realised you knew about the … um … history," Dudley sighed.

"_I thought it was you, Harry. It's been a while."_

"_Nearly four years," Harry nodded._

"_You look good," Dudley smiled. "I don't think I've ever seen you laugh."_

"That's not good," James frowned.

"_You don't seem too bad yourself," Harry chuckled._

"_Lot's of boxing," Dudley agreed. "I've been wanting to talk to you since we got back to Privet Drive, turns out that's harder than it seems."_

"Hard to track down someone famous," Sirius frowned. "Can't be that hard."

"Not if he's only famous in the wizarding world," Petunia said.

"Oh yeah," Sirius muttered.

"_You have?" Harry said, looking extremely confused and suspicious. "Why?"_

"_I want to apologise," he muttered. "For how I treated you, you know, when we were kids, and for how my parent's treated you. I'm really sorry I was such a prat, idiot, bully – what ever else you can think of because I probably was. You never did anything to deserve how we treated you, if anything I was far worse and should have been the once told off. I should have known better, I could have done something, my only excuse is that its how my parents raise me, so I had no idea what I was doing was wrong – I only realised it when you saved me from the Dementors when you were 15"_

_Harry's eyebrows had rose up to his hairline, "you're apologising?"_

"No need to sound so shocked," Dudley grumbled.

"_Yeah," Dudley nodded, glad to see Ginny's glare soften slight. "Yeah, I am."_

_After a few minutes of Harry just staring at him, Ginny spoke up, "Harry, are we invisible?" _

The twins snorted.

"_Sorry," Harry said. "This is my godson, Teddy Lupin and my fiancée, Ginny."_

"So you're still engaged at this time," Lily nodded.

"You think we wouldn't show you the wedding?" Harry chuckled.

'_You're engaged,' Dudley grinned. "Er-C-Congratulations, it's a pleasure to meet you,"_

"_You, too," Ginny smiled slightly, shaking his hand as he winked at Teddy, who giggled slightly._

"_You know what, Dudley," Harry frowned as Dudley tensed. "Your defence is right, you can't help the way you're brought up and what you believe because of it. You were a child and you didn't know want you were doing was wrong, as you said, it's not your fault."_

"_You're forgiving me?" Dudley asked, shocked_

"_Yeah," Harry nodded, repeating his cousin. "Yeah I am."_

"You're just lucky he's forgiving," James muttered; still slightly angry about his son's childhood.

"_Thank you," Dudley grinned, nearly laughing. "Thank you."_

"_You're just lucky he's so forgiving," Ginny muttered causing Harry to shot her a look._

"There you go, Prongs," Sirius chuckled. "You're like your daughter-in-law."

"Oh dear," Ginny sighed and James gave her a hurt look.

_"__So, how are you?" Harry asked, gesturing for Dudley to take a seat._

"That was quick change," Petunia observed.

"There was some kindness in Dudley before you left," Harry shrugged. "I had already forgiven him, really, I was just in shock that he was apologising."

"_Good," he nodded. "I'm a boxing teacher."_

_Harry let out a low whistle, "I bet Uncle Vernon loved that, weren't you supposed to take over as Director at Grunnings, you know, when he retired, make it a family tradition or something."_

"That would have bored me to death," Dudley groaned.

"_He wasn't too impressed," Dudley agreed, laughing before checking his watch. "Actually, I've got to get back to the school, my lunch breaks up but I really want to keep in touch."_

"_Definitely," Harry assured him. "Here."_

_He took a napkin and held his hand out for the pen in Dudley's pocket before scribbling something on it and handing it, with the pen, back to Dudley._

"_That's our address," Harry said. "It was really good seeing you again."_

"_Yeah, I'm glad you're alive, _

"Aren't we all," Dora muttered.

_and thanks," Dudley grinned, holding up the napkin before putting it in his pocket, walking towards the door. "I'll send you mine when I have time, oh and I was wondering, what are you doing in a muggle pub?"_

"_Let's just say we like to avoid the fan clubs," Ginny smirked._

_Dudley looked confused but nodded all the same and left._

"I thought it best not to ask," Dudley chuckled.

"Smart choice," Ron nodded.

"Next?" Ginny asked.

Everyone nodded so she turned to Harry; he just gave her a grin before changing the memory.

They landed in the pensieve to see a large amount of witches and wizards gathering outside the church in Godrics Hollow, everyone was laughing, grinning. Harry and Ron were walking around in similar dress robes. Teddy was smartly dressed sitting on Harry's shoulders; he looked about four or five, grinning down at everyone. Hermione was nowhere to be seen nor was Ginny, Molly, Fleur or Luna. Neville came over, dressed exactly the same as Ron, and clapped Harry on the back, George following behind, his usual grin on his face. All four of them had lilies on their robes.

Ginny squeaked slightly as she realised what day it was but waved a hand when those who hadn't looked at her.

"_Nervous?" Neville chuckled._

"_If he is he's mad," Ron laughed, grinning over at his best mate. "Are you?"_

"_A little," Harry smiled, as Teddy pulled some of his hair._

"So he's mad," Fabian shrugged.

"We knew that," Gideon nodded.

"_Yep, he's mad, alright," George grinned. "But we already knew that."_

"I knew that was a mistake," Arthur chuckled as Gideon pouted at him.

_Harry glared at the three of them before turning to Arthur, who had just hurried over._

"_You four need to get everyone in there," he panted. "I'll take Teddy, he needs to meet the girls."_

"Why?" Teddy asked.

"You'll see," Hermione sang, beaming.

_Harry reached up to take Teddy off his shoulders but the young child wasn't having it._

"_Me wanna stay," he complained._

"Aww," Dora said, causing Teddy to hit his godfather.

"Thank you," he grumbled Harry just laughed.

"_You can't buddy," Harry said, smiling slightly. "You need to meet with everyone who walks down the aisle, while us four need to go wait at the end, okay? You'll be coming back."_

_The four year old loosened his hold and allowed Harry to pull him from his shoulders and into his arms. Harry quickly hugged Teddy before placing him on the floor next to Arthur._

"_See you soon," Arthur grinned before taking Teddy's hand and walking toward the village._

"Careful with the dress robes," Remus said.

_Harry, Ron, Neville and George hustled everyone into the church before Harry and Ron walked down the aisle followed after a few seconds by Neville and George._

Lily, who had realised what today was, was bouncing on the balls of her feet, beaming.

_Molly walked down a few seconds later, sending a warm smile Harry's way, before sitting down in the front row next the rest of the Weasleys and their wives or girlfriends. The Weasley's took up the whole front row of the church, with Dudley, while everyone else was behind them._

"So you went to the wedding?" James asked, grinning whilst trying to ignore his wife's bouncing.

"Yeah, it was great," Dudley chuckled.

_Molly was wearing a tan coloured dress; it had a halter neckline which had a deep V set delicately in the wrap style bodice, accented by a brooch at the side. The back of the gown extended in a clean line down to the full train, while the front appeared in layers of flowing Chiffon that broke just below the knees to form a demure split, she also had a matching witches hat placed upon her head._

"You looked nice, Molly," Hermione commented.

"Thank you, dear," Molly smiled.

_A few minutes later the music started, after a few seconds Teddy walked in with Victoire Weasley, or more, they wobbled in. Victoire was throwing white calla lilies out of a basket while Teddy was holding an ivory silk cushion, it had a gathered centre and a very elegant brooch, on which the rings sat._

_Victoire was in a crepe ivory dress with a crew neck and short ruffled sleeves, it also had a ruffled skirt with a corsage waist. While Teddy looked cute and handsome in black robes with ivory lining._

Teddy grimaced slightly.

"Victoire looks pretty," Remus nudged his son, chuckling.

"Shut up," Teddy muttered, turning slightly pink.

_Harry smiled fondly at them as they tottered up the aisle, whereas Ron just looked slightly amused. Once they got to the end of the aisle Teddy sat down next to Dudley and Victoire went and sat next to her father._

_Luna walked down next in shimmering sliver dress. It was strapless at the top, with a soft sweetheart neckline. Hugging around the bust with criss-cross fabric, then it flowed with layers of chiffon all the way to the floor. Fleur followed not long afterwards, in the same dress, practically floating down the aisle. Both of them where holding bouquets of the same lilies that Victoire hand distributed on the floor, _

"Was there a thing with lilies?" Dora asked, amused.

"We decided since she,' Ginny smiled indicating to Harry's mother, "couldn't be there. We'd put her in with the use of flowers, sadly we could do nothing for James, except Harry's name."

Lily and James beamed at their daughter-in-law.

_their hair was curled and pinned back at the sides._

_Hermione entered the church next a happy smile on her face. Her dress was the same as Fleur's and Luna's but it was in a striking emerald green that matched Harry's eye colour. Her hair had been tamed and curled, as well, but it was left down and wasn't as tightly curled so it fell in gentle waves down to her shoulders. She was carrying a bouquet with pink and white lilies in it._

_She winked at Harry as she took her place opposite him, far enough away to leave Ginny enough room._

_Suddenly the music changed and everyone stood up, turning to face the doors. Hermione, however, kept looking at Harry._

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because when everyone looks at the bride, I look at the groom," Hermione smiled. "Just to make sure he's still breathing and, you know, there's just pure love there."

_Harry raised an eyebrow at her before turning to the front and froze._

"_Breath, Harry," Ron muttered, looking extremely amused._

The twins and maunders chuckled and sniggered

_Harry did as he had said but didn't show any other sign that he had heard Ron speak. _

_Ginny had walked in on her fathers arm, her hair, fire red as always, curled and left down, little flowers woven into it and Muriel's tiara. She was wearing little make up, and even that was natural. Her bouquet was the same as Hermione's._

_The dress was beautiful; it had a duchess bodice with a flowing organza skirt. Stunning bust pleat detail with a ruched waist, decorated with encrusted emeralds and diamantes._

"You look gorgeous," Lily squealed and when people looked at her. "Shut up, I'm watching my son get married."

James chuckled and wrapped an arm around her,

_Ginny and Arthur walked slowly down the aisle, step, together, step, together, Ginny's eyes flickered around the church, looking at friends and family before locking with Harry's. They reached the front. Arthur kissed his daughters cheek before taking her hand and placing it Harry's._

_Ginny stepped into place next to Harry before turning and giving her bouquet to Hermione. She turned back to Harry, a radiant smile on her face._

"_You look beautiful," Harry whispered in her ear as they turned to face the vicar._

"_Welcome," the vicar said. "Love has gathered us here this day. Love is a powerful thing. It is profound and somewhat of a paradox because it provides no escape from the world, there is gentleness to the presence of love that softens life's edges and yet somehow makes us stronger and braver in the world. _

"_Today we celebrate the love that Ginevra and Harry have found in one another. _

"Did he have to call me Ginevra the whole time," Ginny moaned. "It's my only complaint."

"_We rejoice alongside them as they declare to all present their intent to enter into marriage and stand together from this day forward. _

"_Ginevra and Harry, welcome to this moment in your lives and the place you have come to in each other's hearts. Thank you for allowing me to join you on this day in which you commit before God, your family and friends that from this day forward you will live as one._

"_In this world where it seems so little is considered sacred, one thing remains so. That is, the agreement made between two people to share their lives together. Marriage is a most honorable estate, a tender and profound relationship._

"_I congratulate you on the journey that you are about to embark upon. Both of you have found a way to embrace a serious love and receive the blessings thereof. What a comfort to know that at the end of the day you will come home to find the shelter and affection of each other. This love is what has brought you here today… to this moment, to your wedding ceremony._

"He spoke a lot, didn't he?" Ron chuckled, causing Ginny to hit him. "What? My feet were hurting by the end of the ceremony!"

"We were in heels!" Ginny and Hermione snapped.

"_With that in mind, let us come now into the quiet solemn of this moment and occasion and this ceremony with reverence as we celebrate the joining in marriage of Ginevra and Harry to one another."_

_The whole church fell silent for a few minutes before the wizard spoke again._

"_Marriage is the beginning of a new life, a chance at fulfilling long-held dreams, and an opportunity for great personal and spiritual growth. Marriage endures through the ages of trends and fads. Marriage thrives, and continues to live as a promise of a beautiful dream come true. As long as individuals are drawn together, marriage will be a natural unfolding of that relationship._

"_Feelings come alive at a wedding. Great happiness._

"Harry and Ginny," Hermione nodded.

_Some sadness. _

"Mum," Ron said still chuckling.

_Apprehension._

"Harry," Ron said while Hermione said, "Ginny.2

"Oi," the two aforementioned people exclaimed.

"Sorry," they muttered, laughing.

_And sometimes pure relief! _

Ron and Hermione nodded.

_There is an acute awareness that something special, something that goes to the very heart of life, is about to happen. Something is gone forever, and something is born, brand-new and tender. Something to be nurtured and cared for, protected and cherished, challenged and strengthened-your-never-before-created marriage. _

"_Ginevra and Harry, no ceremony can create your marriage. Only you can do that through love, patience, dedication and perseverance. Through talking and listening and trying to understand, through helping and supporting and believing in each other, through learning to forgive, learning to respect and appreciate your differences, and learning to make the important things matter and to let go of the rest. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you have made to begin a new life today as husband and wife."_

"_Ginevra, do you take Harry as your husband and equal, lover and friend, keeping yourself only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"_

"_I do," Ginny beamed._

"_Harry, do you take Ginevra as you wife and equal, lover and friend, keeping yourself only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"_

_"__I do," Harry said, with a hint of victory._

Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny as everyone, even Mad-Eye, grinned.

"Ginevra, please repeat after me: I, Ginevra Molly Weasley, take you, Harry James Potter-,"

"I, Ginevra Molly Weasley," Ginny repeated, "take you, Harry James Potter,"

"To be my husband, my constant friend, my faithful lover, the father of my children,"

"To be my husband, my constant friend, my faithful lover, the father of my children,"

"My partner in life and my one true love,"

"My partner in life and my one true love,"

"Loving what I know of you, and trusting what I do not yet know from this day forward."

"Loving what I know of you, and trusting what I do not yet know from this day forward."

"I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."

"I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."

"I will trust you and respect you,"

"I will trust you and respect you,"

"Laugh with you and cry with you,'

"Laugh with you and cry with you,'

"Loving you faithfully through good times and bad,regardless of the obstacles we may face together.'

"Loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together.'

"I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health.'

"I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health.'

"I promise to love you unconditionally.'

"I promise to love you unconditionally.'

"To support you in your goals and always be open and honest with you.'

"To support you in your goals and always be open and honest with you.'

"I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this day forward for as long as we both shall live."

"I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this day forward for as long as we both shall live," Ginny finished, smiling broadly.

Molly had burst into tears during the time Ginny had been speaking and Arthur was trying to quieten her,

"Why do I have the feeling Lily would be the same?" Sirius grinned.

"Because she would be," Remus chuckled, beaming.

_the couple at the front glanced back at them, before sharing an amused glance and turning back to the front._

"_Harry, please repeat after me: I, Harry James Potter, take you Ginevra Molly Weasley -,"_

_"__I, Harry James Potter,' Harry repeated, 'take you, Ginevra Molly Weasley,"_

"_To be my wife, my constant friend, my faithful lover, the mother of my children,"_

"_To be my wife, my constant friend, my faithful lover, the mother of my children,"_

"_My partner in life and my one true love,"_

"_My partner in life and my one true love,"_

"_Loving what I know of you, and trusting what I do not yet know from this day forward."_

"_Loving what I know of you, and trusting what I do not yet know from this day forward."_

"_I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."_

"_I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before."_

"_I will trust you and respect you,"_

"_I will trust you and respect you, "_

"_Laugh with you and cry with you,"_

"_Laugh with you and cry with you,"_

"_Loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together."_

"_Loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together."_

"_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health."_

"_I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health."_

"_I promise to love you unconditionally."_

"_I promise to love you unconditionally."_

"_To support you in your goals and always be open and honest with you."_

"_To support you in your goals and always be open and honest with you."_

"_I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this day forward for as long as we both shall live."_

"_I give you my hand, my heart, and my love from this day forward for as long as we both shall live," Harry grinned._

"_The rings, if you please," the wizard vicar said. Teddy stood up and took the pillow to Hermione where she took one ring and then he went to Ron who took the other. "Ginevra, you first."_

_Ginny turned and took the ring of Hermione, who was beaming with tears sparkling in her eyes, _

"Really, Hermione," Dudley chuckled. "What is it with women and crying at weddings?"

"Shut up," Hermione muttered although she was still grinning.

_before turning back to Harry and speaking_

"_With this ring, I pledge my love, faithfulness to you, today, tomorrow and always. As this ring has no end, neither shall my love for you," she smiled, sliding the golden ring onto his finger._

"_Harry," the wizard nodded._

_Harry took the ring from Ron and said, "Let this ring be a symbol of my promises to you,and a reminder of my devotion to you.I am honoured to call you my wife."_

_He then slipped the two coloured gold twist wedding right on her finger, fitting perfectly into the two coloured engagement ring. _

Sirius statement had come true Lily was in tears, he and James shared an exasperated look and everyone smiled slightly amused except Molly who was also looking teary.

"_Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude,' the wizard spoke again. 'Love does not insist on its way' it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs, but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, love never gives up… Three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love._

"_Ginevra and Harry, you now have the opportunity for expressing through your union and partnership, the highest kind of love - through devotion and service to each other; through patience, kindness, and total acceptance of each other, tempered by the willingness to change. You may be tempted, as time goes by, to take for granted the love which today seems so precious and dear, to speak to and treat each other in ways that do not reflect the highest good in both of you. Resist it. Promise to always see the goodness in your partner, even when it's especially difficult. And wherever you are in your journey through life, may your hearts always find their way home._

"_I know pronounce you husband and wife," he finished. "You may kiss the bride."_

_Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny's waist and she came towards him willingly as soon as their lips touched the church was filled with applause and golden dust surrounded the couple, although they were still visible. They kissed passionately and yet, appropriately before breaking out and turning to face their family and friends._

The twins cheered.

_"__I am proud to introduce for the first time, Mr and Mrs Harry James Potter."_

They cheered again, with the marauders.

_Grinning broadly, Harry and Ginny led the way out of the church, after Ginny had taken her bouquet from Hermione, followed by Teddy and Victoire, then Ron and Hermione, arm in arm, the same with Neville and Luna, then Fleur and George. Molly and Arthur followed behind them._

_Once outside, there was a marquee that had obviously been put up by the band during the wedding. All the guests entered the marquee but the Bridal Party stayed outside, a few minutes later a voice floated out the marquee._

"_Molly and Arthur Weasley," it said, they knew it to be Percy. "Bride's parents."_

_Molly and Arthur linked arms and walked into the marquee to applause._

"_Fleur Weasley and George Weasley," Percy called this time. "Bridesmaid and Groomsman."_

_Fleur and George entered in the same fashion as Molly and Arthur and got the same reaction._

"_Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom," Percy identified. "Bridesmaid and Groomsman."_

"_We're married," Ginny whisper excitedly as Luna and Neville entered the Marquee._

"_Strange, is it?" Harry chuckled._

"_Extremely," she agreed as Percy's voice said, "Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, Maid of Honour and Best man."_

"_Had to call me Ronald, didn't he," Ron muttered as he and Hermione liked arms and entered causing Harry and Ginny to laugh slightly,_

"Don't make such a fuss," Molly told him, as everyone laughed slightly.

"_Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley," Percy called. "Ring Bearer and Flower Girl."_

_Teddy grimaced slightly, obviously not enjoying being dressed up but he and Victoire walked in, quickly, there was a chorus' of aww's causing Harry to chuckle._

"What were you laughing at?" Dora asked.

"Just imagining Teddy's face when that happened," Harry shrugged, laughter creeping into his expression again as a few other people chuckled at the thought.

"_What?" Ginny asked, smiling up at him._

"_Just imagining Teddy's face," Harry told her, laughing as she snorted slightly._

"_Now if you would all please stand," Percy said and there was a rustle of movement. "Harry and Ginny Potter, our newlyweds."_

_Ginny grinned as her new name was said, and they linked arms to walk into the marquee. Once in there everyone clapped and cheered for them, and Ginny gasped in amazement, causing Harry to look down at her and raise his eyebrows._

"Hermione, Fleur and Luna did all the decorations in there," Ginny grinned. "Didn't let me see the plans.2

"I think it was a good idea," Hermione beamed as Ginny nodded.

_The marquee was decked out in flowers and emeralds. There seemed to be a theme of emerald green and ivory. The seats were ivory, as were the table cloths, but the chairs also had emerald green organza bows on the back. The centre pieces that sat on the circular tables were a mixture of flowers, Roses, Black Parrot Tulips, White Anemones, Euoalyptus and Crystal Blush Calla Lilies, in a vase while on the large top table there was a long row of them._

"That's so pretty," Petunia said, wishing she could have been there, although now she could see it as though she was.

"_Congratulations," Hermione practically squealed, as she threw herself at Harry as soon as everyone had said their congratulations to the couple._

"_Thanks," Ginny grinned as Hermione hugged her as well._

"_I can't believe you're married," Ron chuckled._

"_Maybe you should," Harry said, dropping his voice so only Ron could hear him and nodding his head to Hermione._

"_I've been thinking about," Ron shrugged. "We'll see."_

"You had?" Hermione said, shocked.

"Yeah," Ron shrugged.

_Harry grinned and turned to see Minerva McGonagall standing behind him, looking at him approvingly._

"_Nicely done, Harry," she said, and he chuckled. "Congratulations. Both you, you deserve it. If Dumbledore could see you now …"_

"_Thank you," Harry and Ginny said, at the same time._

"_Dinner," someone called._

_Harry, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, the bridesmaids and groomsmen lined up with Harry and Ginny in the middle as everyone shook their hands going to find their table. One all the guests sat down, Molly and Arthur sat down at the family table right at the front while the other six went up to the head table on the other side of the dance floor._

"_Ladies and gentlemen, as father of the bride, it's my privilege to make the first speech, _

"Was it really a privilege, Arthur?" Gideon asked.

"Or did it make you even more scared," Fabian chuckled.

"The second one," Arthur muttered.

"Dad," Ginny laughed.

and I'd like to start by saying what a pleasure it is to welcome you all to Ginny & Harry's wedding.

"Today, those on the top table are surrounded by most of the friends and family who have been important to them during their lives. And by your presence today, you show your friendship and love, and bring even greater joy to this wonderful day.

"Unfortunately, we are missing two very important people however – Harry's mother and father, who, well we won't go into that now.

"Good," James smiled; although they looked happy that Arthur had mentioned them.

I would be grateful if you will raise your glasses in their honour - to Lily and James. Thank you.

"No, thank you," Lily beamed.

"I'm _also pleased to formally welcome Harry into the family, although, as far as we're concerned, he's been part of the family for ages."_

_There was a murmur_ of agreement from all the Weasleys.

Petunia smiled at the fact that even though she had been horrible to Harry there was still a huge family who had cared for him before he even married into it.

_"__A lot of effort has gone into making this the special day that Ginny and Harry deserve, and I'd like to make particular mention of a few of the people concerned. Harry and Ginny have, of course, put a lot of effort into this day, as has, my wife, Molly. Hermione Granger, the maid of honour, has been driving the bridesmaids insane with all her planning but I hope it's all worth it."_

_Fleur and Luna nodded, smiling broadly as Hermione looked rather sheepish._

"You were mad," Ron and Harry said together before getting hit by their wives.

_"__I am really fortunate that my daughter has met her Mr. Right. Of course, marriage isn't just about finding the perfect partner, but also about being one. Ginny has made such a success of her life and career so far, that I'm sure her marriage to Harry will be just as successful._

"_Molly and I have been looking forward to this day for a long time…not because we want to hand over responsibility for our daughter, but because it's a proud day for us to see Ginny so happy, and so in love – and looking so beautiful today._

"_But handing Ginny over to Harry reminds me of that well known theory about marriage:  
>If you love something, set it free.<br>If it comes back, it was, and will always be yours.  
>If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with.<em>

"_And if all it does is sit in your house, mess up your stuff, spend your money and use the telephone all night… you either married it or gave birth to it._

Several people chuckled, as others shook their heads in amusement.

"_Marriage is a funny thing though. Did you know that in a recent survey carried out to establish whether married man live longer than bachelors, they found that actually there's no difference. It just seems longer when you're married!"_

"Arthur!" many exclaimed while all those who had been present chuckled.

"_Dad!" Ginny said, at the same time Molly said, "Arthur."_

"_Seriously though, I know that Ginny and Harry will be as happy as Molly and I are, and can look forward to many happy years together._

"_Please join me in raising your glasses in a toast to the happy couple – Ginny and Harry."_

"Thanks, Dad," Ginny beamed.

_He had raised his wine glass of champagne with strawberries in it as he spoke and now clinked it to Molly's._

_"__I'd now like to hand over to my son and the best man – Ron."_

_"__Right," Ron said. "Thanks dad. Um, before we start I have a few words to say. Well, I'm not really sure what to say, as we all know that I'm terrible with words._

"Too true," the twins chuckled.

"_I've known Harry ever since first year at Hogwarts, scrawny git he was,_

"Oi," Harry muttered.

"It's true," Mad-Eye grunted, causing everyone to look at him. "Pictures."

Some people chuckled as they imagine Mad-Eye Moody sitting down and looking at pictures.

_and we basically became friends straight away, and we've been through so pretty dangerous stuff together, along with Hermione,_

"No kidding," several people muttered.

_the maid of honour – good job, by the way –_

"Thank you, Ronald," Hermione said, rolling her eyes fondly.

_we've become what's that muggle saying, Hermione?'_

"_Thick as thieves," she suggested._

"_Yeah," Ron nodded. "That's it; thick as thieves Harry and I are. He's as good as my brother, and well, let's just say, there's no one better for my little sister. Take care of her mate._

"_To Harry and Ginny Potter," Ron said raising his glass._

"_To Harry and Ginny Potter," the crowd repeated, taping their glasses to their neighbours before taking a sip._

"We're skipping a bit of the meal to the next toast," Harry said. "I don't want people getting hungry."

"_Okay," Hermione beamed, standing up. "Everyone here, basically, knows me, so I won't bother with introductions. I will jut say that Harry is my brother in everything but blood, I love him so much, and I'm so glad that he's found happiness with my best girl-friend, Ginny," Hermione looked at her notes before scrunching them into a ball and speaking again. _

"They didn't sound right," Hermione sighed.

"_Harry may be happy now, but, the sad thing is, I can barely remember the last time I've seen him so happy, carefree and content, It was first year, I think, right before his first Quidditch match, that was the last time I truly saw the real Harry James Potter._

Everyone sighed.

_We only lost him a little then, by the end of the year, we lost him completely. Anyway the next day, when he got off that broom, he was the Boy-Who-Lived, the boy who unwillingly had everything, the whole world, on his shoulders, the matter of life or death all on one eleven year old boy,"_

_Many frowned at this while others looked saddened or guilty._

"As they should," Molly muttered.

"_I'm just so happy to have the real one back and I owe you so much Ginny for my brother. And although we lose him to the Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One, The Reason it's Over on days such as Halloween, May 2nd, June 18th and the day of the third task of the tri-wizard tournament - it's okay because he's here most of the time and he needs and deserves to mourn._

"_I'm so proud of you, little brother, for not hitting rock bottom when your life nosed dived again and again._

Remus, James, Sirius and Lily nodded in agreement.

_I love you so very much, Harry, not because of what did but for whom you are, my brother._

Hermione gave Harry a one armed side hug from her place next to him.

"_So, take good care of Ginny, and keep it up. _

"_Ginny, I love you too, I've always wanted a sister, and now I have one – the best one possible. The strong, beautiful, amazing sister. I owe you so much, Ginny, take good care of my brother, don't let him brood or feel guilty for all those who died in the war and don't let him disappear. I love you both so much, good luck, and may you live long and happy lives together. To Harry and Ginny Potter!"_

"Cheerful," Teddy muttered.

_She raised her glass as did everyone else as they echoed her "To Harry and Ginny Potter!" She then reached over and hugged them both before sitting down. _

"_Your turn, Harry," she smiled, taking a sip of her champagne._

"_Alright," he said, standing up. "Thank you for that extremely cheerful speech, Hermione –"_

"_You're welcome," she smirked, causing him to roll his eyes._

The twins chuckled.

"_Anyway," he sighed, shaking his head, Ginny smiled and took his hand. "I suppose you'll be expecting a few laughs in this speech. But I know I need to tread carefully. I don't want to upset my in-laws and hear my wife going around and introducing me to everyone as her 'first husband'."_

"Harry," Lily scolded, although she was smiling.

_Ginny tuted and shoved him lightly._

"_Thank you for all being here today and supporting us, it means a great deal to us. _

"_As you can guess, hopefully, this wedding had taken a lot of time and patience to organise,_

"You can," Remus nodded.

_and decisions have sometimes been difficult to read – like whether the place names should be written on emerald paper with ivory writing or the other way around, _

"Very interesting," Ron chuckled.

_but we're delighted that everything's turned out so well. In particular, I'd like to thank Ginny's parents, Molly and Arthur, for all the trouble they've gone through, and at this point we'd like to give Molly a present, since she's been nearly as, if not more, hectic than Hermione and Ginny – Teddy, do you mind."_

"What are you making me do?" Teddy asked.

"Calm down," Ginny laughed.

_Teddy shook his head and went other to the DJ when he came into view again he was holding a large bunch of flowers which he gave to Molly._

"_Thank you, Teddy," Harry chuckled. "We couldn't have done it without you, Molly, so thank you so much._

"_It's been a great day so far-"_

"_Yeah," Ron nodded. "Food."_

Sirius nodded, "that makes the best day."

_"__Okay," Harry said, shooting his best man a concerned look. "It's been a great day so far but it's been a tough run up to the wedding for Ron and me. Never have two men endured so many conversations about flowers, veils, shoes, dressers and canapés. And all without falling asleep once._

"Until Ron and Hermione's wedding," Harry groaned as Ron grimaced.

"Yeah but we did fall asleep," Ron chuckled, moving out of his wife's reach.

_"__When I asked a few of you earlier what Ginny looked like today, you all told me she looked radiant, but this didn't prepare me for the sight I got when I turned round in the church to see her for myself. You look beautiful, Gin," she smiled lovingly up at him; he winked before turning back to the crowd. "I had no idea such a wonderful combination of qualities could exist in one person until I met my wife. My love and thanks today really have to go to Ginny– for being here, for being so beautiful and for being my wife."_

Several people rolled their eyes; nothing could have stopped Ginny that day.

"_I was expecting to feel nervous when I woke up today but I didn't. Why? Because I knew that Ginny would be walking down the aisle towards me and that the only thing I wanted was for her to be my wife. I knew that she would look lovely – she always does – but today she is stunning. She means so much to me, and I want to thank her for agreeing to become my wife. I am so proud to be her husband, and I love her very much."_

_He turned back to Ginny._

"_To my wife, my bride and joy, thank you for everything you have done. You know everything about me and love me just the same. I have my faults, _

"No kidding," Ron laughed causing Harry to shove him.

_yet you still agreed to marry me. I am extremely lucky today to be the one to marry you - and I hope this is the start of many happy years together. Who would have expected we'd end up married, when to begin with you couldn't say a word in front of me."_

A few of the men snickered.

_Ginny smile had turned into a scowl at her new husband but everyone could see the amusement on her face._

"_Arthur, thank you, and I'm serious this time," –his eyes flickered to Hermione – _

"You're so mean," Hermione huffed.

"_Thank you for the speech and of course for actually letting me marry you only daughter._

"Best person," Arthur grinned.

_I'd really like to thank you, and Molly, for bringing up such an amazing, beautiful, intelligent person. I feel the richest man in the world today and I promise to take good care of her._

"_One of my official duties in this speech is to thank the bridesmaids, but I would have done so anyway. These women have been a terrific help to Ginny, not only today, but throughout the many weeks of intense preparation, and they have all carried out their duties splendidly. We have a gift for each of them, but in the meanwhile would you all please raise your glasses in a toast to – the bridesmaids!"_

"_The bridesmaids'," the crowd repeated as Teddy and Victoire gave the flowers to Luna, Fleur and Hermione._

_Harry sat down looking quite relived._

"_Well done," Ginny murmured in his ear. _

"_Kiss, kiss," several people wee chanting._

"People always do that," Lily giggled.

_Ginny giggled and Harry rolled his eyes, Ginny leaned the short distance toward him and kissed him causing the crowd to cheer._

Everyone rolled their eyes as the twins cheered along.

"_Great, it's my turn now," Ginny sighed, standing up. "Well, my husband seems to have covered most things but I'm going to thank you all for coming and for your good wishes as well. _

_"What can I say about my bridesmaids, Fleur and Luna? Well, I have heard everyone say how lovely you look today, and I have to agree._

The women nodded.

_You've been brilliant over the last few months, dealing with me, mum and Hermione and I'm sure you've both wanted to pull your hair out at times or hex us. But somehow you've been calm and managed to calm us down nine times out of ten._

_"And my Maid of Honour, Hermione; thank you for being such a great source of support. You have been my sounding board and a voice of reason, not only during the wedding planning, but throughout our friendship as well. I doubt me and Harry would actually be getting married or even dating if it hadn't been for you and your advice._

"I'm sure that's not true," Molly said.

"If not for Hermione she wouldn't have spoken or stopped blushing," Harry disagreed, causing his wife to shove him.

_"Saving the best for … nearly last,_

The marauders snickered slightly.

_my new husband," Ginny paused turning to look at Harry._

_"Harry, I would like to propose a toast to you. My dream was to find a man who would understand me without me uttering a single word. A man whose values and spirit matched my own so thank you for being you._

"_Ron, Neville, George, as annoying as two of the three of you are," her eyes drifted between her brothers. "You've been a great help at times and you actually got everything Hermione asked you to do on time and well, so I really think I should thank you for that, since it must have been so hard –_

"It was," Ron nodded, solemnly.

_if you would all raise your glasses to the groomsmen."_

"_The groomsmen," everyone said._

_"__Thank you all so much for coming!"_

_Ginny sat down clinking her glass to Harry's._

"Another part of the meal skipping," Ginny said, unable to keep a grin of her face.

"_Good evening everyone," Molly said, smiling tearfully. "Thank you all for coming today to celebrate my daughter, Ginny's marriage to our new and only son-in-law, Harry. Everything is going so well and I want to thank each and every one of you who helped make today run so smoothly but that would take too long. But please know our family is grateful for all your help._

_"__To Ginny, I still can't get over how stunning you look. I've had to stop myself a few times from staring because I swear a moment ago you were no bigger than my knee prancing around. Now you have your own fairy tale come true and my heart could just about burst. You've grown up to be a fine young woman and I couldn't be more proud of you._

Molly smiled and nodded.

_"__To the newest member of our family, I thank Merlin every day that he brought you into my girl's life. You make her happy in ways I never could. When she first started going out with you, that's all we ever heard about. Harry this and Harry that. On and on she went._

"I can't believe you told him that," Ginny muttered as the maunders laughed.

_She's never acted that way about any one else, so I knew you were something special to her. I also know how special she is to you. You think I don't notice, but you're smile gets a little brighter, you stand a little taller, and you keep her in your sights whenever she's around. I know you'll take good care of her and I thank you for that._

"_This kind of love isn't something that everyone gets to experience. So when you do find it, treasure it, keep it safe, and let it grow. The best advice I can give you both is to never forget what started it all. Never forget the person you fell in love with and the person you were when you fell yourself. We may grow old as the years go by, but we can stay young at heart forever and make that newly-wed feeling last and last. Say 'I love you' as often as possible. And please, call home once in a while._

"_My mother said these ten rules are the importance to happy marriage and she told them to me in her speech, so here they are;_

_First, never both be angry at the same time._

"You're good at that," Teddy chuckled.

_Never yell at each other unless the house if on fire._

"Not that," Ron said.

_If one of you has to win an argument, let it be your spouse._

James snorted, thinking of him and Lily.

_If you have to criticize, do it lovingly._

"That you do," Hermione smiled.

_Never bring up mistakes from the past._

"Ah," was all Arthur said to that.

_Neglect the whole world rather than each other._

"You neglect neither," Lily beamed.

_Never go to sleep with an argument unsettled._

Harry and Ginny nodded.

_At least once a day say a kind word or pay a compliment to your partner._

They nodded again.

_When you have done something wrong, admit it and ask for forgiveness._

"I've heard you do that," Molly smiled.

_And lastly, it takes two to make a quarrel, and the one in the wrong is usually the one who does the most talking._

"A good piece of advice," Sirius nodded.

"_Congratulations, both of you," Molly finished. "And I know that this is the start to many happy years for you both… Now, I think Teddy wants to say something"_

"Oh no," Teddy groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

"_Right, okay," Teddy said, standing up on his chair to be higher with the help of Andromeda. "Um, I don't really have parents and the closest thing I have to a father is Uncle Harry and he's brill._

Some people chuckled.

"Thanks Ted," Harry chuckled.

_Ginny's always been there too, and she's kinda become a mother figure, always fussing. _

"Like her mother?" Dora suggested.

_They've always been there for me and even I know they're perfect together. Not that I have many people to compare that too. _

"_I love them both lots and they deserve each other. You really do look very pretty today Aunt Ginny," Teddy grinned at Ginny, who smiled lovingly back._

"Thank you, Teddy," Ginny beamed.

"_To Unca Harry and Aunt Ginny."_

_Everyone smiled fondly as he sat down on his chair and said, "Harry and Ginny."_

"Do you not remember making that speech?" Remus chuckled.

"Nope," Teddy shook his head, "but it wasn't that embarrassing."

"_Hear that, Gin," Harry chuckled. "You're Aunt Ginny now."_

"Was that the first time he said it?" Dudley asked.

"Yep," Ginny grinned.

_"__I know,"she quietly squealed as one of the waitresses brought in the cake_

_Harry and Ginny grinned at each other before heading over to the cake. It was three tiers, decorated in white icing with a pearl sheen to create a more elegant look. Green organza ribbon was fixed to the bottom of each tier and green hydrangeas and small white lilies were placed in between each tier._

"That's lovely," Petunia smiled.

"Molly made it," Harry grinned.

"Really?" Petunia said in shock as Molly blushed slightly.

"I've always had a talent for cakes," she smiled.

_Everyone clapped as they cut the bottom tier of the cake, a few minutes later a group of waitresses came in with cups, teapots and bits of cake, which were handed out._

"You didn't use all the tiers, did you?" Lily asked.

"Nope," Ginny smiled. "That was the large bottom one, then we used the second tier for our first anniversary and the top one for Jamie's christening."

"The tradition," Petunia smiled.

"_Ready for our first dance, Mrs Potter?" Harry asked taking her hand a while later when the music came on and leading her to the floor._

"_That's going to take some getting used to," Ginny laughed putting her left hand on his shoulder as he placed his on her waist and took her right hand. _

"_Oh well, we have years," he chuckled after a few seconds, spinning her._

_They didn't speak very much for the rest of song, stealing a few kisses now and then, the twirled and step around the dance floor, everyone cheering when they did kiss. _

James chuckled.

_At the end of the song, Harry retreated to the Head Table while Ginny stayed on the floor waiting for her father, halfway though that song Harry and Molly joined them_

"_Can we have the wedding party up here?" the Band Singer called. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, George. Fleur, Arthur and Molly all headed to the dance floor._

_After a few hours just as the sun was setting, everyone gathered out side for pictures. Harry and Ginny had already done their shots alone and together, including one by Lily and James grave _

"That was a little odd," Ginny muttered.

"I know," Harry frowned.

_and one of their hands. _

_To begin with they did Ginny with everyone, then Harry with everyone and then both of them with everyone before doing Harry with the girls and Ginny with the guys. They did one more with the children from the guests and then all the guests went back in leaving Ginny's family, and the bridal party._

_They started out with Harry and Ginny with Teddy and Victoire, Teddy holding his empty cousin and Victoire her flower basket._

"That's too cute," Dora smiled.

_Then two with Ron and Hermione, one with Ron standing next to Harry and Hermione next to Ginny before doing on the other way round. After that they did a few with the Bridal Party before moving on to the family ones, Harry and Teddy heading away slightly to watch while Hermione, Neville and Luna headed inside._

_They did Ginny and Molly, then Ginny and Arthur before doing the three together. After that they spent a few minutes trying to get a nice picture with her and all her brothers. Then they added Molly and Arthur to the picture, and then after that, the Audrey, Fleur and Victoire, Bill being the only Weasley to have a child._

_Then the whole Weasley family got to sit down, for one picture of Harry and Teddy, which was extremely cute as Teddy wouldn't stop giggling, which started Ginny off from where she was sitting and soon everyone was laughing._

"Sorry," Teddy chuckled.

"Don't be," Harry laughed with everyone else. "It was a nice picture, we have it beside the bed back at Godric's."

"I love that picture," Ginny smiled.

"_Alright, alright," the photographer laughed himself. "That's the picture done. If Ginny, your family could come and join us."_

_The Weasley family sighed slightly before standing up and joining Harry and Teddy. _

"There were so many pictures," Ron complained.

"Tell me about it," Harry chuckled.

_Harry placed Teddy down in front of him and Ginny wrapping an arm around her waist as the family arranged themselves around them._

_After that one they did one with just Molly and Arthur before one with just the Weasley brothers and then they all headed back inside._

_Everyone was dancing, drinking and laughing but all stopped when Ginny stepped up onto the stage, the men and married women hurried of the floor. Ginny turned around away from the crowd of women, looked over he shoulder, winked before throwing the Bouquet. She spun around to see that Hermione had caught it, looking very shocked. Ginny giggled at the look on her face._

"Nice Hermione," Sirius snickered.

"So I guess we'll be seeing your wedding some time soon," Dora teased.

_After a little while more of dancing, Ginny and Harry took to the floor for their last dance of the evening, it was slightly faster than their first song but just as romantic. At the end Hermione rushed over and pulled Ginny's hand, Ginny laughed and pulled her hand out of her grip and turned back to Harry kissing him, Hermione grabbed her hand and tugged again, this time Ginny followed willingly._

Everyone rolled their eyes and laughed.

_When she came back she was wearing a white dress that had a vertically pleated strapless sweetheart bodice with rouched waistband and a gathered knee-length skirt._

_Harry grinned as she made he way towards him, once she got there, he said, "Beautiful, as always." _

"_Shut up," she smiled, kissing him on the cheek._

"_Ready to go?" he asked._

"_Yeah," she beamed._

"_If everyone will congregate outside," the singer on stage said, having heard them, "the newlyweds are leaving now for their honeymoon."_

_Ginny laughed as everyone hurried out of the tent, Harry just shook his head, smiling _

"That was quick," Fabian observed.

_and after a while led her out. All the guests lined the grass in front of the tent were there was no graves, they cheered and chucked lilies at them as they passes, butterflies had been released as where flying above and around them._

"Those butterflies were beautiful," Molly smiled.

_At the end of the line were Molly, Arthur, the Weasleys, and bridal Party. They were hugged and kissed by all of them, but Teddy looked a little sad._

"_What's up, buddy?" Harry asked, kneeling down to be a similar height._

"Oh Merlin," Teddy groaned again. "I'm going to be a soppy kid again."

"_How long you gone?" he asked and Harry's whole face softened._

"_Two weeks," he told the young boy._

"_That'll be weird," Teddy muttered._

"That was weird," Harry, Ginny and Teddy said together causing everyone to laugh.

"_Tell me about it," Harry chuckled._

_Teddy said no more but Harry sighed and drew Teddy towards him, wrapping in a hug. Teddy's small hands grasped his robes._

"_We'll be back before you can miss us," Harry said. _

"I don't think that's possible, Harry," Arthur chuckled.

"_You'll be having so much fun with your grandma that you won't notice were gone."_

"Or that," Gideon nodded.

"_Yeah, right," Teddy snorted. "If you'll back before I miss you then you'll have to be back by …Thursday."_

"_Take you two days to miss me," Harry said drawing back, before smiling as the boy nodded firmly._

_Harry quickly glanced up at Ginny, who had just turned toward him, he sighed._

"_We've got to go, Ted," he said. "Go say goodbye to Ginny."_

_Teddy wrapped his arms around Harry once more and when he pulled back, Harry kissed his forehead before he ran over to Ginny jumping at her in a hug. Harry smiled turning to hug Hermione._

"_Have fun," she smiled, kissing his cheek as she drew back._

'_See you, mate,' Ron grinned._

'_Yeah,' Harry said, turning around to walk to join Ginny, who was waiting for him. "See ya."_

_He joined Ginny and she slipped her hand into the crock of his arm as they walked away from the guests._

"That was beautiful," Lily beamed.

"Thanks," Ginny smiled happily.

"Where'd you go?" Petunia asked.

"Mediterranean," Harry grinned.

"Little villa right on Mirabello Bay, under Greece," Ginny smiled. "It was so perfect."

"And we better stop this conversation," Harry said, looking at his wife fondly.

"Good idea," Ron chuckled as Ginny pouted. "What's next?"

"Lunch," Sirius said.

Harry and Ginny nodded and they all headed for a jubilant lunch, ten minutes later they all returned.

"What's next?" Ron asked again.

"Something," Harry said, causing Ron to glare at him.

_Harry was entering the atrium at the Ministry of Magic, dressed in his Auror robes, a folder in his arms, when a small movement caught his eye. He headed towards the people, there seemed to be two adults and young child of 4. The child was squirming in one mans arms while the other was trying to comfort him, they were both also trying to walk but the child looked extremely unhappy and unwilling to be with these men._

"What is he doing with them?" James narrowed his eyes wondering what could be going on.

"_Gentlemen, what's going on?" Harry asked, when he drew into hearing distance._

"That's what we want to know," Dudley frowned.

_One of the men turned his way, relief breaking out on his face._

"_Auror Potter, I have some bad ne-" the healer began but the child had began sobbing in the arms of the other ministry employee._

_Harry's head snapped over to the man and the child. The child had black hair, grey eyes and a heart-shaped face. _

"Teddy!" Dora gasped.

"Now wonder we didn't recognise him," Sirius laughed. "No turquoise hair!"

"Never mind that," Remus frowned. "What's wrong?"

"_Teddy," Harry sighed, taking a step away from the man he had been talking toward Teddy, who squirmed in the mans arms to be let go off. The man handed Teddy to Harry before bustling off, leaving Harry, Teddy and the other man._

"Polite," Lily frowned.

"_Hey, Ted, what's wrong?" Harry asked, trying to calm the sobbing child._

"_Gramma," was all Teddy said._

"Andromeda," Lily sighed, guessing what this memory was.

_Harry frowned slightly before turning to the employee._

"_Healer," he said._

"How did you know he was a healer?" Petunia asked.

"Robes," was all Harry said.

"_What's going on?"_

"_It's Davenson. Do you have anywhere private we can go?" Davenson said._

"In the ministry?" Arthur snorted.

"_Somewhere private in the Ministry?" Harry asked, impatiently still trying to calm Teddy and looking faintly confused. "Have you ever heard of that?"_

"_Good point," Davenson chuckled, he then glanced at Teddy. "Well, I was planning on leaving, um …"_

"Teddy," Ginny said.

"_Teddy," Harry said._

"_Leaving young Teddy with Seeber, while I came to talk to you –" Davenson began but Harry cut him off._

"_If you think I'm leaving my godson now," he said, dangerously. '"Then you're mistaken."_

"Wrong thing to say, Davenson," Ron chuckled.

"_Fine," Davenson said, obviously getting a little annoyed himself now with having less than half of Harry's attention and his tone._

"You really do get under people's skin," the twins laughed.

"_What's wrong with Andromeda?" Harry asked._

"_She dead," Davenson said, bluntly causing Teddy to go into a whole new round as sobs after he'd finally calmed down. _

"Oi," Sirius barked as Dora and Remus growled.

_Harry sent Davenson an annoyed look before turning to Teddy with a look of shock and sadness. Davenson, however, ignored the look and the sobbing child and continued speaking._

"_We got a call from the neighbours saying that they thought something was wrong and that … Teddy came sobbing out of the house," he said. "We went as quickly as possible to find Mrs Tonks on her bed, at first we assumed that she was just sleeping but after a while we realised that she wasn't breathing._

"_Did Mrs Tonks have a heart problem, Auror Potter?"_

"_Y-Yes, why?" Harry said, his shock coming out more._

"_Well, we think she died of a heart attack," Davenson said. "She had blue lips and her hand was resting over her –"_

"We don't want details," Hermione raised a hand.

"_Alright, alright," Harry said, holding up a hand. _

A few people snorted at the similarity.

_"__I don't need or want the details of her body. Just how she died, and why Teddy's been brought here."_

Everyone nodded, as Teddy rolled his eyes at his godfather's protectiveness, although he was smiling.

"_Teddy was with Seeber the whole time since we arrived. He was sobbing it took us a while to work out what he was saying, 'Unca Harry,' we got eventually, 'me want Unca Harry,' which didn't help much since Unca Harry could have been anyone named Harry. We asked the neighbours and they said you were the only Harry who had been to that house, that they knew of, and that you were young Teddy's godfather. He's your responsibility now, good day."_

"O-Okay," Lily frowned. "Polite."

"Hmm, that Healer was kind of blunt," Harry mused.

"Really?" Ginny said, giving her husband an amused look.

_And with that he walked away, leaving Harry in complete shock, after a few minutes he managed to calm Teddy down enough that he stepped into one of the ministry fire places and flooed them to Grimmauld Place._

"_Harry, is that you?" Ginny called from the kitchen as they arrived in Grimmauld Place, which was the same it had been in Harry's seventh year after Kreacher had cleaned it up._

"_Yeah," Harry said. "Gin, I've got some bad news."_

"_What is it?" she asked coming in, wiping her hands on a towel. "What's wrong with Teddy? I didn't know he was coming here today."_

"I wasn't," Teddy chuckled.

"_He's here today and until he goes to Hogwarts," Harry sighed as Ginny looked confused he sank into a chair still holding Teddy. "Gin, Andy's, well, she not, she's dead."_

"You're not better," Ginny said annoyed.

"Sorry but how else could I have said it?" Harry shrugged.

"She passed away?" Ginny suggested.

"She's no longer with us physically?" Hermione added.

"Anything but she's dead!" Ginny frowned.

"Sorry," Harry said, holding his hands up.

_Ginny gasped, putting a hand to her mouth as she sank onto the sofa, her eyes fixed on Teddy, who had buried his face in Harry's stomach. A few seconds later she spoke._

"_Please, please, tell me this is a horrible joke," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears._

"You think he'd joke about that?" James asked, although he knew she didn't mean it like that.

_Harry shot her look, which clearly said 'you think I'd joke about this' before shaking his head sadly and closing his eyes, stoking Teddy's still black hair, as the same body shook with sobs which had never completely stopped. He leaned back against the chair, his eyes still closed and running a hand through his hair._

"You seem to be taking this well," Dudley observed.

"I've dealt with death a lot," Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't be much use to Teddy if I cried, would I?"

"I would have been fine," Teddy muttered but everyone's looks clearly said other wise.

_He opened them to see Ginny trying relentlessly to stop her tears, he sent her a sad smile, she tried to return it but it came out as more of a grimace. She stood up and walked back in the kitchen, clearly not wanting to cry in front of Teddy._

Teddy rolled his eyes again.

_Harry sighed shutting his eyes again. A few minutes later, he spoke._

"_We better check to see if your rooms in good condition, shouldn't we?" he said softly to Teddy._

_The four-year-old nodded mutely, scrambling of Harry's lap and onto the floor. Harry stood up, taking Teddy's hand and led the way out of the lounge up to Teddy's bedroom. _

_Harry pushed the door open to reveal a Quidditch painted room, the players wising around the walls and ceiling. Some were throwing Quaffles, others hitting Bludgers or chasing snitch, some even saving difficult goals. It had a wooden bed that had slightly raised sides and a space to leave the bed. The bed was covered in a broomstick duvet._

"Nice room," the twins grinned.

_Teddy made a slight smile before throwing himself down on the bed, his crying, which had nearly stopped, starting up again_

_Harry sighed, for what must have been the hundredth time and sat beside him rubbing soothing circles in his back, he didn't say anything but it seemed his presence calm Teddy down._

"That still works then," Remus chuckled.

"Handy, too," Harry grinned.

_A few minutes later, he stopped crying and sat up sniffling to face Harry, who smiled fondly at him._

"_Feel better?" he asked, his smile widening a little when Teddy nodded. "Hmm, and I never felt crying helped much._

"That's because you're an idiot," Hermione grinned.

_Anyway, I think your rooms in good shape, don't you?"_

_Teddy nodded and Harry sighed. Again._

"_Teddy, can I have more than one word from you?" he asked, softly._

"_Hi, Uncle Harry," Teddy said, causing Harry to laugh._

Several people chuckled.

"_Thank you," he chuckled as the door opened._

_Ginny stood in the doorway, looking at them through red-rimmed eyes, she smiled at them._

"_Teddy, I've just got a message to go and get your stuff," Ginny said, with a slightly hoarse voice, she cleared her throat. "Is there anything specific you want because I can only get a little today?"_

_Teddy shook his head but when Harry sighed again he said, "Just make sure I have clothes, please."_

"That's always handy," James smiled.

_"__Of course," Ginny smiled, dropping a kiss on his forehead before leaving the room._

_Harry spend spent half an hour lying on Teddy's bed with Teddy curled up next to him, telling him things, obviously hoping for something more than one word. It was only half an hour since Ginny came up saying that dinner was ready._

_Dinner was extremely quiet after Harry and Ginny had finally gotten Teddy to eat – to begin with he just sat and played with the food that was on his plate. All that could be heard was the radio and the scrapping of their knives and forks on the plates._

"Awkward," Arthur muttered.

"Extremely," Harry and Ginny grimaced

_Teddy yawned when they finished dinner, so Ginny told Harry to get him to bed, she'd do the dishes. Teddy stumbled towards the stairs falling over so many times, his tiredness making his clumsiness worse, that Harry picked him up and carried him to his room, grabbing the clothes at the bottom of the first flight of stairs on the way._

_Once Teddy had crawled into bed, Harry walked over and tucked him in before sitting down._

_"__You alright?" he asked, stroking the boys hair._

_"__I guess," Teddy said, making the corners of Harry's lips twitch slightly._

"Well, we're getting words out of you," Dora smiled.

"_Try and get some sleep," Harry said, kissing him on the forehead and standing up. "You know where we are if you want us."_

_Teddy nodded_

"_Good night, Teddy."_

"_Good night, Uncle Harry," Teddy murmured as Harry shut the door gently. Harry, however, didn't go back downstairs straight away, he leaned back against Teddy's door, frowning deeply. _

"That must be so hard for you," Lily sighed.

"Huh?" Harry asked. "Which part?"

"The part about –" she began.

"Don't bother," Ron, Hermione and Ginny said.

She raised an eyebrow with an expression so similar to Harry's that they almost laughed.

"We're skipping," Harry said, watching his wife and two friends.

"_Uncle Harry," a young voice whimpered._

"Teddy," Petunia sighed.

_Harry sat up in his bed, looking at the darkness where the voice had come from and where there was a silhouette of a four year old. Harry reached for his glasses, tapping the bedside lap as well, so the room was now dimly lit._

"_What's up, Ted?" Harry asked, as the young child scrambled into the bed, with black hair and green eyes._

Harry and Ginny grinned at his appearance, as everyone else smile softly.

"_Why?" Teddy asked._

"_Huh?" Harry questioned. 'Why, what?"_

"_Why isn't she here anymore?" Teddy asked, causing Harry to sigh not needing to ask who 'she' was. "Why didn't she wake up? Why did the men take me away? Why am I staying here?"_

"_Teddy, Teddy, slow down," Harry sighed, pulling the black haired child toward him. "You know where your parents are?" _

_Teddy just nodded._

"_Your Grandma's gone there," Harry said softly, sighing again when Teddy's eyes filled with tears._

"_So she no coming back?" he asked._

"_No," Harry said, pulling both himself and Teddy into a sitting position. "She's not."_

"_It was horrible," Teddy muttered._

"_What was?" Harry asked. "I thought you just found her?"_

_Teddy shook his head, "I saw it," he said,_

Dora groaned burying her head in Remus's robes, who was looking pained.

_tightening his hold on Harry, who closed his eyes in distress and sadness, and rocked Teddy back and forth. Ginny stirred next to them, so Harry threw the covers off and got out of bed, he was only wearing pyjama bottoms since it was quite a warm night. They walked into the kitchen, and sat down at the table._

"The kitchen?" Petunia asked.

"It was the warmest room in the house," Harry shrugged. "In both ways."

_Teddy was still crying so Harry rocked again whispering in his ear._

"_You want to talk about it?" Harry questioned when Teddy had calmed down a bit._

"_Some time," Teddy nodded. "But not now."_

"Did you?" Lily asked, hoping the boy got it out.

"Few weeks later," Harry nodded, answering for Teddy, who probably wouldn't remember

"_Alright," Harry agreed. "How about we get you a drink and then back of to bed?"_

"Always a good idea," Molly smiled.

"_Can I stay with you and Aunt Ginny tonight?" Teddy asked, looking up at his godfather._

"_Course," Harry said, standing up to make Teddy a drink._

"So that was why there was a four year old in our bed when I woke up," Ginny smiled.

"Yep," Harry grinned. "We're moving on to a new memory."

_Harry, Ginny and Teddy were standing outside a Victorian cottage the hedge neatly cut and the late summer flowers open adding to colour to the lush green grass, Harry had his hands over the front on Teddy's eyes so he couldn't see._

"The house," Teddy grinned.

_"__Ready, Ted, Gin?" Harry chuckled at his squirming godson. "Welcome home."_

_He removed his hands from Teddy and waved his wand at Ginny both blinked a bit before Ginny gasped._

_"__Wasn't this in rubble a few weeks ago?" Teddy breathed staring at the ivy covered cottage and slightly overgrown garden._

'"_Yep," Harry said, taking his hand and placing an arm around Ginny's waist to led them both forward. "This is what me, Ron and Hermione have been working on – repairing the house. _

"You three?" Gideon laughed. "So you go from thieves –"

"To house renovators," Fabian chuckled. "Nice."

"Leave them alone," Ginny grinned. "I love this house."

"It's basically the same as when we lived there," James frowned, "and that wasn't the best house in the world."

"The downstairs is nearly the same," Sirius nodded.

"We spent a lot of time upstairs and in the kitchen," Hermione grinned.

_Come on."_

_Harry led them into through a generous hallway into a warm, homely Tuscan kitchen. There was a breakfast area attached to the kitchen and a keeping room._

"That is new," Lily breathed. "It's beautiful."

"Why are we watching this actually?'"Dudley asked.

"I'm giving you a tour?' Harry suggested chuckling.

"_Well, Ginny," Harry said, "the kitchen is your domain, what do you think?"_

"_I love it," Ginny beamed, running her hand along the rich coloured island. "It's beautiful, how did you do this?"_

"_Well, Ron and Hermione," Harry shrugged. "Magic and money."_

"That's always good," Arthur laughed.

"_I suppose that would help," Ginny smiled turning to face him, kissing him quickly on the lips._

_They both turned to look at Teddy, who as walking around the island, opening and closing cupboards._

"_What about you, Ted?" Harry chuckled. "What do you think?"_

"_It's great!" Teddy grinned. "Can we see another room? Please."_

"That was a quick change," Remus chuckled.

_Harry laughed before leading them both back into the hallway, he opened a door just before they actually entered the hallway, it was a tiny room with two doors. Harry reached an opened the left one_

"_Office," Harry smiled. "There are two, actually and there's a bathroom there."_

_He open the door in front of them to show a small bathroom, then they back up and Harry led them to the front door, where the way an archway._

"_Small bathroom down there," Harry pointed down a short corridor, "And here's the other one."_

2_These are great," Ginny grinned, "But why do we need two offices?"_

"Hermione," Ron said.

"It might come in handy," Ginny shrugged.

_"__No idea," Harry chuckled. "Ask Hermione. Come on."_

_He shut the door and walked them back into the entrance area, past the stairs and through an archway._

_The lounge was a warm room that had a large open fireplace, with exposed brick and stove fire, there was also black beams running across the ceiling and a small window seat. Furniture wise there was two soft red armchairs and a matching sofa, a wooden coffee table and a tall bookshelf. _

"See extremely similar," Remus chuckled.

_Teddy grinned and jumped on one of the chairs._

"_This is great," he said, bouncing on his chair._

_His exclamation caused Harry to grin and look at him fondly, Ginny just looking around the room smiling. She shook her head slightly, her smile twitching into a grin._

"_What?" Harry asked._

"_It's just if you leave most people to decorate a house without telling the people who are going to live in it, everything usually doesn't suit the taste of those people,' she said. 'They usually want to change something."_

"And do you?" Sirius questioned.

_Harry nodded, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her as she lent back into him._

"_I can't think of anything in either of these rooms," she smiled causing Harry to grin once again. "Can you, Teddy?"_

"_Games," Teddy nodded._

"Typical kid," Dora muttered cheerfully

_Harry raised an eyebrow at him and gestured with a hand towards an archway in a side wall._

_Teddy scrambled off the chair, across the room and through the archway. Harry and Ginny followed slowly behind him, when they entered the room they saw Teddy standing in a room filled with bean bags and toys - both muggle and magical. The ceiling was covered in fabrics, draping from one corner to another in dark colours, giving a warm, sheltered feeling – like a den._

"That's new," James grinned, not having noticed that when they sat in the lounge a few weeks ago.

"_That was Ron and Hermione," Harry chuckled. "Ron did the magical toys, while Hermione did the muggle ones."_

"_Of course," Ginny laughed, watching as Teddy walked over to an Ultra Speed car race._

"Ha! Muggle toy first," Hermione grinned triumphantly at Ron.

_He placed in one of the small cars and watched as it whizzed along the track, did few loop the loops before flying off the track at the end of the loops, he laughed as Harry and Ginny chuckled. Then it hit a vase and everyone looked anxious._

"Ooh," several people breathed.

"That might be a problem," Arthur said.

'_Careful, Ted,' Harry said, watching the vase wobble, Teddy didn't even look up from his collection of the car and reloaded it on the track._

"_I think we've lost, Teddy," Ginny smiled._

"_Oh well, he obviously doesn't want to see his room," Harry said loudly._

Remus and Dora chuckled.

_Teddy looked up and stared at them for a second before standing up and grinning at them._

Everyone smiled rolling their eyes.

"_Or maybe he does," Harry chuckled. "I guess we're going there next."_

_Harry led them back to the stairs and into a room. It was very similar to his old room in Grimmauld place but was much larger with an en-suit. Empty photo frames were lying around and there were a few children's books piled up on a shelf._

"_Do you like it?" Harry asked cheerfully. _

"_Yeah," Teddy said, launching himself, as he had done into the lounge, onto the bed. "It's so bouncy!"_

His exclamation caused another round of chuckles.

_"__Well, you were complaining about how hard and uncomfortable the bed at Grimmauld place was, Harry laughed._

'_It was bad," Teddy nodded solemnly before bouncing across the room._

_"__Ted, we'll be back in a minute," Harry smiled, taking Ginny's hand. "Explore."_

_Harry pulled a bemused Ginny out of the room and into another room._

_This one being another lounge. _

"Two lounges?" James asked.

_Ginny raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Hermione thought we might want a quite area," Harry shrugged, watching Ginny smiled and look around the room._

"Good idea," Petunia smiled.

"It is," Ginny smiled. "The kids make loads of noise down in the other lounge and den and we just relax upstairs."

_It was small, but comfortable and snug, with a sofa and fireplace. There was also a curved chaise long and a bookcase._

"_The bedrooms just through that door," Harry smiled, waving a hand toward the only other door in the room except the one they had come in from._

"_Really?" Ginny asked, sarcastically._

_Harry chuckled as she smiled happily at him._

"_Come on," he grinned. "I warning you though, Hermione's to blame for the amount of rooms."_

"Amount of rooms?" Gideon asked.

"_Amount of rooms?" Ginny asked, hand on the door handle she turned to face him._

"_Yeah," Harry grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. "She insisted we needed a large walk in wardrobe, a lounge, an en-suit and, of course, a bedroom."_

_She gaped at him, "I agree about the bedroom and maybe the en-suit, but the lounge and large walk in wardrobe?"_

"It does seem a bit mad," Dora nodded.

"_You'll love it," Harry chuckled._

_Ginny rolled her eyes fondly, pressing down on the door handle, "that's our Hermione."_

"_That it is," Harry said, following her in, chuckling when she gasped._

"_Told ya," he laughed._

_Ginny squealed as she flopped on the double bed. The bed was covered in a pale cream cover with an extremely pale purple blanket folded at the end, there was a canopy on the wall behind the head of the bed and a long footstall at the bottom, covered in books. The walls and ceiling had small birds flying around on a pale blue sky. There was also a dresser with photos on it, as few being; Teddy, the whole Weasley family from the wedding and the picture of Harry and Teddy, one of just Harry and Ginny on the day, as well as one of Lily and James. The lights consisted of the windows draped in pale green curtains, wall lamps and a chandelier._

'That's amazing,' Lily gaped.

'It's gorgeous,' Petunia corrected her younger sister.

"_This is perfect," Ginny laughed._

_"__Fancy, isn't it?" Harry smiled._

Everyone nodded, expect Harry, Ron, Hermione, Teddy and Ginny.

_"__Extremely," she agreed, looking around, "…but I love it."_

"_Mmm," Harry hummed as he sat down next to her, "and there I was thinking you preferred simplier things. Am I going to have to work harder?"_

"_Normally I do," Ginny nodded, sitting up and giving a fond look._

"_Just checking I know you as well as I thought I did," Harry smiled._

_She giggled in a very un-Ginny-like way, kissed his cheek and leapt up._

"_Come on," she grinned, taking his hand. "I want to see the other rooms."_

_Harry rolled his eyes grinning but stood up and led her to a door. Once in there they were hit with whiteness. Everything was white. _

"Oh," Molly gasped putting a hand to her eyes.

_In one corner there was a fitted bath, and in the other a large shower between them sat a sink and a diamond shaped window. On the other side of the bath there was a cupboard which contained, when Ginny opened it, towels. Next to that there was a toilet in its own little room, for privacy and if you looked in the diamond mirror next to the bath you would see another sink and mirror on the opposite wall, exactly the same. Placed around the room were dining type chairs, white, of course, to which Ginny raised an eyebrow at her husband._

"_Don't ask me to fathom the way Hermione Grangers mind work," Harry replied. "I tried when we were younger and never attempted to again."_

"Oi," Hermione said, whacking him

_Ginny giggled at her husband before moving to the other door in the room._

"_Are these all new?" Harry heard her gasped from the next room._

_Frowning in confusion, he followed her. Once in there his eyebrows rose._

"_You didn't know about this?" she asked in a slightly high voice, her jaw dropping when Harry shook his head._

_The room was completely shocked with clothes, wardrobes were full, as were the draws, shoes were laid in racks and a long mirror stood at one end._

"Fleur," Molly said.

_Before either could say another word, Teddy walked in._

"_Did you know there are clothes in my room?" he asked causing the two adults to share a look. _

"_Hermione," they sighed in explanation._

"Nope," she sang.

_Teddy grinned and ran out of the room once again._

'_Friendly,' Harry chuckled as Ginny went looking around the over-sized walk-in-wardrobe. _

"_This is amazing but ridiculous," Harry heard her mutter, as she opened a draw to find a load of jeans, she then raised her voice so he could hear her properly. "Are we sure this was Hermione? I mean she's not this clothes orientated."_

"Thank you," Hermione said, waving a hand.

"_That was just what I was thinking," Harry called, frowning. "Maybe it was Fleur; you know what she's like."_

"Hit the nail right on the head, Harry," Arthur chuckled.

"_Good idea," Ginny grinned. "We should find out because basically this is mad."_

_Harry laughed, "we'll there is, again, for some reason, three more bedroom, _

"That's for Lily, James and Albus," Teddy said.

"But we didn't know that then," Ginny said.

_not including a guest one downstairs, there's also a dining room down stairs and you might want to see the garden.'_

"_I repeat, this is mad, Harry," Ginny giggled._

"_Tell me about it,' Harry agreed. "I tried to tone it down but, well –"_

"_Hermione." Ginny nodded. "An unstoppable force of nature."_

"Is that compliment?" Hermione asked.

_The closed the door on the room and walked to find Teddy lying on his new bed with a wizard children's book._

"_Where next, Ted?" Ginny asked._

"_Garden," Teddy grinned._

_Harry smiled and led them down stairs, through the kitchen and onto some decking._ _The decking consisted of a few chairs, a swing seat and a barbeque._

_"__Nice and simple," Ginny sighed, sinking into the swing seat, gazing out at the garden with it's slightly longer than normal grass._

_Harry sat down next to her and Teddy scrambled onto his lap._

"_How long do you think it'll stay this neat?" Harry chuckled._

"_A week," Ginny laughed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Maybe less."_

"_See that glimmer," Harry pointed, with the hand that was around her shoulders. "That's a pond; I think there's some frogs and fish in there."_

"_Cool," Teddy grinned. "I like frogs."_

"Really?" Dora asked, but Teddy just shrugged in non-commitment.

"_Why?" Ginny asked, wrinkling her nose._

"_They're just interesting," Teddy shrugged._

_Harry grinned and shared a puzzled look with Ginny._

"_So when did you start this?2 she asked, after a few minutes._

"_When we decided it wasn't the best idea raising a child in Grimmauld Place," Harry said. "I've been meaning to repair this place since the end of the war, that just gave me a reason to do it."_

_"__So all those Auror meetings -?" Ginny asked._

"_Were all lies," Harry nodded._

"_It's bad to lie," Teddy scolded his godfather, causing Ginny stifle laughter at his expense._

Everyone else let out a laugh.

"_Well, when it's to give you two a surprise it's fine to give little white lies," Harry smiled at the young child._

"_Okay," Teddy shrugged._

"That was so easy,' Ron chuckled. 'Rose would have me for hours at that.'

"Luckily Teddy isn't Rose,' Ginny laughed.

"Rose?" Mad-Eye grunted.

"Our daughter," Hermione smiled.

"How nice," Mad-Eye smiled. "Congratulations for … however late."

"She'll be turning 9 in May," Ron filled him quickly knowing how much Mad-Eye hated being out the loop.

"She'll be in the same year as James then?" Lily asked.

"James?" Mad-Eye now asked.

"Our son," Ginny sighed. "He was 9 in October."

"The congratulations to you two, as well."

_A few minutes later, he got up and ran to the pond._

"_I hope he doesn't fall in," Ginny frowned._

_Harry bit his lip, "let's go closer, with his clumsiness …"_

"It's not my fault," Teddy grumbled.

"It's your mothers," everyone but Dora and Teddy said.

_They stood up as Ginny giggled slightly._

"_He's far too much like his mother," she said._

_Harry nodded, smiling slightly._

"_You know, if we keep getting side-tracked sitting around we're never going to see the whole house," he chuckled._

"_That's true," Ginny nodded. "Let's just give him a few minutes by the pond."_

_Five minutes later the small family made its way back up the garden and into the house. They went through a door in the kitchen to find the dining room._

_There was a large circular wooden table in the centre of the room, with 8 chairs around, although there were only 6 around it now, two had been tucked in little dents in the walls, which had obviously been made for the chairs to be put there. The table had a white table cloth on it and a vase of flowers. The chairs were light wood, as was the wood surrounding a mirror hung on one of the walls. There were pictures in this room too, one was definitely to embarrass Teddy, a photo from when he was a toddler, he grimaced when he saw it. There was also a large hole in the wall, which meant you could see through to the kitchen._

"That's nice," Remus smiled.

"_This is great," Ginny grinned,_

"_Glad you approve," Harry smiled._

_"__What haven't we approved on?" she laughed._

"I _prefer the denny area," Teddy nodded, firmly _

"_Why don't you go play then," Ginny smiled running her hand through his turquoise hair. "I'm sure the guest room and other bedrooms will be of no interest to you."_

_Teddy grinned and ran out the door at the other end of the room._

"I think he agrees," Sirius chuckled.

"_That is the right way, yes?" Ginny asked, peering after him._

_Harry chuckled, "yes, it is, you can kinda goes round in a circle."_

"_Right," she nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."_

"Can't get lost," the twins laughed.

_Harry grinned._

"_Well, this is a guest bedroom," Harry said after he'd led her out the same door Teddy had run out off and across the hall._

_It walls a simple room, but extremely nice for a guest room, there was an en-suit bathroom, the bed was a comfortable double, there was a large wardrobe, as well as a dressing table. Everything was in simple colours that could be tolerable to everyone, although it had a kind of country feel to it._

"Neutral," Petunia nodded and smiled slightly, she had stayed there on a few occasions.

"_I'm not sure what we need all these bedroom for," Harry chuckled, as they walked back up the large staircase a few minutes later, after checking on Teddy in the Den._

"_For the future, I guess," Ginny smiled, kissing his cheek. "We'll just have to start filling them."_

_"__Glad you said that," Harry grinned at her as he opened the door to a large bedroom, _

"Why?" Dudley asked.

_this two a decorated simply, had a bathroom, but it also had a small walk in wardrobe._

_There was another one in the next door along, which was exactly the same but when they came to a door opposite Teddy's, Ginny sighed._

"_Us trio were obviously thinking the same,"Harry smiled referring to her earlier statement, as she ducked under his arm to enter the room._

_It was a nursery, a beautifully decorated one at that. The ceiling were covered in stars, that right now were right now a pale blue but as the sun dipped below the horizon outside the window, they changed to glow a soft yellow. The crib was wooden standing proudly in the middle of the room, a white canopy floating down around the sides and a glass star and moon mobile above it. A rocking chair stood in the corner and a small chest of draws to the side; it was rather empty but still charming._

"Oh my Merlin," Lily breathed.

"It's lovely, isn't it?" Petunia smiled.

_Ginny pressed her hands together in front of her face, like she praying as she span to face Harry. He raised an eyebrow at her but she said nothing, wrapping her arms around him, looking nearly tearful. After a few minutes she spoke._

_"__Let me guess," she teased weakly, "this wasn't entirely your idea."_

"Of course not," Hermione laughed.

"But he didn't fight it like he did other things," Ron chuckled.

_Harry laughed, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere in the room, "is anything in this house?_

"Good point," Sirius nodded.

_No, Hermione said, everyone good house for a married couple has a nursery already in it, I just didn't fight her on it."_

A few nodded in agreement.

_Ginny chuckled slightly, "this is great."_

"_Glad you think so," Harry smiled. "Ron thought it was too empty."_

"Well, Ron's an idiot," Dora waved a hand receiving a defensive noise in return.

"_Yeah, well, that's Ron," Ginny said, waving a hand in dismissal. "You three've done a great job."_

"Thank you," Ron and Hermione said.

_"__Thanks," Harry said, kissing her shoulder since she had turned around in his arms to look at the nursery again._

_"__Maybe, you should leave the aurors and do this for a living," she said innocently though her face, which Harry couldn't see had fear splattered across it._

_"__Gin…" Harry begun warningly._

"_Come on," Ginny grinned turning round and breaking him off. "I really like that lounge of ours."_

"It is cosy," Molly smiled.

_Harry chuckled, they walked back to the lounge next to their bedroom, Harry flicked his wand and flames burst to life in the fireplace as they settled down in the sofa. _

"What now?" James asked smiling softly. It was great to see his son so happy and content with life – even if everything wasn't perfect, that glimpse they had caught sight off clearly showed his job caused a small wedge in the couple.

"Just something Remus and Dora will want to see," Harry smiled as they perked up. "We're skipping only a few days, we've gone nearly a year, the first memory after the train was summer 2001, while this is Autumn 2002, a lot happened during them two dates – the engagement, the wedding, Andy, us moving and now this."

_Teddy grasped Harry's had tightly as the walked towards Godrics Hollow's primary school,_

"First day of school," Remus grinned.

_it was a medium sized colourful building which a large grass field and play ground to the side. Ginny walked on the other side of Teddy glancing at his face everyone one in a while or sharing an amused glance with Harry, who had Teddy's backpack swung over his shoulder._

_Today Teddy's hair was a light brown, and his eyes dark with golden flecks so he looked a mixture of his parents and wouldn't stand out in a crowd of Muggles._

"Good choice," Dora smiled.

_They walked up to a smiling woman, dressed in a white carrageen and red skirt. She had straight brown hair and sparkling blue eyes._

"_You must be Mr and Mrs Potter," she said, as Harry, Ginny and Teddy stopped in front of her, she shook Harry and Ginny's hand before kneeling down to Teddy, "and you must be Teddy Lupin. My names Mrs Korn, I'll be you're teacher for this year, okay? Do you want Mr and Mrs Potter to go into the classroom with you?"_

_Teddy nodded, hiding behind Harry's leg. _

"She won't bite," Lily chuckled, vaguely remembering hiding behind Petunia on her first day.

_Mrs Korn stood up and addressed Harry and Ginny._

_"__If you just follow the signs you'll find the classroom," she smiled, before going to great another family._

"_Alright," Harry said, smiling. "Let's go find your classroom, Teddy."_

_Harry pulled Teddy's hand gently and the three of them entered the building, they followed the signs that said reception before they came to a large classroom with red and blue chequered floor and light yellow walls, which was mainly covered with display boards, most of them empty. There was one that said, 'Our Class' another that said 'Birthdays'._

_There were also red and blue draws with names already on against the wall, a few tables with chairs around, a large space at the front of the classroom while there was what looked like a play area at the back. It had a sand box at Teddy's waist height and a large filled with water, small boats floating on top of it, there was also a stage and dressing up area._

"How fun," Sirius said, tilting his head to the side in curiousity, of course being a Black he had never went to Primary school.

_If you looked out the large windows you could see a small fenced in play area, including slides, a wooden train and a tunnel which the children could crawl though._

_There was already as few children hear with various members of their families. Some where sitting with toys at their family's feet, while other, like Teddy, gripped someone's had tightly. No one seemed to brave enough to approach somebody else._

"Bunch of brave people we've got there," Mad-Eye said.

"They're children," Lily exclaimed but his eyes just flickered to her son and back causing her to sigh.

_More children trickled in and then after five minutes a bell rung and Mrs Korn walked in._

'_Good morning children and families or guardians,' she smiled. 'Today is our first day so children if you wish for some people to stay with you for a few minutes to settle in you're perfectly welcome'_

_Harry raised an eyebrow at Teddy and the boys gripped tightened even more on his hand._

"_To begin with if all the children would like to sit in a circle on the floor in front of me and the adult could just place themselves around the class room," Mrs Korn said. "We're going to start by saying out names, the names of the people we live with, if you know anyone else here and something you enjoy doing."_

"Do we have to listen to this?" Dudley teased.

_Slowly the children all moved away from the adults they were with to sit in a circle. Harry perched on a table, while Ginny drew out on of the small chairs and sat down._

"_Okay, I'll start," Mrs Korn smiled. "My name is Mrs Korn and I live with my husband, Jonathon and one daughter, I don't know any of you yet but I like cook."_

_She gestured to a blond little girl next to her who said, "Carri Spence, um .. I live with my mother, Ellie and father, Robert, but I don't know anyone here. I also like to ride horses."_

"She's sweet," Molly smiled.

_It went round the circle until it got to Teddy, who said, "I'm Teddy Lupin, I live with my godfather, Harry and his wife, Ginny. I don't know anyone here but I enjoy sports."_

"In other words Quidditch," Harry chuckled.

_It continued again until it's finished with the girl sitting next to Mrs Korn had spoken, "right now children, say goodbye to your parents or guardians, they'll pick you up a three."_

_All the children jumped up and quickly ran to their families, tears welling up in most eyes. Harry wrapped Teddy in a hug as the four year old buried his face in his stomach._

"_You'll be fine, Ted," Harry smiled. "Just try to control your metamorphic abilities."_

"Yeah, that _is _hard to explain," Dora muttered.

_Teddy pulled back and nodded. Harry kissed his forehead before Teddy turned to receive a warm hug from Ginny._

"_Have fun okay," she smiled, tears in her own eyes. "Harry and I'll be here just before three to get you."_

_She too kissed his forehead before he gave Harry another hug. Teddy then stood and waved as Harry and Ginny left the classroom._

"Skipping to three," Harry sighed, thinking how quiet the house had been that day, they had had to get out of it though he had no idea now how they'd actually spent the day.

_Harry and Ginny walked up to the door, which loads of other parents were crowded around while kids came out when Mrs Korn called them._

"_Teddy," she called, when she saw the two of them._

_Teddy came walking quickly out of the classroom, his hair still brown and his eyes still dark._

"Did they change?" Dora asked, worried.

"Nope," Teddy grinned.

_Once of the door he ran towards them hugging Ginny before leaping at Harry._

_"__Good day?" Harry chuckled, setting his godson down between him and Ginny._

"_It was brilliant," Teddy grinned, taking their hands as they walked toward the exit. "We played in the sandpit, did a bit of work, read a story. I have to bring a picture in tomorrow for that "Our Class" board –"_

_Teddy chattered happily all the way back towards the house, Harry or Ginny telling him to slow down at regular intervals, since he was talking so fast with such animation it was hard to understand him._

Remus and Dora chuckled.

"Autumn," Harry smiled, glancing at Ron and Hermione.

_Ginny and Harry were sitting in the lounge at Godrics Hollow, they had the television on and glasses in their hands, the fire was crackling warmly as the sounds of Teddy playing in the den drifting through the archway when there was a knock on the door._

"_I'll get it," Harry muttered, detangling himself from Ginny._

_He got up and walked to the front door, as soon as he opened it Hermione had launched herself at him as Ron walked in quietly behind her, grinning widely._

"Something exciting's happened," Teddy chuckled.

"_Hello Ron," Harry said, over Hermione's shoulder and when she released him. "Hi Hermione."_

"_Hi," she grinned. "Where's Ginny?"_

"_Lounge, c'mon," Harry smiled, leading the back into the lounge._

_Ginny placed down her wine glass as they walked in, sitting up on the sofa and switching off the TV._

_"__Hey," she grinned as Harry sat down next to her and Ron and Hermione sat down in chairs._

"_We have something to tell you," Ron chuckled. "Hermione insisted now."_

"See, we told you straight away," Hermione huffed quietly.

"_What is it?" Harry said, chuckling as well._

"_He proposed," Hermione beamed causing Ginny to leap up from next to Harry and hug her._

"Congratulations!" the twins yelled and the marauders cheered

"_Congrats mate," Harry said, clapping Ron on the back._

"_Explains the entrance, doesn't it?" Ron laughed _

"Definitely," Remus chuckled.

_before turning to receive a hug from Ginny._

_Harry crossed the room to give Hermione another hug, when they released each other Hermione was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet._

"_Excited?" Harry said amused, placing hands on her shoulders to stop the bouncing._

"No, she's completely apathetic to this!" Sirius chuckled.

"_What do you think?" she grinned._

_Harry rolled his eyes, as Ginny grabbed three more wine glasses from the kitchen, since Harry had been drinking beer of some sort. She filled her own up before pouring Harry Ron and Hermione one._

"_To Ron and Hermione," Ginny grinned. _

"_To love," Hermione added._

_They clinked their glasses together smiling._

"_You better go tell mum and dad," Ginny told Ron, "and Jason and Jean."_

"Jason and Jean?" James asked.

"Who do you think?" Lily smiled. "Hermione's parents."

_Ron and Hermione nodded, quickly saying their goodbyes as well as a quick hello to Teddy before leaving._

"What's now?" Molly asked, smiling.

"You'll see," Harry smiled. "We're skipping till winter."

_Harry, Ginny and Teddy were walking through a park through the snow, the four year old swinging happily between the couple. The snow was falling from the sky and was layered so thickly on the ground that their footsteps left deeps marks in them._

"Snow's deep for England," Lily observed.

"So?" James chuckled.

"Just saying," she shrugged.

_They were wrapped up warmly for the weather, hat, scarves, gloves and coats._

_Teddy let go of their hands after a few minutes flying towards a frozen pond, knocking a woman over in his haste._

"Teddy," Dora sighed.

_"__Sorry," he shouted over his shoulder as the women toppled over and dropped her bags, there contents flying everywhere._

_Ginny ran after Teddy while Harry stayed to help the women._

_"__Sorry about that," Harry chuckled, picking up objects and putting them back in the bags, as the women had picked herself up before he got there and was doing the same herself. "He goes hyper in the snow."_

"Most kids do," Molly laughed.

_"__It's quite alright," she said, putting the last things in the bag. "My son was just the same when he was the same when he was that age, why it's snowing in Octo-"_

_She had turned around to take the bag off of Harry, when she actually saw him. She had a rather hoarse like face, blond hair and a long neck. Her pale eyes widened as the met his emerald ones._

"Petunia," Lily smiled.

_"__H-Harry?" she stuttered, as his grin faded into a look of polite interest._

_"__Aunt Petunia," he nodded coldly, handing her the bag._

_"__Thank you," she smiled causing Harry to raise an eyebrow_

_"__You're welcome," Harry said, eyeing her suspiciously before turning toward where he could see Ginny and Teddy. _

_"__Harry," Petunia said desperately, grabbing his arm pulling it back when he turned to face her again. "I – I just want to say – well, I'm sorry."_

Everyone smiled.

_Harry just looked at her with faint shock and confusion_

_"__Look why don't you come back to the house," Petunia suggested. "We can talk in the warm."_

_Harry glanced back at Ginny and Teddy, beckoning them over. Ginny took Teddy's hand and led him over, when got nearer Harry saw that Ginny was red-cheeked and that Teddy, despite his many layers of cold, was shivering slightly._

"I guess that means you're going," Sirius laughed.

_"__My wife and godson," Harry said a bit of warmth seeping into his cold tone, as Teddy and Ginny drew into hearing distance. "Ginny and Teddy. Gin, Ted, this is my aunt."_

_"__You're married!" Petunia said, shocked as Ginny's eyes narrowed slightly and Teddy looked between his parental figures and Petunia, obviously confused be Harry's tone._

_"__Yes, didn't Dudley tell you?" Harry said, looking completely unsurprised. "He attended the wedding."_

"I hadn't told her I was in contact with you," Dudley chuckled.

_"__Really?" Petunia said, faintly. "I just never imagined you –"_

"Wrong thing to say," Hermione frowned.

_"__Happy?" Harry questioned coolly. "Married?"_

_"__I don't mean – not to," Petunia stuttered, realising she had said the wrong thing; she took a deep breath before speaking again. "Well how about that offer, I'll make some lunch?"_

"Just start again," Ron chuckled.

_"__Sure," Harry said, with another glace at Teddy. "Why not?"_

_The look on Ginny's face clearly said she could think of many reasons not to go into that house but as she too, looked at Teddy, who was still shivering, she sighed and nodded._

"Should I say sorry?" Teddy grinned.

"I think I should say thank you," Petunia smiled at him.

_"__Brilliant," Petunia smiled. "It's just around the corner remember?"_

"I think he'd much rather forget," Molly muttered,

_"__We were that close to Privet Drive?" Ginny asked, frowning._

_"__Apparently," Harry chuckled. _

_"__It's nice to meet you," Petunia said, shaking Ginny's free hand._

_"__Yes, you too' Ginny nodded, although her face was slightly colder than usual, so she obviously didn't agree to what she had just said._

"You two are very cold," Remus chuckled.

_Petunia's smiled slipped slightly as guilt rose in her expression; she took her hand back from Ginny and crouched down to Teddy._

_"__Sorry about your bags," Teddy said politly but he didn't smile, it was if he knew she had done something bad to Harry. He just stared stonily at her._

"Even Teddy didn't like me and he had no idea," Petunia waved a hand.

"Yes but he knows that tone Harry was using was not for friends," Dudley chuckled.

_Petunia sighed, looking at the small boy, "Hello Teddy."_

_"__Hi," he replied._

_"__How old are you?" she asked smiling._

_"__Four," he said, still not showing any emotion toward her._

_She sighed again before standing up and speaking "this way."_

"I gave up," Petunia muttered.

_The small family of three followed Petunia through the snow, out of the park and onto Privet Drive. The neat gardens were covered in snow as were the roofs, the pathway had been cleaned as had many driveways. They walked up to Privet Drive, where Petunia fumbled with the key in the cold before opening the door and letting the warmth wash over them as they stepped inside._

_"__Just hand your coats and things up," Petunia said, gesturing to the coat rack as she took her own over layers off. "I'll make some tea."_

_Ginny and Harry removed their scarves, gloves, hats and coats before putting them on the rack, Harry then bent down to undo the buttons on Teddy's coat, hanging that up and then removing the other items of clothing._

_Ginny's eye flickered to the cupboard under the stairs as Harry led her into the empty lounge, _

"Watch out," Arthur said, knowing his girls temper.

_there was a crash from the kitchen so Harry left to check on Petunia._

_"__Everything's fine," she smiled as he walked in. "Just dropped one of the wedding glasses while trying to get to the other ones."_

_Harry glanced down at the mess of china on the floor, he then pulled his hand out and swished it with out a word, the pieces flew back together and replaced itself back in the cupboard. Once that was done Harry looked up at his aunt to see a look of gratefulness and relief on her face._

_"__Thank you," she smiled. "It must be handy to be able to do that."_

_"__Especially when you have a clumsy godson," Harry agreed, looking extremely baffled._

"I'm not that clumsy," Teddy muttered.

"You are," everyone said.

_Before either of them could say anymore the boy in question wandered into the kitchen, looking a bit confused._

_"__What's up, Ted?" Harry asked, kneeling down to his height._

_Teddy shrugged._

_"__Go back to Ginny," Petunia said. "I'll bring this in."_

_Harry nodded before taking Teddy's hand and leading him back out of the kitchen, Ginny, however, they found looking sadly at the cupboard under the stairs._

"Oh dear," Dudley muttered.

_"__Actually, Ted, see if my aunt needs any help, will you?" Harry said causing Ginny to look up at the sound of his voice._

_Ted nodded and went back in the kitchen as Harry knelt down next to Ginny, and raised his eyebrow. She shook her head, stepping into the cupboard and sitting on the bed that was still in there, although now it was surrounded by umbrella's among other things, she could barely extend her legs without them going out the door. She pulled the light switch and clapped a hand to her mouth._

_"__Oh, Harry," she sighed, sounding close to tears. "It so small."_

_"__Well, if you remember correctly, so was I," Harry smiled, although he was looking bitterly around the small space, _

"Not funny," Teddy frowned, not perfectly sure why that was relevant.

_Ginny, however, didn't look amused.._

_"__So this is where-?" she asked softly._

_"__Yeah, this was my first bedroom," Harry nodded._

"Sorry?" Remus asked, calmly although you could hear the rage below his voice as Teddy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Would you care to tell me I had misheard that?"

"Ah but that would be lies," Harry chuckled, "and we can't tell lies."

"Why are you discussing the so calmly?" Sirius snarled, glaring as Petunia.

"Oh quite easily," Harry said airily causing some lips to twitch. "It's in the past."

"Now, you won't hurt my sister, Sirius, Remus, Dora, Teddy," Lily said, firmly. "And if you well you two know what's in store so, Remus, you can warn your wife and son."

"No one does anything," Remus asked, eyeing Lily's wand warily.

_"__How can anyone do that to a child?" she asked, in a slightly chocked voice._

"That's what we want to know," the twins growled.

_"__It's doesn't matter," Harry smiled. "It's the past now."_

_She looked around the cupboard, her eyes shinning suspiciously, before landing on two small toys that were sat on a small shelf. She picked them up rolling them around in her fingers._

_"__One of my only toys," he grinned, Ginny didn't smile._

_"__Do you mind if I keep this?" she asked._

_"__Why?" Harry asked, frowning slightly but she just shrugged._

"You can surely figure that out for yourself, Harry," Hermione said, looking slightly tearful.

_Harry brushed a spider that had landed on her shoulder before he stood up and extended his hand toward her. "Come on, get out of there."_

_He pulled her out, pulling the light switch before shutting the door behind her. When he turned around again to face her she wrapped him in a hug._

_"__It's okay, Gin," Harry said, rubbing her back, she drew back but her eyes were no longer filled with tears they were burning with a fire which made Harry looked worried. _

"Oh dear," Ron said.

"_You will not be hexing anyone will we're here, well unless my Uncle –"_

"Yeah, he could do with hexing," Dudley grinned.

_'What are you two doing?" Petunia said, coming out of the kitchen carrying a tray while Teddy followed behind her, somehow managing to trip over the wooden door strip and falling on his face._

_Harry, who had moved to catch him, knelt down, picking the young boy up, and smiling apologetically at Petunia, who had been knocked a bit as Teddy fell and shooting Ginny a warning look._

_'You alright?" Harry asked, looking at his godson fondly._

_'Yeah," Teddy nodded. "I'm used to it."_

_Harry and Ginny chuckled at the truth of that statement._

Several other people laughed as well.

_"__Back to my original question," Petunia began. _

_"__You shouldn't ask," Harry said, looking from the cupboard to Ginny._

_"__Oh," Petunia sighed, guilt flashing across her face, as she gestured for them to enter the lounge again and she sat the tray down on the table. "Listen, I-I feel terrible about that, I should have stopped Vernon for how he treated you and I should have treated you far better than I did, you're my nephew. I should have done what Dumbledore asked me to do, to treat you as a son, but I was jealous of your mother and, well, I didn't want to become attached to you because I knew magic would steal you away and I thought that, eventually, it would kill you, too._

"That's mad," Gideon said.

_"__So I thought that if we squashed the magic out of you, you'd live a muggle life, and in my eyes then, normal life. The magic wouldn't take you away and you wouldn't be killed by it, I know it's completely illogical._

"Yep," Fabian nodded.

_"__And the cupboard I thought who would look for a child under the stairs, if anyone did come looking for you and got in why would they ever look under the stairs, I certainly wouldn't, nor would anyone I know and I hoped that no dark wizard would. I thought maybe it would keep you safe, hidden._

"The gestures sweet, Tuney," Lily said, "but you went about it in the wrong way."

_"__I'm so sorry, Harry, I just hope you can forgive, I want to start a fresh."_

_Harry, Ginny and Teddy had sat down on the sofa while Petunia sat in her usual arm chair as she had spoken, and now they had fallen into uncomfortable silence, Teddy looking extremely confused. Harry sighed._

_"__You know what?" Harry asked. "I forgive you. I'd nearly had anyways because, well, I already knew you were jealous, it was only nearly because that didn't really seem enough."_

"How did you know that?" Petunia asked.

"Let's just some memories I was giving," Harry said, looking at the sisters.

_"__You- what?" Petunia spluttered._

_"__I forgive you," Harry chuckled, clearly enjoying seeing his aunt like this._

"It is a bit amusing, Mum," Dudley chuckled

_"__Thank you," she breathed, rushing to hug him. "Thank you."_

_"__How's Uncle Vernon?" he asked, as she sat back down smiling._

_"__Annoying," Petunia muttered before changing the subject. "I've been wanting to see if you survived the war since we came back to the house, I mean, you know, I assumed you had since Hestia and Dedalus didn't say you didn't, but I wanted to be sure, you know. I never voiced it to Dudley or Vernon, which is probably why Dudley didn't mention that you've been in contact._

_"__How long have you been in contact anyway?"_

"A bit more than a year," Dudley said.

_"__What was it?" Harry looked at Ginny. "Summer 2001? So a bit more than a year."_

_"__And he came to your wedding?" Petunia pressed._

_Ginny answered this time, "yeah, it was good for Harry to have some family there. We would have invited you –"_

_"__If you thought I cared or would want to go to a wizard wedding?" Petunia questioned, not a cold tone in her voice._

_Harry raised his eyebrows as she said 'wizard' but answered anyway chuckling slightly, "yep, that's about it."_

Several people chuckled or rolled their eyes.

_Petunia seemed unable to keep from rolling her eyes at him, a little smile playing at her lips._

_"__Well, how about roast chicken sandwiches?" Petunia questioned, as she stood up. "We had it for Sunday dinner and we need someone to eat it up."_

_"__That sounds lovely," Ginny smiled, still slightly colder than Harry._

"Harry forgives quicker than me," she muttered.

"To true," Ron muttered.

"_Would you like some help?"_

_"__No, no it's alright, I can manage," Petunia smiled warmly at the young women. "Plus, I think it's high time I cooked Harry a meal again."_

_Harry chuckled slightly. Two minutes later, Petunia came back with a plate on each hand which Harry took from her and gave to Teddy and Ginny, as Petunia brought another two in for her and Harry._

_"__So what have you been doing?" Petunia questioned. "Apart from getting married?"_

_"__Well, Gin became star chaser for the Holyhead Harpies," Harry said, smiling proudly at his wife. "You know what Quidditch is right?"_

_"__Actually, yes, I do," Petunia smiled. "I know its dangerous and a sport,_

"It's not dangerous," all the Quidditch fanes disagreed.

"Unless Harry's playing," Hermione added causing Harry to huff and glare at her.

_that the chasers throw the Quaffle into three hopes. Hestia."_

_"__Yes, she's quite the Quidditch fan," Ginny laughed._

_"__That was some time in autumn, 2001," Harry said. "That made the wedding planning all the more difficult."_

_"__Tell me about it," Ginny sighed._

_"__Do you enjoy it?" Petunia asked her godsons' wife._

_"__Love it," she beamed. "It's hard leaving these two though."_

_"__Ah, we're flattered, Gin," Harry smiled teasingly as Teddy beamed up at her, still munching on his sandwich._

Ginny nudged her husband as people laughed.

_"__And you Harry?" Petunia smiled, watching the exchange. _

_"__Harry went into Auror training when he was 18," Ginny smiled. "Became a full trained Auror two years ago"_

_"__Remind me what an Auror is?"Petunia said, looking slightly sheepish._

_"__It's kind of the police force but a lot more militarised," Harry smiled. "We catch dark wizards."_

_"__But I thought you killed … Voldenort or whatever his name was," Petunia frowned. "At least that's what Dedalus said."_

_"__Voldemort."_

_"__Close enough.2_

_"__Yeah, well there's still some of his followers running around like the maniacs they are," Harry grimaced. "They need to be rounded up and then there are others."_

_"__Oh god," Petunia sighed. "Just don't get yourself killed."_

_"__I say that every time he leaves," Ginny laughed._

_"__Leaves?" Petunia questioned._

"Missions," several people said.

_"__Yeah, he goes on missions and raids," Teddy said, playing with a bit of rug, obviously uninterested in the adults' conversation. _

_"__So Teddy do you go to primary school, now?" Petunia said, turning to the turquoise haired boy._

_"__Yep," he nodded. "Started in September."_

_"__Do wizarding children usually go to primary school?" Petunia asked. "Or do they go to a wizarding primary school."_

_"__It's up up to the parents," Ginny said. "You can enrol them in a Muggle they've managed to control their accidental magic well enough or you can home school them till they can or, the final option, to home school them completely, before they go to Hogwarts."_

_"__So did his parent's tell you that they wanted him to go to a Muggle primary school or did you choose?" Petunia asked._

_"__Remus and Tonks, his parents, wrote it in their will," Harry sighed. "We're just honouring their wishes. Plus, it's a good experience to have, don't you think, Ted?"_

"No," Teddy said.

_"__It's great," Teddy laughed as Ginny looked at her watch._

"I liked it?" he chuckled.

"You loved it," Ginny smiled.

_"__Sugar, Harry, we've got to go," she said. "Ron needs you and Hermione needs me. Our best friends as getting married."_

The twins and marauders cheered.

_"__Right," Petunia said, standing up and showing the small family into the hall. She saw Harry put Teddy's hat, gloves, coat and scarf on before retrieving his own and placing them on._

_"__It was lovely meeting you, Petunia," Ginny smiled, hugging the elder women as Harry put his scarf on._

"There you are," James laughed. "You've won the wife over."

_"__If you want to contact us, talk to Dudley, he has all the numbers and addresses," Harry said, hugging his aunt. "We'll have to have you over sometime."_

_"__That'd been nice," Petunia beamed, kneeling down to say goodbye to Teddy._

_It was obvious that the child wasn't as forgiving as the couple with him as he stuck out his small hand for her to shake instead of hugging her._

"Teddy," Remus sighed amused.

_"__Thank you," he said._

_"__Anytime," Petunia smiled standing up._

_The family of three waved goodbye, before walking out into the snowy suburb. _

"That was interesting," Sirius muttered as the landed back in the family room.

"Oh cheer up," Fabian chuckled.

"Laugh, joke, you're a marauder for Merlins sake!" Gideon laughed himself.

"The past is the past, Sirius," Molly said. "If that's what bothering you, we've all moved on from it and forgave them. You need to the same."

Sirius grumbled slightly causing James lips to twitch and Teddy to realize where Harry got a bit of his protectiveness over him from.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Hermione smiled, eyeing Sirius.

'Yeah," Harry grinned, hugging her.

They all said their goodbyes to the twins, Mad-Eye, Molly, Arthur, Ron and Hermione before Petunia turned to Harry.

"Why don't you, Ginny, Lily and James go out?" she smiled. "I'm sure it'd be nice to have some time alone."

Harry turned to Ginny who nodded happily at the idea.

"Yeah, great idea," Harry grinned. "You, Dudley and Teddy can ask Kreacher if you need anything, he answers to anyone in the family – he might answer to Sirius, you'll have to see."

"We'll manage," Dudley grinned.

"Actually," Dora said, "we were planning on going out as well so it'll just be you three… if that's alright, Harry?"

She had the sudden reminder that Harry was his guardian – she shouldn't just be making plans with his 'charge' without clearing it with me. The panic faded as he shot her a surprised look.

"Go for it," he said still looking at her oddly.

"…Do we really want to leave Sirius alone with them?" Remus questioned.

"I won't kill them," Sirius said and when he noticed Harry's raised eyebrows her added, "and I promise not to harm, hex or scare them in anyway."

Dudley and Petunia sighed in relief as Harry nodded before he, Lily. James and Ginny left the room and the Lupin's followed not long after – once Remus had given Sirius a stern look.


	28. Chapter 27 - The Potters

"Well where do you want to go?" Ginny asked, pulling on her brown coat.

"Muggle or Magical?" Lily grinned, putting on her own.

"Magical," James said.

"Three Broomsticks?" Harry suggested.

"Perfect," Lily beamed.

"Shall we floo or Apparate?" Ginny questioned. "It's way too far to drive or fly!"

"Let's just Apparate," James shrugged.

The other three nodded and they all stepped out to walk out of the wards so they could Apparate up to Scotland.

When they opened their eyes they were standing it a rainy Hogsmeade. It was dark out and all the buildings were ablaze with lights. They quickly headed to the Three Broomsticks before they could get to wet. The pub was warm and, as usual, crowded, so crowded in fact the Lily, James, Harry and Ginny could slip into chairs around a table without being noticed by anyone but Rosmerta, who still worked at the pub and was standing by a table near by.

"Harry, Ginny, how are you?" she smiled coming over. "We haven't seen you in a while.2

"I'll give you one word, Rosmerta," Harry grinned. "Work."

"Yes, I suppose they must be working you hard now," Rosmerta smiled, her eyes sliding to Lily and James and the smile turning into a full blown beam. "And you two, it's great to have you back. James, I do hope you and Sirius plan on coming back and making me laugh!"

"Thank you," Lily smiled as James let a loud laugh. I trust you're well?"

"Fine,' Rosmerta beamed. "What can I get you today?"

"I'll have a Gillywater, thanks Rosmerta," Ginny smiled. "And we'll need some menus."

"Right," Rosmerta nodded.

"Red current rum, please," James said.

"Cheery syrup for me," Lily grinned.

"And you, Harry?" Rosmerta asked.

"Mead, thanks Rosmerta," Harry smiled.

"Okay," she smiled. "I'll be right back."

She walked over to the bar and was back in a few minutes with four menus and their drinks on a tray. They fell into easy conversation as the looked at the short menu – The Three Broomsticks was more of a pub than a restaurant.

"So what's it like being a full trained Auror?" James asked Harry once they had all ordered sipping his drink. It was slightly awkward now because even though he knew a lot about his son's life he still didn't feel like he actually knew his son and had a relationship with him. This seemed like a safe topic.

"It's the same as working for the Order, I guess," Harry shrugged. "Except there's a lot more paperwork."

"I could have guessed that," James chuckled.

"I give you what it's like," Ginny scowled. "Terrifying."

"Yes but that's because you worry too much," Harry sighed exasperated at the familiar arguments between the two of the, shaking his head.

"I do not!" Ginny said, indigently. "I worry the perfect amount when my husbands hand is pointing to mortal peril on the clock."

"Alright, alright," Lily laughed. "Although, I'm on Ginny's side."

"Yes, you never were subdued when Padfoot, Moony and I came back from Order missions," James chuckled.

"Of course not, you could have died!" Lily said wildly.

"You're as bad as us," Ginny laughed.

"So it's two, two," Harry grinned.

"No Hermione's on my side," Ginny laughed.

"And Molly?" Lily guessed, causing Harry and Ginny to nod.

"All the men in the family said it's worrying," Ginny said. "So I think we win."

James and Harry frowned as the women high-fived, laughing at their husbands' expressions.

"So do you still want to be a Healer?" Ginny asked Lily a few minutes later. "The injuries aren't as gruesome now."

"Although, you do get us Aurors in," Harry chuckled, "but not too often."

"Yeah, I do, why?" Lily asked.

"We'll you remember my brother George?" Ginny asked causing Lily to nod in response. "Well his wife, Angelina, is a Healer at St. Mungo's, she'd be happy to help you get back into it."

"Really?" Lily said happily.

"She'd love it," Harry chuckled. "Although, I warn you, she really likes Quidditch."

"What is it with your family and Quidditch?" Lily groaned.

"Quidditch is great, Lil," James smiled, nudging her.

"If you say so," she said, airily as Harry and Ginny chuckled.

"I do," James nodded. "And I'm positive your son and his wife agree."

"This is so not fair," Lily groaned. "I'm outnumbered."

'You can't win everything, mum,' Harry laughed as Rosmerta came over with their food. The conversation halted as she put down the food and they thanked her but as soon as she left they continued as though they're had been no pause.

"Yes, but it's very rare that I win," James pouted, cutting up his food and placing it in his mouth as Ginny spoke.

"Aww, poor you,! Ginny laughed.

"Sounds like Ron and Hermione," Harry laughed.

"What?" Lily asked. "Let me guess, Hermione wins most of the time."

"Yep," Harry and Ginny laughed.

"9 out of 10 times," Ginny then added after a sip of her drink.

"He has my pity," James chuckled.

"Of course he does," Lily muttered fondly, rolling her eyes.

For a few minutes there was only the sound of knives and forks on the plate before Ginny spoke again.

"This is going to sound really random," she grinned, letting out a little laugh. "But what was Harry's first word?"

"Really, Gin?" Harry chuckled.

"Well," Ginny said, looking as though she wasn't sure whether to frown or smiled. "After we got married mum embarrassed me with loads of baby things, so now it's your turn."

She smirked wickedly as Harry groaned and Lily and James laughed.

"It was 'Moony'," Lily laughed.

"Really?" Ginny laughed. "Moony?"

"Harry probably liked Remus best out of all of us," James chuckled. "Although that was after Lily."

"That's because I'm his mother," Lily laughed happily. "Anyway, he preferred Sirius in his dog form."

"Cat hated Padfoot, though," James chuckled.

"He looks like the grim," Ginny reasoned.

"I don't like cats," Harry muttered and James shrugged at Ginny.

"Are you sure you just don't like Crookshanks, love?" Ginny countered.

"That's that not a cat," Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, really," Ginny asked, amused. "What is he then?"

"A very small tiger," Harry said, causing James to snort.

"You're so lucky Hermione isn't hiding behind you right now," Ginny smiled.

"Tell me about it," Harry moaned looking around warily.

"You never did like our cat either," Lily mused. "You used to follow her around the house and trying ride her or pull her tail."

"The one I nearly killed on the broom Sirius gave me?" Harry chuckled.

"How do you know about that?" James asked surprised.

"Found a letter to Sirius," Harry shrugged. "While we stayed at Grimmauld Place '97."

"Yes, that one," Lily smiled. "You hated her. While I felt sorry for her, she liked you a lot, would lie underneath your crib while you slept and would hiss if anyone came near when you weren't crying."

"I wonder what happened to her," James frowned.

"Yes because you liked Cleo _so_ much," Lily said, sarcastically. "That was the cats' name – Cleo."

"Maybe she was given to Mrs Figg," Ginny suggested.

"She did have a lot of cats…" Harry nodded, grimacing slightly.

"And that might explain your dislike for cats," Ginny chuckled. "If we hadn't just learnt you hated them from the beginning!"

"Huh?" James asked.

"Harry used to go to Mrs Figgs when he was living with Petunia," Ginny said.

"And she used to show me the pictures of all the cats she'd owned," Harry groaned as Lily laughed slightly and James looked sympathetic.

"So," Lily said, leaning towards her son with a Hermione-ish look on her face, "was there or was there not a scruffy black cat that was very protective of you?"

Harry screwed his face up as though remembering something extremely unpleasant as Ginny laughed at the expression on her husbands face.

"There was a black cat," Harry said slowly, "but it's wasn't scruffy at all, it used to follow me around."

"I wonder if that's Cleo," James muttered. "Maybe she lost her scruffiness as she aged…"

"I just hope she didn't die during or after the attack because no one was left to feed her," Lily frowned.

"So, out of curiosity," Ginny began, "why did you have a cat if James doesn't particularly like them?"

"We found it in the loft," James frowned. "And Lily begged me to keep her."

"Works well, doesn't it," Ginny grinned at Lily.

"Begging," Lily nodded.

"You can't say no to her either, huh?" James chuckled.

"Not when she begs me," Harry muttered.

"Potters," Lily and Ginny grinned.

"Are you forgetting that you're Potters as well?" Harry asked.

"I'm an Evans," Lily said while Ginny said, "I'm a Weasley."

Harry rolled his eyes as James asked, "are we really going to spend most of this dinner debating pointless stuff?"

"Look at that," Lily said in amazement, "your father's being logical, Harry. Duck for cover."

"Has hell frozen over?" Harry asked as James huffed at his wife and son.

"Remind me why I married you?" James asked Lily, still glaring slightly at Harry, who was smirking.

"Because you finally got me after seven years chasing me?" Lily suggested sweetly.

"Seven years?" Ginny asked, eyeing her father-in-law.

"Yeah," James said, sheepishly.

"So, that memory we watched was common?" Ginny said, raising her eyes brows.

"Yep," Lily said having closed her eyes and bit her lip, grinning. "Although I came up with different things each time, it wasn't always I'd rather go out with Giant Squid."

"Although he did feature in the insults a lot," James muttered before saying louder, "didn't you once say you'd go out with it before you even thought about going out with me?"

"Oh," Harry grinned. "How was your date with the Squid then, Mum? I hope he at the very least was a gentleman to you!"

"Shut up, you," Lily said, fondly.

"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled before taking a bit of his dinner.

Lily rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink.

"So you were saying you didn't work," James said to Ginny abrubly changing the subject away from his school behaviour. "Don't you get bored?"

"Not really," Ginny shrugged. "Although once they all go to Hogwarts I was thinking of working again."

"Why only then?" Lily asked.

'The kids like coming home to someone after primary school - Harry's never around when they get home," Ginny smiled. "Plus I don't want not be out a work a lot and not see them as often as I do now, again, we have enough trouble with this idiot having unpredictable hours and there's no way we want a child minder."

"My hours are not that-" Harry began but Ginny cut him off.

"You could get a Patronus or letter at anytime saying you need to go to work," she frowned.

"Good point," Harry said looking away from her as James chuckled.

Lily, however, frowned, "does that happen often?"

"Nah," Harry shrugged. "Only recently with you people returning. Generally, I _have _to be the one to check every knew arrival – hence why it's been very hard for me to take time off. I've put my deputy in charge this last week or so. Luckily I have completely faith in him and he's completely competent."

"He is good," Ginny smiled. "Everyone coming back though is just the best thing though. We won and now it'll be like we didn't lose too many people."

"We're so lucky," James muttered.

"We have second chance," Lily grinned, swaying slightly at the music that had just come on.

"Its good music isn't it?" Ginny noticed. "They liked to play muggle songs on Friday nights.?"

"Muggle songs?" James asked. "Why?"

"Don't know, maybe to give muggle-borns a feeling that they're not losing that side of them," Harry shrugged. "It's good though."

"It does feel like that sometimes," Lily smiled, setting her knife and fork down.

"All done?" Rosmerta said, appearing almost instantly.

"Yes, thank you," Ginny smiled.

Rosmerta nodded and started to gather up the plates, empty glass and cutlery. She took them into the back before she came back to their table with another menu.

"Would you like to have a look at the desserts?" she asked, smiling.

"Sure," Lily grinned.

Rosmerta placed it on the table before disappearing behind the bar again. They spent a few minutes pondering over the menu before James decided to have a chocolate cake, Ginny a fruit parfait while Harry and Lily had both gone for their favourite – Lily had grinned at the revelation that she had something else in common with her only child – treacle tart.

The rest of the evening was spent trading stories, Harry ending up being embarrassed by his parents to Ginny's immense amusement, and by the time they returned to the manor it was past midnight, Remus, Dora and Teddy were back and asleep as was everyone else. They snuck quietly up to their respectable rooms – Lily and James bidding Ginny goodnight before following Harry further into the house: him to check just poke his head in on Teddy and them into their room.


	29. Chapter 28 - Aurors

"Morning," Ginny beamed as Teddy wandered in the net morning, later than everyone else.

"G'morning," Teddy mumbled sitting in his seat by Harry who chuckled.

"Sleep well, Ted?" he asked innocently.

Teddy just glared at him slightly, "what do you think?"

"Cheer up, Teddy," Harry frowned. "It's your birthday on Wednesday, you'll be of age."

"Woah," Teddy said sarcastically, starting to eat his breakfast.

Harry and Ginny shared a confused look over the table before Harry shrugged at Remus and Dora and continued to eat his own breakfast. Slightly though he wonder if anything happened last night between the family though it was quickly dismissed – Remus and Dora didn't seem at all uncomfortable or to be fretting over anything. Clearly this was Teddy's issue and he wasn't going to push it. The kid was always in a bad mood after a restless nights sleep.

"Thinking about, Harry," Dora suddenly said. "Shouldn't the Easter Holiday's have ended by now?"

"Yeah," Harry suddenly looked very uncomfortable at the question. "They should have gone back at the beginning of the week but everyone's got time off due to a prank that went bad."

"How bad could a prank go to shut down Hogwarts?" James, Sirius and Remus all exclaimed.

"Well, it wasn't a very good prank," Harry sighed, setting down his knife and fork. "It made quite a few people ill and destroyed some classrooms rather thoroughly."

"Right, when do they go back?" Lily asked, frowning not really wanting to get into the whole what happened and why and by whom.

"If everything goes to plan," Harry shrugged. "Next Saturday, so exactly a week."

"Shall we get started?" Ron said as he and the rest of the Weasleys walked into the room.

"Good morning to you to, Ron," Ginny said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Ron chuckled.

"Let's go," Harry said. "I've already done the memories for today."

Harry and Ginny were sitting on the sofa in the lounge when they all landed in the pensieve for the first time that day, as Teddy played on the floor in front of them, now 4. You could see, through the large window that all the snow had gone from the last memory replaced by bare trees.

"It's November," Molly murmured.

_Teddy yawned causing Harry to start to rise from the sofa when a large lynx landed in front of him. The family of three froze, staring at it, suddenly tense as though they knew that it had something bad to say._

_And say it did, in Kingsley's calm voice._

_"__Sorry, Harry, it's time," he said. "Say goodbye to your family and get to the ministry as quick as possible, meet the Head Auror in the conference room."_

"What's going on?" the twins asked.

_Ginny had sighed and closed her eyes after Kingsley said the first few words, leaning back on the sofa as Teddy looked confused. Harry ran a hand though his hair, not moving his eyes from where the Patronus had just vanished._

_"__Harry," Ginny said "Go."_

_"__Yeah, right," Harry said, shaking himself. "I'll be back in a month and a bit."_

"Long mission," Moody grunted. "A Death Eater round up, I suppose."

"Yep," Harry nodded as Lily and James looked worried, not liking the idea of Harry and Death Eaters despite what they had watched the last few weeks.

_Ginny nodded and he kissed her soundly before crouching down to Teddy. The young child looked up at his godfather confused by the serious expression on his usually smiling face._

_"__Now Teddy, listen to me," Harry said. "I'm going away from a month or two, okay, but you be good for Ginny and do as she says okay?"_

_Teddy nodded but looked slightly frightened, Harry wrapped him in a tight hug, ruffled his hair before kissing Ginny on the cheek and leaving the house via the fireplace._

"Such as nice leaving scene," Dora said, slightly sarcastically. "You'd think it wasn't dangerous at all."

"Yeah, sorry, Ted," Harry chuckled, "but we're skipping."

"_Alright," the Head Auror said. "We'll set up camp here for the night, continue in the morning. Try look like Muggles guys."_

_The Aurors all nodded, heading into a clearing._

_"__Well, this'll be fun," an Auror muttered to Harry._

"Mick," Ginny chuckled.

_"__Don't be so boring, Bovent," Harry chuckled. "At least we're all still here after yesterday,_

"What happened yesterday?" Molly fretted.

"Kinda got attacked," Harry shrugged. "We all got out of it though and sent a load of Death Eaters to the Ministry to be put in Azkaban."

_now help me with this tent.'_

_"__You realize I have no idea how to put up a tent, right?" Bovent said, looking at Harry like he was mad._

_"__Do you think I do?" Harry chuckled, looking at the tent._

_"__Didn't you grow up with Muggles?" Bovent asked, crouching down next to Harry to look down of the tent._

'We never went camping," Dudley reasoned.

_"__We never went camping!" Harry laughed at the absurbity of the sentance. "No way, my Uncle and Cousin liked the TV too much to do that."_

"Oi!" Dudley exclaimed, although you could tell he knew it was true.

_"__TV?" Bovent frowned._

"He's a pureblood, isn't he?" Petunia asked causing everyone who knew the Deputy Head of the Auror Office to nod.

_"__Never mind," Harry muttered, then he frowned. "We're being idiots, just put the right colour pole through the holes and peg it down."_

"That really is you being idiotic," Teddy muttered, seeming to be over his bad mood having realized what this memory was.

_Ten minutes later Harry and Bovent had the tent up and were walking around helping the other Aurors do theirs._

"Of course," Hermione smiled.

"Skipping," Harry muttered.

"_Right men – and women," the Head Auror said, as all the Aurors sat around the camp fire. "I sent a few of you over the hills earlier today and the group of D.E's _

"D.E's?" Ginny asked.

"He seemed to think it was a bad idea to say Death Eaters," Harry grinned. "The only thing I actually agree with him on."

"Wasn't he your boss?" Remus asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, but he was an idiot."

_are still there. Tomorrow morning well set the plan in motion so I want all of you rested and, sadly, we won't have anyone on guard tonight."_

"That's mad!" Ron exclaimed.

_Many of the Aurors frowned, obviously not liking that idea and Harry glared around the tall grass surrounding them._

"Something's there, isn't there?" Dora worried, knowing how good Harry's senses were.

_"__There are protective enchantments up but if anyone would come looking, boss," the deputy head said, "they'd be able to break them."_

"Now _he _has sense," Sirius said.

_"__We'll be fine for one night," the Head said firmly_

"Yes, and one night could be the night you're actually in danger," James frowned.

_but a few Aurors, Harry included, exchange wary looks. "Potter!"_

_"__Yes, sir," Harry said, his head snapping from Bovent, who he had shared a glance with, to the Head Auror._

_"__Have you seen anyone around?"_

_Harry paused a while before answering, "No, sir, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there."_

"Exactly," Moody grunted.

_Several Aurors nodded._

_"__Get to bed," the Head Auror growled._

_The Aurors sighed; heaving themselves off the low logs they were sitting on and heading in twos towards tents._

_"__Man's an idiot," Bovent muttered as he and Harry entered their tent and flopped into a chair. _

"Yes, we agree," Arthur frowned.

"_Haven't seen anyone so no one will stand guard, does he want us to get killed…_

"Good question,"the twins muttered.

_you alright, mate?"_

_"__Someone's out there," Harry frowned toward the entrance of their tent. "I can feel them watching us."_

"Uh oh," many muttered.

_"__Us as in us two or us as in …?" Bovent began but Harry cut him off._

_"__Us as in the Team, Mick," he said, pulling the tent flap back and looking out into the grass, his hand gripping the wand hard in his pocket._

_They were both silent for a few minutes._

_"__You're probably imagining it, Harry," Bovent shrugged._

"I doubt it," Hermione said.

"_We've been away for a month,_

'You'll be going home soon," Dora breathed.

_the tension might just be getting to you – Merlin knows it is me with that idiot leading us."_

_Harry snorted._

_"__And shut the door," Bovent muttered. "Not that it'll do much good, who's idea was it to go camping in December, anyway?"_

_"__Certainly not mine," Harry chuckled, closing the door and doing the zip up._

"But we've done it before," the trio muttered before Harry spoke alone. "Moving on."

"You'll be home, right?" James asked but got no answer.

_"__Merry Christmas," Hermione sang, as Ginny and Teddy stepped into the Burrow both wrapped in warm clothes._

"Ginny's memories?" Remus asked, worried.

_"__Merry Christmas to you to, Hermione," Ginny smiled, going down to her knees to take Teddy's coat and hat off. "You're cheerful."_

_"__It's Christmas," Hermione shrugged, taking Teddy's coat and hanging it up on a hook. _

_"__Should have known that was a good enough reason," Ginny laughed, taking her own coat off._

"You're like a little kid," Petunia laughed to her nephews sister.

_"__How are you two, anyway?" Hermione asked slightly more serious leading Ginny and Teddy through the Burrow into the lounge._

_"__Fine," Ginny smiled._

_"__Hi," 2 year old Victoire said, toddling over to them. _

"Aww," several people cooed.

_"__Hello Victoire," Ginny beamed, picking up her niece and making her way to a tired looking Bill and Fleur._

"Let me guess," Lily smiled. "Dominique's been born and is still young."

Everyone who had been alive nodded.

_"__Hey," Bill grinned, giving her a one armed hug._

_"__Bonjour," Fleur smiled._

_"__Hi, how's Dominique?" Ginny asked._

_"__Fine," Bill breathed. "'She seems to require more attention than Victoire did. She's upstairs with Lucy. Sleeping."_

"Lucy's Percy's eldest daughter right?" Dora checked.

"Yep," Teddy told his mother.

_"__She small," Victoire said, firmly._

_"__So were you," Hermione smiled at her as she looked shocked and disagreeable, shaking her head in Ginny's arms._

Several people laughed.

_"__Vikki, why don't you go with Teddy?" Ginny suggested putting the young girl down as Teddy sent her a questioning look._

_As soon as Teddy disappeared round the corner with Victoire an owl flew through the window, nearly hitting Hermione on the head, before landing on Ginny's shoulder. Ginny frowned, reaching up to relieve the owl of its letter._

"Oh no," Dudley said, remembering being told by Ginny what had happened, he'd been in a panic for months as well as going over there often to help Ginny with Teddy.

_"__What is it?" Hermione asked frowning slightly. "That's a Ministry owl."_

"We know," the twins frowned.

_"__I know," Ginny muttered, looking as if she dare not open it._

_Taking a deep breathe, she slid her finger under the envelope slip and flicked it out, pulling the letter out an unfolding it._

_As soon as it unfolded, the letter flew out of her hands and began to speak._

**_'_****_Dear Mrs Potter,'_**_ the letter said._**_ 'It is with deepest regret that I write this letter to you today of all days, delivering you news you wouldn't want to here on any day. _**

"No!" everyone groaned.

_Mrs Potter, I am sorry to inform you that the Auror mission your husband was on has gone wrong and the Aurors missing. So far we have no clues as to their position, however, we promise to do our best to find them._

_Merry Christmas._

"Yes because you're going to enjoy Christmas after that," Sirius muttered.

**_Anett Sangster_**

**_Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement _**

**_Ministry of Magic.'_**

_The whole room had fallen quiet as everyone turned to look at Ginny and the letter. Molly was frozen in the kitchen door way, Arthur standing next to her, holding a plate she had obviously just dropped. Percy and Audrey were gazing in horror at the letter, Charlie looking shocked in the chair opposite them. George had wrapped an arm around Angelina, who had a hand to her mouth and Ron had sunk into a chair. Ginny and Hermione just stood frozen, hardly breathing staring at the letter hovering between them._

"Not very often it's that quiet in the Burrow," Dora smirked half heartedly.

_The silence was the broken by a piercing wail from upstairs._

_"__Sorry," Audrey muttered, hurrying out the room and up the stairs and, yet, still no one else moved._

_"__Oh my god," Hermione muttered, raising a hand to her face as everyone softened and began to move again._

_Ginny reached out to the letter, reading it though. She shut her eyes and pressed her lips together, Hermione wrapping an arm around her, tears glistening in her eyes._

_"__Some Christmas present," George choked out_

"That's what we were thinking," the twins joked.

_causing Angelina to hit him lightly._

_"__This is bad," she murmured. _

_"__No kidding," Fleur sighed. "Well, zere goes a 'appy Christmas."_

"Sorry," Harry chuckled.

_"__Ginny, dear, are you alright?" Molly asked, looking at her only daughter, who was taking deep breathes._

_"__Fine," Ginny said shortly but not the slightest bit harsh._

_"__She's been around Harry too long," Ron muttered to himself although everyone heard before he said louder. _

"I'm not sure weather to take offense to that," Harry and Ginny said.

"_You sure don't look fine."_

'Blunt, Ronald,' Hermione muttered.

_"__I'll be right back," she said, pulling away from Hermione and heading toward the stairs, she paused at the bottom, frowning up at the ceiling before shaking her head and backing away. _

"You were going to tell Teddy weren't you?" Remus asked.

"Then I decided I let him enjoy Christmas," Ginny nodded causing Teddy to roll his eyes.

_Changing her course, she grabbed her coat and stepped back into the snow. Closing the door behind her, she leaned back against it covering her face with hands._

Harry wrapped his arm around his wife waist, feeling bad for causing her pain.

"Changing," he said.

"_Knew he was a real idiot," Bovent muttered,_

"If you're talking about your boss," Sirius muttered. "We all did."

_as he and Harry sat in a large room both with their arms wrapped around themselves, shivering slightly. _

"Was it cold in there?" the twins asked innocently.

_"__Knew that since he first started," Harry laughed slightly. "Remember when he was the same level as us."_

_"__Urg, he was so smug," Bovent shuddered _

"I remember that," Ginny and Hermione wrinkled their noses.

_then he sighed. "I should have known _you_ weren't imagining things last night."_

"Yeah, Harry doesn't imagine things like that," Ron chuckled.

_"__If there's anything my friends complimented me on, Mick," Harry managed a chuckle. "It was my reflexes and senses."_

"That's cause that's all you're good at," Ron joked nudging Harry.

_"__Then you should be Head Auror," Bovent shivered rubbing his arms with his hands. "That's the type of person we need… if we survive this –"_

_"__When we survive this," Harry corrected._

"Good Potter," Moody said.

_"__Whatever," Bovent rolled his eyes. "He'll most likely be fired, you should put down for Head Auror."_

_"__No thanks," Harry grimaced. _

"But you are Head Auror!" James pointed out proudly.

_"__Shame," said an Auror on the other side of Harry, who had obviously be listening. "We want a good head next time not another idiot."_

_Both Harry and Bovent opened their mouths to say something but feel silent when a small door down the end creaked open. _

Lily groaned.

_All the Aurors jumped to their feet out of instinct, reaching for their wands, before letting their arms flop back down to their sides, not having them._

"If that was anywhere else it would be kind of amusing," Dora grinned.

_"__Yep, when we get out of this, I'm going to kill Head Auror Foss," Harry muttered, glaring as a masked Death Eater stepped in._

"Didn't he die?" Ginny laughed.

"Not by me," Harry said.

_"__I'll help," the two Aurors either side of him said._

_The Death Eaters head turned around the room of captive Aurors, stopping and glaring fiercely at Harry, who just smiled back. _

"Don't irate it," James groaned.

_The Death Eaters fists clenched, before he reached out, pointing his wand at the Auror closest to him._

_"__Crucio," he said._

_The Auror fell to his knees, screaming as the rest of the Aurors cringed, clenching their own fists. _

"What did he do?" Petunia asked, flinching.

"Nothing," Harry frowned.

_A few of the Aurors closest to the Death Eater went to hit him, but Foss shook his head._

"Probably wouldn't help," Sirius muttered.

"Wouldn't be so sure, Black," Moody grunted.

_"__Boss," Harry hissed. "All of us can take one Death Eater out."_

_"__Don't do anything," Foss snapped quietly at him._

_"__I agree with Potter," Bovent muttered._

_"__Shut it, you two."_

"He needs to be more open minded," Molly muttered.

_"__If you don't stop talking in here," the Death Eater shouted. "You'll get the same."_

_Harry's teeth audibly snapped together as the Death Eater walked toward them, Bovent and the other Auror glared, as all three of them stepped back in time._

Several people smiled at how in time all the Aurors were moving.

_"__That's not very nice, is it," the Death Eater growled, taking of his mask._

"We'll your not," Dudley growled.

_"__Lestrange," Harry snarled. _

_"__Thought you didn't recognise me, Potter," the Death Eater laughed._

_"__Hard to forget such an ugly face as yours," Harry said, calmly, as a few Aurors sniggered._

"Harry!" Dora, Remus, Lily, James and Petunia exclaimed.

"Shut up," Sirius added.

_"__Shut up," Lestrange said, sending a jet of light toward Harry, who dodged it easily._

Ginny and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

_"__You know, if you give me my wand back, I could help you with your aim," Harry chuckled. "You're terrible."_

"Uncle Harry," Teddy groaned.

_"__Oh really, well, glad you offered," Lestrange laughed._

Several people drew in sharp breathes.

"_But I've been wanting a chat with you."_

"Stay away from him," the twins growled.

_"__Potter," Foss warned_

"Don't distract him!" Moody nearly yelled.

_but in Harry's spilt second distraction, Lestrange had been able to shoot a spell, hitting him in the chest and sending everything back_

"Damn him!" Hermione shrieked, both at Lestrange and at Foss.

_"__Where is the Dark Lord?" a female voice floated though the darkness, Harry's eyes jerked open_

_"__Dead," he said, simply._

_"__Liar," she shrieked, pointing her wand into his cheek._

Everyone tensed, she wasted no time.

"_The Dark Lord had protection against such a thing."_

"We destroyed them, as well," Ron and Hermione said.

_"__They were destroyed before he was," Harry chuckled._

_"__Liar," she shirked again, pushing the wand further into his cheek. "Stop lying; I hope you don't past your lying habits onto your godson, you and the Weasley girl."_

"Hey!"

_Harry's hands clenched, "you leave my family out of this."_

Lily and James smiled proudly at their son.

_"__I will if you tell me where the Dark Lord is," she said in a falsely sweet voice, "and if he is destroyed how to bring him back."_

_"__There no way," Harry said, firmly. "No spell or potion can reawaken the dead."_

_She screamed and pulled her wand away from him before pointing at him and screaming "Crucio."_

"No!" several people screamed.

"There's the answer to your question," Remus muttered to Ginny.

"Skipping."

_Harry cringed as someone screamed from above walking over the Foss who was looking worse for wear. In fact all the Auror's were._

_"__You alright, boss?" Harry asked._

"Who cares," Dudley said.

_"__Fine, Potter," he snapped._

"He was being polite," Molly frowned.

_"__Just asking," Harry raised his hands in surrender, although he sounded extremely irritated. _

"I would be too," everyone said.

"_That's good too because if you're feeling _fine_ then you can come up with a plan to get us out."_

_"__Why me?"_

"Because you're the Head Auror," Hermione snarled.

_"__Because you're the Head Auror," Harry frowned,_

Harry and Hermione grinned and several people smiled at how similar they actually were despite the situation.

_"__because it's your responsibility."_

"Damn right," Ron muttered.

_"__We are not getting out, Potter," Foss said. "So there is no point trying." _

"What?" the twins snapped, staring wide-eyed at Foss.

_"__So, we're not even try to get out!" an Auror nearby snapped but Harry raised his hand._

"And he listens," Sirius chuckled.

_"__You may not care about getting back to your family, boss," Harry and, harshly but the Head Auror seemed to agree, "but some us actually like ours,_

"We're flattered," a few members of his family said.

_so get off your butt and help me get us out."_

_"__Do it yourself, Potter."_

_Harry let out a frustrated noise, and walked away as the door open a Bovent was pushed in landing on the concrete floor._

"Mick," Ginny flinched.

_Harry hurried over._

_"__You okay?" he asked, pulling Bovent up._

_"__Been better," Bovent muttered._

"I think they all have," Arthur sighed.

_"__We all have," Harry sighed. "Luckily I've been worse, so ...2_

_Supporting Bovent, he and Harry walked across the room, Bovent sliding down the wall as Harry crouched next to him._

_"__We need to get out," Bovent muttered. "I saw a window upstairs."_

"So?" Dudley asked, confused.

_Harry raised his eyebrows, sitting down next to him, "And?"_

_"__I saw daffodils, and blossom, green grass," Bovent said before exclaiming. "It's spring!"_

"Spring!" all the dead yelled.

_All the Aurors around them turned to look at them, shocked._

_"__Spring?" Harry repeated. "Are you sure?"_

_"__Positive."_

_Harry sighed and ran a hand though his hair as the Aurors around them broke into loud chatter and others looked at Foss in fury._

"I don't blame them!" Petunia exclaimed.

"I thought Foss as doing something!" Ron yelled, once again glad he had had an injury at that point and was told to get some rest.

_"__Why haven't you tried to help us get out yet!" one Auror snapped._

_Harry looked around warily before placing two fingers in his mouth and giving two sharp whistles._

_"__Shut up!" he said, loudly. "Do you want them to hear us?"_

"Oh Merlin no," Lily gasped.

_Every Auror glanced at the door, barely breathing but after five minutes of silence everyone relaxed. They all glanced at Harry, then at each other, before gathering around him and Bovent._

_"__We need to get out," one muttered._

_"__We're aware,"Harry and Bovent said together._

"I can see why you two are the highest," Moody said.

"We're going back to Ginny," Harry chuckled.

"_Goodnight, Teddy," Ginny whispered, shutting the quietly to his bedroom in Godrics Hollow._

"Night, Aunt Ginny," Teddy grinned.

_She tucked her hair behind her ear as she made her way back downstairs, sighing heavily. Grabbing her mug from the lounge, Ginny made her way into the kitchen, smiling slightly. She waved her wand at her mug, sitting down in the Keeping, while leaving her wand on the work surface._

"Wea – Potter!" Moody snapped.

"Sorry, sorry," Ginny muttered, raising her hands.

_5 minutes later, a loud bang resounded around the house. _

_"__Teddy, stay in your room," Ginny yelled as jumped up from the kitchen and ran into the hallway._

"Wand!" several people groaned and Lily's face flashed with pain. She and James had done that exact thing before they were killed. She was tidying up in the kitchen while James entertained Harry in the kitchen. When she had put her want down on the work surface to deal with a misbehaving dishcloth that wasn't going back it's draw, she had noticed the time. She went to get Harry and had left her wand in the kitchen.

_"__Harry!" she breathed loudly but then it seemed she actually looked at him._

"You're home," James grinned.

_He was leaning against the door, breathing heavily, his hair was longer than when she had last seen him, his face was cut and dirty, and she could see large patches of blood on his clothing._

"Why didn't you go to St Mungos?" Lily snapped at her son.

"He had to check they were safe," Hermione smiled slightly. "Remember that women threatened him with Ginny and Teddy."

Everyone sighed understanding but still disapproving.

_"__St Mungos," she said, not even greeting him, pulling him by the hand toward the fireplace. "Go."_

_She kissed him quickly obviously worried and slightly angry but he didn't move._

_"__Everyone okay?" he asked, his voice sounding vaguely normal, although panicky._

_"__Fine, now go to St Mungos," she said firmly._

"Now, he'll go," Hermione beamed, knowing her brother well.

"Skipping," Ginny said this time.

"_Mrs Potter, there you are," a Healer hurried over towards Ginny who had just stepped into St Mungos._

_The healer grabbed Ginny and pulled her thought the wards, up stairs and through so many corridors that Ginny had no idea where they actually were._

"Polite," Dora muttered.

_"__The Aurors are in here," the nurse said gesturing to the door in front of them. "It may come as a bit of a shock."_

"Oh god, why?" Petunia asked, having not seen Harry actually in the hospital.

"Let's just say they didn't look good," Dudley muttered who had gone to keep Ginny company when she didn't want her family there and he also wanted to check up on his cousin.

_The nurse then left a very confused looking Ginny standing outside the door. Taking a deep breathe, _

"Good idea," Ron muttered.

_she pushed the door open, but stopped in her tracks. Healers, Medi-witchs and wizards were all hurrying around, looks of panic and worry fresh on their face._

Some of the Aurors were twitching and jerking as they slept, while others slept peacefully as though they hadn't for a long time. Many were surrounded by healers but luckily some weren't.

"Oh Merlin," Remus groaned.

She walked up the centre of the long room, pausing every now and then to talk to people who were awake before moving on.

"People treated you like the Head's wife, didn't they?" Arthur laughed.

_Bovent nodded to her as she passed his bed._

_"__Hello, Mick," Ginny smiled, sitting in the chair next to his bed. "Are you alright?"_

_"__If I was I wouldn't be here," Bovent smiled at her. _

"He has a point," the twins laughed.

_"__No, I suppose not," Ginny smiled sadly._

_"__Where's young Teddy?" he asked, looking at the space around Ginny._

_"__I thought I'd come see how everyone looked before I brought him," Ginny sighed, looking at some of the Aurors, _

"Good idea," Dora smiled at her.

_Bovent nodded in agreement to her logic as his eyes flickered to a bed a bit further down._

"I'm guessing that's Harry's bed," Sirius muttered.

_"__Harry lost a lot of blood," Bovent nodded after a few minutes of silence, nodding towards the bed he had glanced at. "Course, I can't actually see him, so I don't know how he looks."_

"We've seen him," Remus said.

_"__Yeah, I know he looks bad," Ginny murmured. "Get better okay."_

_"__Yes, Ma'am," Bovent grinned._

_Ginny rolled her eyes before kissing him on the cheek _

"You three are close aren't you?" Dora observed.

"He's the Deputy Head of the Auror Office now," Harry chuckled. "Take a guess."

_and walking over to Harry's. He looked worse than he had at the house. He was paler, and you could see more cuts on his arms, as well as a long one on his chest. He was sleeping, still not completely relaxed, tensed as though, even in sleep, he was waiting for something._

Lily pressed her lips together and grasped James hand tightly.

_Sitting down again, she took his hand, pressing a kiss to it, before leaning back in the chair obviously content to wait until he woke up or a healer came along. _

_From where Harry's bed was she could see most of the Aurors and it did nothing to calm the worried expression that had been fixed on her face since she entered the room. Studying the man closest to her, it was clear she didn't want to look at Harry's cut self anymore, she saw that his face had taken on a sunken and hollowed appearance, bags were dark under his closed eyes while the skin looked dry and cracked, his hands seemed far to big for his body, his hair was thin and it looked like the tips of his hair were dark than the roots. You could see his cheek bones and his collar bone,_

"Starvation," Petunia muttered.

_Ginny shut her eyes and turned away._

_"__Mrs Potter," a voice said, causing Ginny to look up again._

_"__Yes?" she asked._

_"__Umm, I have been told to tell all the Auror wives or husbands or family that the Head died," the Healer bowed her head._

'Poor man,' Lily said and when some shot her looks she added. "What?! He may have been a idiot but that didn't mean he dissevered to die."

Petunia smiled proudly at her younger sister.

_"__Oh," Ginny gasped, her hands shooting up to her face._

_"__I'm sorry," the Healer said sighing when Ginny waved her away._

"Skipping," Ginny frowned.

"_We're not perfectly sure what happened," a healer was saying to Ginny, who was sitting next to Harry's bed, Teddy lying next to Harry,_

"So you deemed it safe for Teddy," Dora laughed.

"More he had heard Harry's voice so I knew I wouldn't keep him out for long," Ginny corrected.

_although it was obvious he was scared to hurt him. Harry, however, was asleep._

"Had he woken?" James asked.

"No," Ginny sighed, "but it had only been a few days."

_"__No idea?" Ginny asked, glancing at Harry._

_"__We'll it's perfectly obvious that they haven't had enough food," the Healer frowned. _

"Yes, we figured that out for ourselves," Molly frowned.

"_And we have suspicions that the Torture Curse was used, but we're not sure, due to the fact that none of them are insane and therefore there are no symptoms or signs to see._

"It was," Arthur and Remus sighed at the same time.

_"__Some aren't as bad as others," the Healer went on. "We've ever released a few. Your husband, however, well, as you can see has been a bit … um, cut up, they should heal quite quickly though, since they're just normal cuts."_

"They aren't very good at delivering news," Teddy mused.

_"__Why isn't he waking up?" Teddy asked suddenly from his place next to Harry._

_"__We don't know," the Healer said softly to the young boy. "His mind is probably just protecting itself, but you have no need to worry young man, we're sure that he will be fine."_

_"__How can you been sure he'll be fine if you don't know why he's asleep?" Teddy questioned,_

"Teddy!" Harry laughed as everyone either smiled or chuckled.

_and Ginny but her hand to her mouth to hide a smile creeping up on her face._

_"__We just know," the Healer smiled and turned back to Ginny, Teddy, however, frowned but didn't press._

"That wasn't a very good answer," Teddy murmured.

"_I've also seen you over by Auror Bovent's bed …"_

_"__Yes, he and Harry are close," Ginny smiled, glancing over said mans bed._

_"__Well, he going to be perfectly fine as well," the Healer grinned_

"Should she be telling you that?" Lily asked, remembering that they aren't meant to tell anyone who isn't family without the injured or his family permission.

"He has no family," Ginny sighed. "Well he does now but not then."

_as Ginny sighed glad for some good news. "He's just a bit weak, but we expect him to be out of here by the end of the week."_

_"__That's fantastic, thank you," Ginny smiled, the Healer returned her smiled before leaving, Ginny sighed turning back to Harry. "Come on, Harry, wake up, you've slept long enough."_

"Exactly," Molly nodded.

_She got no response and sighed once again._

"Sorry," Harry chuckled. "We're switching again."

It was dark when the memory continued but it soon became light as Harry opened his eyes.

_"__Aunt Ginny!" a young voice yelled excitedly. "He's awake, he's awake!"_

"Calm down, Teddy," Dora laughed.

_"__Teddy, ears," Harry chuckled in a hoarse voice, reaching over to the body next to his to put a hand over the mouth._

Everyone laughed slightly.

_Teddy reached his own hands up to remove Harry's, "sorry,"' he whispered._

"Yes, just keep talking like that," the Prewett twins grinned.

_Harry chuckled, "it's fine, what day is it?"_

_"__Wednesday 14 of May," Teddy recieted for him proudly. "I read it on the paper!"_

"So how long where you asleep?" Sirius asked.

"We return on the 7th," Harry told him.

"A week!" James exclaimed.

_Harry opened his mouth to say something in reply but the Ginny stepped into view a large smile on her face._

_"__You're awake," she beamed._

"Thank Merlin," Hermione and Lily grinned.

_"__Yes, I believe that was what Teddy was shouting," Harry chuckled, hugging Teddy as best he could._

_"__You've been asleep for a week," Ginny frowned, kissing his cheek and seating her self next to his bed obviously not amused._

"Wouldn't expect you to be," Remus frowned.

_2Should I say sorry?" Harry asked, watching her warily._

'Yes, be very wary,' Ron nodded.

_"__No," she said softly, her smile returning slightly. "I just glad you're awake."_

"We all are," Arthur muttered.

"We're changing memories," Harry smiled.

The memory resumed in a large square where Harry, Ron, Neville, George, Molly and Arthur were standing. It was late autumn; the concrete ground was covered by orange and red leaves, the tress bare but the sky was cloudless blue, the overhead sun shining brightly.

"It's our wedding!" Hermione shrieked causing Harry to chuckle.

_"__I better go get Hermione," Harry muttered to Ron, who nodded._

"Why do you need to?" Lily asked, confused as Molly beamed.

_Harry headed away from the group, smiling to three elderly people as he passed them, toward a hall at side of the square. Ducking in the door, he saw Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Angelina, Victoire, with Fleur, and a woman who looked remarkably like Hermione._

_"__Fleur, you need to go take your seat," Harry said. "Mrs Granger, I mean, Jean, you need to meet Molly and Arthur."_

"Where's your dad?" Remus asked but got no answer.

_They both nodded, Fleur kissing her daughter goodbye _

"Victoire's the flower girl again," Dora smiled.

_and drifting out of them room, sending a warm smile to Harry as he held the door open for her. _

Lily and Petunia exchanged smiles.

_Hermione's mother, however, hugged Hermione, whispering something in her ear _

"What did she say?" Sirius asked.

"None of your business," Hermione replied.

_before walking toward Harry._

_"__Thank you for doing this," she sighed. "It's such a shame her father died so close to the wedding."_

"You're giving her away!" Lily exclaimed as Harry and Hermione exchange a smile.

"Yes, he is," Hermione beamed.

_"__It's my pleasure," Harry smiled._

_"__Still thank you," she returned his smile. "You've been the sibling she never had, and I can't thank you more for that."_

"He doesn't want thanking," Arthur chuckled.

_With that said she left the room. Harry grinned at the people left in the room before following Mrs Granger._

_Once outside he ignored everyone and walked over to a tent giving a thumb up._

_"__Right," George said a few seconds later, looking at his watch and music started coming from the tent. "The grandparent's should go in now."_

"I'm sure they appreciated the label," Gideon laughed, looking at his Mother walking in with Hermione grandmother and Arthur's father.

_Three elderly people nodded and headed into the tent, smiling._

_"__You got this, George?" Harry grinned, getting a smile and a nod from George before Harry jogged back to the hall._

"Quickly, Harry," Sirius laughed.

_"__Gin, Luna, Angelina," he said, as the three women turned to look at him. "When I say, go outside."_

_They smiled and nodded, turning back to Hermione as Harry stuck his head out the door. He watched as Molly and Arthur walked in, followed a few seconds later by Mrs Granger. Ron, then, after sending a look towards the hall, went into the tent._

_"__Alright, you three, off you go," he said, holding the door open as the grabbed their bouquets of calla lilies, roses, hypericum berries, all in various shades of red and orange, and foliage._

"Very Autumn," Lily smiled.

_Luna and Angelina were wearing a strapless warm chocolate dress with a runched waist, tiered organza skirt and ball gown silhouette – they smiled at him as they passed. Ginny followed them a few seconds later, due to her hugging Hermione, she was dressed in a pumpkin coloured version on Angelina's and Luna's dress – which surprisingly didn't clash with her hair. _

"They look nice," Petunia smiled.

_She kissed Harry's cheek before walking out of the hall, giving him a blazing look similar to the one she had back in the Gryffindor Common room._

_Harry grinned at Hermione, hearing the music change slightly, they both looked out the door to see Neville and Luna link arms and walk down the aisle and Victoire, now 3, followed after a few minutes dressed in a miniature wedding dress, similar to Hermione's without the overlay, a pumpkin band around her waist, holding a small bouquet like the bridesmaids._

_"__Ready?" Harry asked, turning to look at Hermione, as George and Angelina disappeared into the tent._

_"__Definitely," Hermione beamed, walking towards him._

_She looked beautiful. She was wearing a ball gown with a sweetheart lace covered neckline and a romantic lace overlay. Light pumpkin coloured roses were around her waist, adding to the autumn and matching the colour of Ginny's dress. Her whole face was lit up and she was beaming, making her rosé blusher work to its best effect, she was wearing little make up but her hair had been tamed and put up in an elegant knot on her head._

"You looked so beautiful," Molly smiled.

_Harry handed her, her bouquet before they stepped out of the hall. Harry offered Hermione his arm and, beaming at him, she slipped her hand into it. When they were halfway across it Ginny disappeared into the tent_

"Wait with Harry giving Hermione away," James began. "Is he a groomsman?"

"Course," Ron chuckled. "Best man."

"Really James, it's what we did," Lily smiled shaking her head at her husband. "Remus gave me away" (she sent a warm smile toward the aforementioned man) "but he was still a groomsman."

_"__Hey, Harry," she said, as they walked across the square._

_"__Yeah?" he asked._

_"__Thanks," she grinned. "For, you know, doing this … and always being there."_

"You kept getting thanked," Teddy laughed.

_Harry looked as though he wanted to roll his eyes_

"Don't you dare roll your eyes," Ginny warned, recognising the look.

_but instead he stopped them a few steps from the entrance of the church and wrapped her in a hug._

_"__Ready to marry Ron?" he asked as they separated. "I mean he's a bit of a prat – you know that better than anyone."_

_She grinned and nodded._

_The music then changed to the bridal walk, and Harry lead Hermione into the tent._

_They tent was filled with people, all on their feet, watching their progress to the front and towards a grinning Ron. The Weasley and Grangers were at the front, Teddy sitting next to them. The aisle was decorated with lanterns and flower arrangements, the floor had red and orange petals scattered down it. The arch was made of curly willow, with red orchids and gems hanging from it._

"I love that arch," Petunia smiled.

"You really did go for an autumny wedding," Sirius chuckled.

_Once a the front, Harry kissed Hermione's cheek placing her hand in Ron's before taking his place next to the groom. Hermione handed Ginny her bouquet. Ron took her other hand and they both turned to the minister._

"Here we go," Molly smiled.

"Prepare your feet," Ron chuckled.

_"__Good afternoon," he spoke as everyone fell silent. "We are gathered her today in the presence of God and these witnesses, to join Hermione and Ron in holy matrimony. In the time they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. Although this is their day, it is also a tribute to all of you. From knowing you and interacting with you has helped to make our Bride and Groom be who they needed to be to find each other. They would also like to thank you all for that. You all hold a place in their hearts and they are deeply grateful for each and every one of you here today._

_"__Marriage is an opportunity to feel the joy of taking care of someone who takes care of you, to be challenged towards growth yet gently nurtured, to love deeply and receive it in return. It is about trust, friendship and having a partner to share all life has to offer._

"Marriage is not a place to hide from the world. It is a safe place to grow and become wiser. _It is a place to evolve into better people; so that you can go out in the world and make a difference by spreading the joy and wisdom that you have found with each other. Together in this marriage, you shall contribute more fully, for you both shall be fuller._

_"__Marriage is a supreme sharing; perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure in the most intimate of human relationships. It is the joyful uniting of a man and a woman whose care and affection and understanding have flowered into a deep and abiding love. Those who take its sacred vows have their lives blended together into one, as the waters of two rivers are joined when they come together to form an even greater one._

_"__The lives the two of you have lived up until this moment are, in some sense, now truly completed and over. Together you now live within the creation of something wholly new and transcendent, an expression_ that is at once public and private, precious, sacred, and truly unique to the two of you. In this act, you open yourselves to a fuller experience and expression of the great, vast miracle of love.

"And now you stand before this loving community of family and friends, ready to acknowledge to them and to the world: this is my beloved, the one with whom I choose to create the rest of my life.

"Ronald,

Ron groaned causing Hermione to hit him.

_you have chosen, Hermione to be your partner for life. Will you love and respect her? Will you be honest with her always and stand by her through what ever may come?" the Minister said to Ron._

_"__I will," Ron grinned._

Molly beamed tears welling up in her eyes.

_"__Ronald, please repeat after me," the minister smiled. "I, Ronald Billius Weasley, take you, Hermione Jean Granger, to be my lawfully wedding wife."_

_''I, Ronald Billius Weasley, take you, Hermione Jean Granger, to be my lawfully wedding wife," Ron repeated, a little gleefully._

"Happy aren't you, Ron?" Remus chuckled.

_"__To have and to hold from this day forward –"_

_"__To have and to hold from this day forward."_

_"__For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer –"_

_"__For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer."_

_"__in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish-"_

_"__In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish"'_

_"__Till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."_

_"__Till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."_

_As soon as he had said, I will, Molly and Mrs Granger had teared up. Mrs Granger being able to hold them in while Molly let a few stream down her face,_

Several of the men rolled their eyes at the two mothers.

_the whole front row was beaming._

_"__Hermione, you have chosen, Ronald to be your partner for life. Will you love and respect him? Will you be honest with him always and stand by him through what ever may come?"_

_"__I will," Hermione beamed, as her mother let out a sob._

"She's was a bad as Mum," Ginny laughed.

_"__Hermione, please repeat after me. I, Hermione Jean Granger, take you Ronald Billius Weasley, to be my wedded husband –"_

_"__I, Hermione Jean Granger, take you Ronald Billius Weasley, to be my wedded husband."_

_"__To have and to hold from this day forward –"_

_"__To have and to hold from this day forward."_

_"__For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer –"_

_"__For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer."_

_"__In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish-"_

_"__In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish.'"_

_"__Till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."_

_"__Till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness."_

_"__If you will please get the rings to the couple, Harry, Ginerva," the minister smiled at them, as Ron turned towards Harry and Hermione towards Ginny. "Ronald you first, please."_

_"__Hermione, as I place this ring on your finger, I give you all that I am and ever hope to be," Ron said to Hermione, placing a simple but beautiful golden ring on her finger._

_"__Hermione," the vicar said._

_Hermione smiled. _

_"__Ron, I give you this ring, as a symbol of our marriage, for today and tomorrow, and for all the days to come," she slid a golden ring onto his finger as she spoke._

_As soon as she had done so the vicar began speaking again and Molly and Mrs Granger both had tears running down their cheeks_.

"May you have many joys, and be the light of each other's all that you are, always be in love;and may all that is love, always be in you always see and encourage the best in each the challenges that life brings your waymake your marriage grow you always be each other's best friendand greatest love.

"I pronounce you husband and wife," the vicar smiled. "You may kiss the bride."

"Woah!" the twins cheered

_Harry and Ginny shared a look as Ron and Hermione kissed, both clapping. The crowd stood up for them, grinning, clapping, cheering and when the broke apart the vicar said, "I am proud to introduce for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Weasley."_

_Ron and Hermione beamed at each other turning to face their friends and family, Hermione taking her bouquet from Ginny as they turned, before walking arm in arm down the aisle. Ginny beamed at Harry as she slipped her arm through his to follow the newlyweds out of the tent. George and Angelina followed them, with Victoire skipping behind _

"She's so cute," Lily laughed_._

_and Neville and Luna at the back, both grinning their heads off._

_The Weasley parents and Mrs Granger were standing up as Harry and Ginny left the tent._

_"__They did it," Ginny shrieked quietly as they made their way back to the hall, entering through a different door._

_"__Did you ever doubt?" Harry chuckled._

_"__Course not," Ginny beamed. "Those two are made for each other."_

_"__Imagine if you told them that first year," Harry_ chuckled,

"Oh Merlin/God," people muttered, some putting hands to their foreheads in mock horror

"I was thinking the same thing when these two got married," Sirius laughed, nodding his head to Harry parents. "I mean James would have been over the moon but your mum would have blown her pretty top!"

_Ginny's laugh joined his as they separated, Harry to stand next to Ron and Ginny next to Hermione to greet the guests._

_The groomsmen, bridesmaids, Molly, Arthur and Mrs Granger took their places beside them as all the guests filled in. _

_There were several tables, seating about a dozen people at each. The table cloths were an off-white, the centre pieces a white pumpkin shell being a vase for an arrangement of roses, daffodils, ranunculuses, calla lilies, tulips, and hypericum berries in autumn colours - yellows, peaches, and shades of orange. Smaller pumpkins and votive candles in orange-glass holders fill out the centrepiece. Each person had a seating card, crafted from paper-thin wood veneer with the names written in Calligraphy. Veneer maple and birch leaves were stuck to the corner of each one saying the table number._

"That's so beautiful," Dora grinned.

_Once everyone had settled, Molly, Arthur and Mrs Granger went to take their seats at the head table, smiling at some of the guests. Molly was holding Victoire's hand and dropped her off with Bill and Fleur when at the front._

_Neville and Luna went next, followed by George and Angelina. Harry and Ginny then took places at the head table with two chairs between them for Ron and Hermione but they didn't sit down but Harry asked for everyone to stand._

_Once everyone had risen, Ron and Hermione entered and Harry picked up his already full glass._

"_Ron and Hermione Weasley," he said, people reached for their glasses and repeated what he said as the two newlyweds made their way up to the front._

_Ron pulled the chair out for Hermione, who smiled at him before sitting down._

"If you're ever going to be a gentlemen," James laughed. "That was the time."

_Once Ron had sat, everyone else returned to their seats. Chatter and laughter broke out like wildfire as soon as everyone was sat causing Harry and Ron to exchange a look._

"That was quick," Lily and Petunia laughed.

"_Make the speech, will you, Harry?" Ron muttered to him. "I'm starving."_

"So the food doesn't come until you've spoken," Gideon said slowly.

"Let him suffer," Fabian laughed.

_Harry groaned,_

"I hate making speeches," Harry groaned.

"But you're so good at them!" Teddy laughed.

_before standing up, the talking quickly died down and everyone turned to look at him, reaching for their glasses._

"_I hope you all have a drink," Harry said, smirking as there was a flurry of movement – Hermione and Ginny laughed. "You must have now, right, as the best man it is, sadly, me who Ron and Hermione have insisted do the first speech._

"And because you're our best friend," Hermione corrected.

"_I'd like to start by saying that my wife, Ginny, has proofread this speech so if you consider anything mean or offensive, it's her fault."_

"Harry!" Lily scolded laughing.

_Ginny shot Harry a look as several people laughed – "I know that a huge amount of effort has gone into this wedding's planning and I can only hope that, aside from the speech you are about to be subjected to,_

"The speech wasn't that bad," Molly laughed.

_everything has exceeded your expectations._

"_I've been fortunate enough, well actually I think its rather unfortunate considering the amount of fights they got in to, to see Ron and Hermione's relationship evolve from day one._

'"That is unfortunate," Teddy laughed.

_I think he fell for her long before she fell for him, it was so obvious and can you blame him. Hermione's amazing. She's strong-willed and compassionate, as well as independent enough to deal with Ron here._

Some snorted.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the perfect couple. Hermione looks stunning tonight. In fact, the whole bridal party – all of whom spent hours helping Hermione prepare and have been by her side since day one – look gorgeous. Don't they all belong in a magazine? Ron's not bad tonight either," people chuckled as Ron half-heartedly glared at Harry._

"You're so mean," Ron grumbled as several people laughed.

"You deserved it," Harry chuckled.

"_I think I've probably said enough by now, or at least, in Ron's opinion I've said enough because he's hungry, _

"To true," Ginny laughed.

_so I want to thank you for helping my two best friends celebrate their wedding day. I'd like to propose a toast: to Hermione, my amazing sister, and to Ron, the idiot she decided to marry –"_

The twins and Marauders sniggered as Lily frowned at Harry, although her lips were twitching as though she wanted to laugh.

"_Oi," Ron said, as many people laughed. _

"_Seriously though," Harry grinned looking at the couple and raising his glass towards them. "May the rest of your lives be filled with joy, wonder and love._

"Much better," Petunia giggled.

_To the new Mr and Mrs Weasley."_

"_To Mr and Mrs Weasley," the crowd said, clinking their glasses to those one their table as Harry sat down._

_"__Thanks mate," Ron nudged._

"_You welcome," Harry laughed._

"I _liked it," Hermione beamed over at Harry._

_"__You would," Ron grumbled causing Harry and Hermione to laugh._

_"__Ginny proofread it," Harry said as Ginny looked over at her name._

_"__Oh no, don't you dare bring me into this, Potter,"_ she warned, although she was grinning and laughter was bubbling under her voice.

"Very convincing," Dudley laughed.

"Skipping or Sirius and Teddy'll get hungry," Harry said, ignoring the look from the two mentioned people. "And Ron, of course."

"_Ginny," _they heard Hermione say when the memory started again. _"It's your turn."_

_Ginny grinned at Hermione rising from her seat a clinking her spoon against the glass to stop the quiet chatter of the guests._

"_First I would like everyone to join me in commending the best man, groomsmen & bridesmaids for all their hard work," Ginny said, smiling. "You did an amazing job and I know that the Bride and Groom truly appreciate all your support._

"_To the beautiful bride Hermione; we met back when you were around twelve and I was eleven, and I am honoured to still be one of your closest friends and celebrate with you on this special day. Typically, the maid of honour gives some marriage advice. I am not yet an expert on marriage, but I am an expert on Hermione, unlike the two boys who she calls her brother and new husband._

Harry and Ron looked a little put out as some people snorted.

_So Ron, I would like to share some insights of Hermione._

_"__Ron, if you ever upset Hermione, which you do regularly, just remember that she loves ice cream. And if you really upset her, try French fries dipped in a chocolate shake._

"Lovely," Petunia said, although she didn't look perfectly sure.

_Hermione will not be afraid to knock sense into you when she feels necessary, as you know well by now. I once said the wrong thing and she threw a pillow at me, which happened to contain a hard textbook, who keeps books in their pillows?_

"Sorry about that," Hermione laughed. "I forgot it was in there."

_And if you ever get tired of her talking, just send her out for coffee with some friends. But only if you can handle caffeine hyped Hermione._

"Which I can't," Ron chuckled.

"It is hard," Harry agreed.

_"__Ron, you've chosen a wonderful woman to be your wife and all I ask is that you take good care of her and always keep her laughing._

"_And to Hermione, thank you for being such a wonderful friend, I love you infectious laugh, open heart, and brutal honesty. Always remember that I, along with the rest of your friends and family will always be here to support you._

"Now _will everyone please raise their glasses to Ron and Hermione Weasley,' Ginny beamed, hugging Hermione before sitting back_ down.

"Yours was much nicer," Dora smiled.

"Although, it still picked on Ron," the twins laughed.

_"__Ron and Hermione Weasley," the guests repeated, they all went to turn back to their tables but she pushed Ron up._

_"__Right apparently I'm making a speech now," Ron muttered to people's amusement._

"Yep," James grinned. "Didn't you know?"

"_Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm the groom. I'd like you to know how much 'Mione and I appreciate that you could join us on our wedding day._

_"__Today turned out to be a lot better than I expected. As you can imagine, I didn't get much sleep last night and first thing this morning I had about 10 people around my bed telling me what to do._

"Sorry," Harry, Ginny, Molly and Arthur all said as the others laughed.

_I was really nervous until I saw my beautiful bride/wife walking down the aisle towards me. No words have ever come out of my mouth so easily as the "I will's" I said today. This girl has put up with all my faults and trained me, so that I could be the perfect husband._

_"__I think Harry mentioned it in passing how much 'Mione and I used to fight, considering it drove him up the wall, _

"Almost literally," Harry muttered.

_he was so relieved when we got together since we stopped fighting so much – although he did complain about the right time and place considering we were, well, not in the place to be suddenly snogging. _

"It really wasn't," Moody agreed.

_"__Anyhow, Hermione and I met on the train to our school when we were eleven and, well, Harry could tell that if anyone had seen that they would never have seen us here today, let alone even friends but things changed and we've been through a lot together, thanks to my so called best mate- great speech by the way – but I'm really grateful to you mate, I have a bad feeling that if it had just been me and Hermione those first few years we would have killed each other or never spoken, so" – Ron waved a hand toward Harry – "thanks I guess._

"You're welcome," Harry chuckled. "I think."

_"__Now, I really want to thank Hermione's mum because if it wasn't for her we'd probably be having this in a barn right know and I'd be standing on a bail of hay. I'd still be very happy though because she and her husband raised the woman of my dreams and I'm glad to finally be officially a part of their family._

"Aww," Lily and Petunia said.

_"__Mum and Dad, I want to thank you for...well, everything really," Ron grinned awkwardly "You've been great help, and brilliant examples, and I hope I can recreated the kind of magic you two have with Hermione, because to me it just seems perfect. You taught me loads, although liked Dad said, I like to make my own mistakes_

"We never knew," Sirius laughed.

_but one thing I did listen to was the fact that we may not be really rich in the way most people measure richness but we are in family, in love, and I think in luck – who needs a vault full of money when you have that._

"Well said," Dora smiled.

_So... thanks Mum, Dad._

Molly and Arthur smiled at him, tears glistening in Molly's eyes.

_"__Um, I want everyone to know how much these ladies have helped us," Ron said, pointing a finger at the bridesmaids, "with putting this wedding together and making it look so … nice._

"Nice?" Hermione repeated.

_We couldn't have done it without them. Stand up and take a bow, girls."_

_Ginny, Angelina and Luna just looked at him causing him to sigh and people to chuckle._

The marauders and twins snorted at the look on their faces.

_"__Fine,' he said. "But if everyone could please raise their glasses to the maid of honour and the bridesmaids._

_"__And I want to thank you guys for all the years of fun we had and if my wife lets me, all the good times that are still to follow_

"Does she?" Remus asked.

"Sometimes," Ron laughed.

"– _several people snickered – "I couldn't have picked a better bunch of men to stand by me today or to call my friends._

_"__And so finally I want to thank the greatest women in the world, no offence Mum or Mrs Granger, but to me Hermione is the world, she's funny, she's smart, she's beautiful, she's just amazing. So, Hermione, thank you for putting up with me and agreeing to my wife.2_

Everyone smiled but couldn't help thinking abot how un-Ron that sound.

_Ron bent down to Hermione and kissed her as everyone clapped and cheered._

The Twins cheered as well.

_"__And you say you aren't good with words," Harry chuckled clapping Ron on the shoulder as he flopped down in his seat._

"That was very good," Lily nodded

_"__Going to make a speech, Hermione?" Angelina asked._

_"__No, thanks," Hermione beamed. "This lot has summed everything up."_

_"__I thought you'd say that," she laughed._

_"__Here comes the cake," Ginny giggled._

_The guest gasped as the cake got wheeled into the room it was three tiers in beige and white, garnished with fondant red/orange apples and golden red flowers._

"Molly!" Dora exclaimed. "Did you make that?"

"She did," Hermione beamed.

_Hermione and Ginny beamed down the table at Molly, who was looking a little proud, before Ron took Hermione's hand and led her towards the cake. With Ron standing slightly behind Hermione, his hand holding hers over the knife, to keep her hand steady, they cut the cake._

_Nearly immediately the music came floating into the room though an archway at the side of the room,_

"Well timed," Dudley observed.

_with the newlyweds leading the way everyone followed next door where their were chairs decorated in autumn colours once again, chairs were all around the edge, a bar along area of a wall and a large dance floor in the middle._

_"__Everyone," the DJ called. "The first dance of Mr and Mrs Ronald Billius Weasley." _

_Ron lead Hermione onto the dance floor as Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny, she beamed up at him before turning to look back at Ron and Hermione, leaning her head on his shoulder._

_"__Hello," a little voice whispered by Harry's feet._

'Teddy!' Remus grinned.

_Harry and Ginny both looked down to see 5 year old Teddy smiling up at them._

_"__Hey buddy," Harry grinned, lifting the child onto his shoulders so he could see Ron and Hermione._

_As soon as the song finished Arthur went up and took Hermione from Ron while took Hermione's mother's hand and lead her onto the floor and while Ron danced with his mother, Hermione dragged Harry out onto the floor._

_"__You gave me away, it's only right," she laughed._

_Harry rolled his eyes but agreed to her wish anyway._

"Couldn't exactly say no could I?" Harry muttered.

"Of course not," all the women said.

_After that the whole bridal part came on before the guests were invited onto the floor. When the sun began to set everyone went back out into the square to take pictures, groups disappearing back to dance once they had done all the pictures before only Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were left outside. _

_"__Everything okay?" Ginny asked Hermione and Ron._

_"__It's perfect," Hermione beamed as the two couples watched the sun set below the horizon._

_"__We should get back in there," Ron said, after a few minutes._

_"__Yeah," Harry agreed looking at his watch in the dimming light. _

_Together the four of them re-entered the hall, all getting dragged away by people to dance before they had even walked in the room properly._

_"__Well, hello brother-in-law," Hermione beamed, as she flopped down next to Harry, kicking off her shoes and rubbing her feet._

_"__Feet hurt?" Harry chuckled._

_"__Yes, I should have used a spell," Hermione frowned. _

"Just do it now," Teddy suggested.

"_I would now, if I weren't worried that someone will see, you know the whole reason t his wedding was so muggle was because not everyone here knows about magic."_

"Oh," Teddy muttered.

_"__Yeah," Harry nodded. "I know."_

_"__Oh well, I can kill my feet," Harry smiled at her obvious happiness then she jumped up, in a sudden panic. "Have you seen my bouquet?"_

"Calm down," Arthur said.

_"__Hermione," Harry said calmly. "It's under your chair."_

The twins and Marauders snorted.

_"__Sorry," she said grabbing it. "I just realized I have to throw it now."_

_Harry chuckled as she walked off and her sat was soon taken by Ginny as the DJ said "it's time to throw the bouquet!"_

_"__Hi," Ginny smiled leaning into him._

_"__Hey," Harry grinned, watching Hermione throw her bouquet over her head towards a group of screaming girls._

_Harry and Ginny laughed as Hermione turned to see one of her cousins holding it, looking just as shocked as Hermione had when she had caught Ginny's._

"Is it something to do with Grangers," Sirius laughed.

_The music began again and Harry offered Ginny his hand, "I don't think we've actually danced."_

_"__No, we haven't," she frowned, placing her hand in his._

"You're married and you haven't danced at a wedding," James shook his head in mock disappointment but got it whacked by Remus.

_Harry pulled her up and she rose gracefully from her chair following Harry to the floor._

_Ten minutes later the cake was brought out and everyone returned to the dining room, where there was also tea and coffee on each table as well as a large table at the side filled with sweet things, some people after eating their cakes returned to the dance floor but others sat and nibbled at the other things._

_After a little more dancing it came time to bid Ron and Hermione on their honeymoon, Harry and Ginny waited by the car as Ron and Hermione made their way down the aisle the guests had created. Once at the end, Hermione wrapped Harry in a hug._

_"__Thanks, again," she whispered in his ear._

_"__Don't mention it," Harry muttered, letting her go before clapping Ron on the back._

_"__Have fun," Harry heard Ginny say as she and Hermione hugged. "We'll see you in three weeks."_

_"__Bye," Hermione smiled before she and Ron got in the car, the guest all waved as the car drove out of sight._

"That's was so beautiful," Lily couldn't help but say again

"Thanks," Hermione beamed.

"What year is this?" Moody asked.

"2003," Ron said.

"So you're no longer an Auror?" Remus asked, remembering what he had said.

"No, I stopped that summer," Ron frowned. "Harry had returned in May, and both Hermione and Ginny had tried to convince us to quit. Harry, obviously, wouldn't but I did and went to work with George, in his joke shop."

"I wish Ginny had convinced Harry as well," Lily sighed.

"So do I," Molly said.

"Changing," Harry muttered. "February 2004."

_"__Hey, Mum," Ginny nearly bonded towards Molly and Arthur as they walked into the cottage. "Hi Dad."_

"You're excitable,' Petunia laughed, knowing what this was.

_"__Hello dear," Molly smiled, hugging her. "Is everything okay?"_

_"__Fine, Mum,' Ginny grinned, hugging her father. "Harry's upstairs, just go up while I make some lunch."_

_"__Do you want some –" Molly began but Ginny cut her off already knowing what she was going to say._

_"__My treat," Ginny beamed, heading toward the kitchen as Molly and Arthur exchanged a confused look, no doubt wondering what was going on with their daughter._

"Really subtle, Ginny," Hermione laughed.

_Arthur shrugged before gesturing Molly up the stairs._

_"__Harry, dear?" Molly called. "Where are you?"_

_"__'In here," they heard Harry's voice call from the right_

"Helpful," Lily said with a roll of her emerald eyes.

_although it didn't help too much._

_After peaking in Teddy's bedroom to find the 5, nearly 6, year old, playing with some toys they headed across the hall to the nursery._

"What are you doing in there?" James asked suspiciously.

_Harry was leaning over a small white table, a hammer in one hand; he looked over to them, shrugged, grinning before saying:_

_"__I'm not allowed to use magic," Harry chuckled "and Ted accidently broke it when flying."_

"Sorry," Teddy said.

_"__Of course," Arthur chuckled._

_"__A magic should never be used in a child's nursery, it should be made out of love," Molly beamed._

Lily and Dora nodded firmly.

_"__Course," Harry nodded before turning back to his job._

_Molly then looked closer at the room they were in, it was different. There were more toys and small decorations had been added, the difference was miniscule but noticeable._

_"__Harry, do you have something to tell us?" Molly asked, looking at her son-in-law suspiciously._

_Harry looked up from the job at hand to look at her was a slightly confused expression on his face with one eyebrow raised questionably. _

"You have that look perfected," Molly huffed.

"I have to, to be an Auror," Harry chuckled. "It's an extremely useful expression to be able to pull at any time."

_"__No," he replied now frowning slightly. "Why do you ask?"_

_"__No reason," Molly shrugged, taking another look around the room, her eyes fell on the crib the other side of the room from Harry._

_It was standing where it always had but was filled with toys and balloons. Stepping from beside Arthur towards it she reached for a white object on the rocking chair beside it._

"Oh," Sirius laughed realising what this was.

"_Molly?" Harry asked looking towards her, he froze before calling loudly. "Gin, get up here."_

_Ginny came through the door a few minutes later but no one in the nursery had said a word. Harry was now leaning on the table he had just repaired while he and Arthur looked at Molly, and she stared at Harry._

_"__What's wr-?" Ginny began to ask but as her eyes flickered around the room, her eyes landed on her mother before muttering "Oops." _

_"__We should have cleaned up," Harry muttered so quietly only she could hear him._

_"__I wasn't planning on telling them this way," Ginny whispered back._

_"__Stop whispering, you two," Arthur said firmly, "and tell us what's going on."_

_Ginny glanced at Harry, before taking a deep breath and saying, "I'm pregnant,2 and when her parents said nothing she continued. "We didn't mean to tell you this way, I told Harry a few weeks ago –"_

_"__To be technical you didn't tell me," Harry chuckled. _

"What did you do?" Dudley asked.

"It was so funny," Ginny laughed. "He came home from work and asked about my day, as usual, and I said in a very stern voice, 'you need to go upstairs to the nursery and see what you godson did' –"

"Drag me into it," Teddy grumbled.

"He was tired and frustrated," Ginny continued, "and he said something about why couldn't I just take care of it. But that all went away when he saw the crib set up with stuffed animals and the test inside."

Lily, Petunia, Molly and Dora were all laughing, they could picture that while the men who had had children looked a little annoyed at the way their wives had told them.

_"__And we haven't had time to remove ... everything," Ginny finished, looking at her parents with worry._

_Molly finally seemed to come out of her shook and screamed,_

"That's Molly," the twins laughed.

_pulling Ginny into a tight hug. Harry and Arthur laughed before the latter came forward and shook the formers hand fatherly._

_"__Congratulations," he grinned over Molly. "This is brilliant!"_

"Molly, keep it down," Sirius laughed.

_Arthur then went and hugged Ginny tightly, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh as Molly hugged Harry nearly as tightly as Ginny, joyful tears streaming down her face._

"Skipping to October," Harry chuckled.

'That's about 9 months,' Lily said wondering. "If you include February."

All the Weasley's were sitting in St Mungo's with Petunia and Dudley when the memory continued and Molly had just opened her mouth to speak as Harry came round the corner.

"You look tired," Dora smiled.

_"__You guys go home and get some rest," he said in a tired voice. "We're going to be here for a long time."_

_"__We're staying," Hermione said firmly, grabbing Rons hand who seemed quiet happy to go back home to his warm bed._

_"__So are we," Arthur said._

_"__And us," Petunia added._

_"__Fine," Harry smiled._

"I wasn't awake enough to argue," Harry said, causing several people to snort.

"_The rest of you go home and sleep, we'll call you when it's over."_

"Skipping," Harry said.

"_Is she asleep?" Hermione's soft voice drifted across the hospital room, where Harry laid one arm around a sleeping Ginny and the other holding a small baby in a blue blanket._

"James," Teddy chuckled.

_"__Yeah," he whispered, gesturing with his head for her to come in._

_"__They told us to come first," Ron said quietly following his wife in to the room, "and the others are returning with Teddy."_

_"__Right, good," Harry chuckled softly before saying proudly. "Ron, Hermione, this James Sirius Potter."_

James, Sirius and Lily all grinned.

_Hermione sitting in a chair next to the bed leaned forward to look at the small baby, an expression that looked like she was about to 'aww' on her face._

_"__He's adorable," Hermione whispered._

_"__You can tell already that he got the untameable Potter hair," Ron chuckled looking over her shoulder._

"It's kinda a curse," Remus laughed. "Every Potter male gets it."

_"__Where's Ginny in this kid?" Hermione laughed gently. "Apart from the freckles."_

_As if to answer her question James eyes opened and yawned._

_"__There," Harry chuckled as Hermione smiled softly._

_"__Can I?" she asked, holding her hands out._

_"__Course," Harry smiled, moving slightly to put the little boy in Hermione's arms. _

_"__Hi James," she whispered. "I'm you're Aunt Hermione."_

"Practicing, 'Mione," Ginny laughed.

"Are you pregnant?" Dora asked.

"Yeah," Hermione grinned. "I was about a month – we'd only told those two."

_"__Why don't you two take him outside?" Harry chuckled. "Molly will probably scream and I don't want to wake Ginny."_

"Good idea," the twins laughed.

_"__Okay," Hermione smiled, leaning toward him to kiss his cheek. "Congratulations, Harry, I'll wait till Ginny wakes up to tell her the same."_

_"__Yeah, get some sleep mate," Ron muttered. "You look tired."_

_With that said Ron and Hermione left the room and Harry shut his eyes causing everything to go black. _

_A few seconds later a shriek of happiness pierced the darkness and Hermione's voice saying, "Shh, Molly, they're trying to sleep."_

Everyone laughed as Molly looked slightly sheepish.

"Sorry," she grinned.

"Skipping."

"_Uncle Harry," a young voice whispered through the darkness. 'Wake up.'_

"I thought I told you not to wake him up," Petunia frowned.

"Yeah, but I don't listen," Teddy chuckled.

_"__Is something wrong, Ted?" Harry asked, without opening his eyes._

Sirius and Remus laughed, that reminded them of James.

_"__No," Teddy said, although you could hear laughter in his voice, "but you need to wake up."_

_Harry sighed before opening his eyes and looking down at his beaming godson. He smiled fondly._

_"__James is small," Teddy said, glancing at a crib in the corner in the room._

_"__Yes, he is," Harry replied, pushing himself off the bed and picking Teddy up in the same movement before sitting down in a chair._

"Talented, aren't you?" Dudley teased.

"Shut up, Big D," Harry said back.

"_How does it feel to be a big god-brother?"_

_"__No, different," Teddy laughed _

"I was an old kid," Teddy muttered.

"We've been trying to tell you that," Ron laughed.

"Oi!"

_but when Harry raised his eyebrows Teddy amended to, "kinda cool, though."_

_"__Kinda cool?" Harry nodded and the six-year-old nodded. _

_"__Yeah," Teddy grinned. "But he's boring. I thought brothers were supposed to be fun!"_

_Harry pressed his lips together to stop laughter from coming out once he had gained control of himself he spoke, "You will find him a bit boring for a while, Ted, he's still young."_

_Teddy wrinkled his nose up._

_"__When will he be more fun?" he asked._

_"__Give him a few months," Harry chuckled._

_"__Harry, did I hear your voice?" Molly's voice floated into the room_

_"__Yeah," Harry grinned. "Come in."_

_"__She still asleep?" Molly asked, glancing at her daughter. _

"Why does everyone look at me and then ask that question?" Ginny muttered.

_"__I think so," Harry said, also looking at Ginny. "Although, knowing her she's probably awake and listening."_

"That's why," Harry laughed.

_A small but noticeable smirk rose on Ginny's face._

"Damn," Ginny muttered.

_"__Good afternoon, Ginny," Harry chuckled._

_"__Hi," Ginny smiled, not opening her yes._

"You're as bad as your husband," Arthur laughed.

_"__Ginny, dear," Molly laughed, "Congratulations, you two."_

_"__Thanks mum," Ginny smiled. "Harry, I'm thirsty will you get me a drink?"_

_Harry rolled his eyes, although there was a smile on his face. Teddy jumped off his lap, letting Harry up, before crawling onto the bed by Ginny._

"You should be glad he loves you so much," Ron laughed.

"I know," Ginny smiled, kissing Harry cheek.

Harry rolled his eyes before speaking, "Skipping."

_Harry re-entered the room with a plastic cup of water in his hand, placing it on the table beside Ginny's bed, he sat next to her in the chair, Teddy had ran off somewhere._

_"__Here," Harry smiled, placing a small black box on her lap since she was now sitting up in the bed._

"What's that?" Petunia asked, Harry was far sweeter to Ginny than Vernon ever had been to her.

"Not telling," Harry chuckled. "Watch."

_"__What is it?" Ginny asked, reaching for the small box but looking her husband of two years suspiciously._

_"__You know I'm not going to tell you," Harry chuckled. "Just open it and then you'll know."_

James shot Lily a look, thinking of how many times he had told her the same thing.

_Ginny rolled her eyes fondly before opening the small box. Sitting inside was a yellow gold crossover eternity ring featuring channel set brilliant cut diamonds._

"An eternity ring," Dora smiled fondly.

_"__Harry," Ginny gasped, leaning toward him to kiss him in thanks. "Thank you, it's gorgeous."_

_She gave him back the box and offered him her hand. Harry chuckled before taking the ring out of the box and sliding the ring onto her ring finger where it sat next to her wedding and engagement rings. She kissed him once more._

"You two are nearly sickly," Moody grunted causing everyone to laugh.

"Shut up, Mad-Eye," Hermione giggled. "They're sweet."

"Skipping," Harry said, still laughing slightly.

_"__Hey Harry, Ginny," Dudley said, as he and Petunia walked in the hospital room._

"Petunia," Lily beamed. "Dudley."

_"__Hi," they said together._

_"__How are you?" Petunia asked Ginny, smiling at the couple lazing on the bed._

_"__Fine, thank you," Ginny smiled. "You didn't have to stay all night."_

_"__We wanted to," Dudley grinned before looking at his cousin and flopping into the seat next to the bed._

_"__I can't believe you're married and have a kid," he chuckled. "And you're only 24, Ginny's only 23."_

"Merlin, I forgot," Sirius laughed. "Although your parents were younger."

_Harry and Ginny laughed_

_"__We've got to go," Petunia smiled. "Dudley's got work in a few hours."_

_"__Thanks for coming," Harry smiled._

_"__Glad our relationships good enough too," Petunia added. "Congratulations you two, you deserve it."_

_"__Yeah, Congratulations, well done," Dudley grinned at them. "Should have bought a blue balloon."_

"Definitely," Dora nodded.

_Harry chuckled, "see you soon."_

_"__Yeah, see ya," Dudley grinned._

_"__Bye, you two," Petunia said, giving Ginny a sort of hug and kissing Harry on the cheek._

They excited the pensieve all it similar moods of happiness.

"I take it we are having lunch," Teddy said as his stomach rumbled.

"Yes," Harry chuckled, looking at his godson fondly.

After lunch they all went straight back to the family room and entered the pensieve.

Harry was sitting in the Godrics Hollow downstairs lounge when they landed in the pensieve filling out some paper work, glancing every now and then at the children around the room. Teddy, now 9, was messing around on the floor with a 3 year old James and Albus was sitting in the corner, trying to fit a piece of wood into a hole in a peg box.

"We've jumped a bit now," Arthur observed.

"2007," Harry laughed.

_"__Teddy, what are you doing?" Harry chuckled, as James giggld._

_"__Tickling him," Teddy laughed turning a grinning face toward Harry. _

"So James is tickleish," Remus laughed.

_They both jumped as a bang isued from the area Al was playing in. Albus was sitting on the floor a hurt expression on his face, tears welling up in his eyes but as Harry went to get up, the young boy set his face and gasped the table nearby._

"Leave him," Molly advised.

_Harry slipped off the sofa so he was lower down and reached his arms out to Albus, Teddy and James both turned to look at the younger boy. A grin spread on Teddy's face._

_"__Come here, Al," Harry called._

_Albus looked up at his father before letting go off the table, he toddled a few steps but the fell back onto the floor. _

"Albus," Hermione flinched.

_Harry rocked on his heels, no doubt debating whether to help his youngest child_

"Stay still," Arthur said.

_but stayed still as Albus pushed himself back up with the help of a nearby chair._

_"__Come on, Al," Harry smiled._

_Albus toddled toward him once again and when he was a bout two steps away he began to fall. Harry caught him swinging him up into the air._

The Marauders, twins, Lily and Dora cheered as the meory continued as everyone clapped – even Mad-Eye.

_"__Woo!" Teddy grinned clapping, James seemed to copy him and began clapping as well._

_"__I think we might have to keep a closer eye on him," Ginny laughed from the door way, beaming at her son._

"Good idea," Ron laughed.

_All the boys in the room turned to look at her, all three of them grinning._

_"__How long have you been standing there?" Teddy asked._

_"__Long enough," Ginny smiled, ruffling his hair on her way to Harry and Albus._

"Long enough to see your childs first steps," Hemrione smiled.

"Next," Harry grinned.

"_Uncle Harry!"_ they heard an eleven year old Teddy shout as he ran into the kitchen when the memories restarted. "_Will it come today?"_

"When will what?" Dora asked, smiling.

_"__Good morning, Teddy," Harry smiled. "What are you on about? And happy birthday."_

_"__Morning," Teddy grinned. "Thanks and the Hogwarts letter!"_

"Oh," nearly everyone breathed some laughing at the same time.

"Most important thing, isn't it," Hermione laughed.

_Harry laughed at his excitement as Ginny walked in the room smiling at the two boys in the breakfast corner._

_"__The mail hasn't come yet, Teddy," Ginny told him, walking over before ruffling his and kissing it. "Happy birthday."_

_"__Thanks!" Teddy said his excitement a little less._

"Enjoy your birthday, son," Remus laughed. "It'll come."

_"__It'll come, Ted," Harry chuckled as James wandered into the room_

Lily and Dora laughed while James and Sirius exchanged worried looks.

_"__Happy birthday, Teddy," James said sleepily as he walked into the kitchen still in his pyjamas, noticing the balloons and banners around the kitchen._

_"__Teddy," Ginny suddenly said, looking out the window. "I think I see an owl."_

"Don't tell him that," Arthur chuckled.

_"__Really?" Teddy jumped up to look out the window as well. "Do you think that's it?"_

_"__It's likely," Ginny smiled turning back to where she was making breakfast. _

_"__Ted, come sit down," Harry advised. "It'll come when it comes."_

"Staring at it won't make it come faster," Ron said, grinning.

_Teddy sat back down next to Harry, glancing every now and then at the window. _

_"__I'll go get Al and Lily," Ginny smiled, putting food in front of the three boys in the kitchen before disappearing out of the room and walking up the stairs._

_"__Teddy," Harry frowned at his godson a few minutes later as Teddy tried to eat and look out the window behind him at the same time resulting in him putting nothing in his mouth but a lot back on his plate, on the table, on his lap and down his shirt. _

"Mucky pup," Dora laughed fondly.

_Teddy turned to look at him. "Sit at the table and eat properly."_

Molly nodded.

_Teddy had just turned around when a barn owl swopped in the window _

"Damn," Sirius laughed. "He isn't eating then."

_and they heard Ginny footsteps returning down the stairs. _

_"__Owl," James said pointing at the owl now sitting on the kitchen surface._

"Indeed," Teddy chuckled at his younger brother.

_Teddy jumped up as Harry rolled his eyes._

_"__It's a Hogwarts letter!" Teddy yelled as he took the letter of the owl._

_"__Please don't shout in the house, Teddy," Ginny scolded_

"Indoor voice, please," Lily smiled.

_as she walked in the room with the two youngest children, Albus holding her hand and Lily on her hip. She was frowned at Teddy but it was obvious she was slightly amused._

_"__Sorry," Teddy whispered apologetically looking at the letter in his hands._

_"__So you speak in the opposite way," the twins laughed._

_"__Are you going to open it?" Harry asked softly yet in an amused voice._

_Teddy nodded and broke the red seal of the Hogwarts crest on the letter, slipping back into his seat as Ginny placed Lily in her high chair and Albus crawled into a chair next to his brother. Ginny put a plate in front of Albus and began to help Lily. _

_Teddy unfolded the first bit of parchment before reading it aloud._

**_"_****_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**

**_Headmistress: MINERVA MCGONAGALL_**

**_(Order of Merlin, First Class)_**

**_Dear Mr Lupin,_**

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._**

**_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Fillius Flitwick_**

**_Deputy Headmaster"_**

"I wondered who would be the deputy Headmaster or Mistress," Remus smiled.

_He looked up to see Harry and Ginny beaming at him_

_"__Woo!"Teddy yelled punching the air causing everyone else at the table to erupt into laughter._

The twins cheered obviously thinking that was a good reaction to getting a Hogwarts letter while everyone else just laughed.

_"__Woo indeed," Ginny laughed, shaking her head slightly._

_"__I'm going to go write back," he said getting up._

_"__I don't think so," Harry said as Teddy went toward the door._

_"__Huh?" Teddy asked spinning back looking confused and slight scared. _

"What are you doing?" Moody grunted.

_He stared at Harry wide-eyes waiting for him to add something to his sentence, Harry's lips twitched before he frowned._

_"__Calm down, Ted," he said before nodding to Teddy's breakfast still uneaten on the plate. "I was only going to say finish your breakfast first, then you can reply."_

"You thought he was going to say you can't go," Lily laughed and Teddy nodded grudgingly.

_"__Oops," Teddy said, as Ginny put a hand to her mouth to cover her smile and James snorted._

_"__What do we need to get you anyway?" Harry asked a few minutes later when they had all nearly finished eating._

_Teddy shrugged, passing Harry the envelope. _

**_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**

**_UNIFORM_**

**_First-year students will require:_**

**_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_**

**_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_**

**_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_**

**_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_**

**_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags._**

**_COURSE BOOKS_**

**_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_**

**_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_**

**_by Miranda Goshawk_**

**_A History of Magic_**

**_by Bathilda Bagshot_**

**_Magical Theory_**

**_by Adalbert Waffling_**

**_A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_**

**_by Emeric Switch_**

**_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_**

**_by Phyllida Spore_**

**_Magical Drafts and Potions_**

**_by Arsenius Jigger_**

**_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_**

**_by Newt Scamander_**

**_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_**

**_by Quentin Trimble_**

**_OTHER EQUIPMENT_**

**_1 wand_**

**_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_**

**_1 set glass or crystal phials_**

**_1 telescope_**

**_1 set brass scales_**

**_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._**

**_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus_**

**_Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions_**

"It really doesn't change," James muttered.

_"__It hasn't changed much," Harry said to Ginny. "If it has at all."_

_"__Hogwarts will never change its ways," Ginny laughed._

"So true,' Molly laughed.

_"__Can I go reply now?" Teddy asked them causing Harry to glance over at his plate and nod when he saw it was all eaten. "Yes!"_

_Teddy scrambled out his seat when Ginny called after him._

_"__Do you want to go to Diagon Alley today or another?" she asked._

_Spinning in the doorway, Teddy replied excitedly, "Today!"_

"I don't know why I even bothered asking," Ginny muttered.

"Moving on," Harry chuckled.

"_You ready, Ted?" _Harry's voice said as the memory resumed in Kings Cross station, looking at the wall that hid the entrance to Platform 9 and ¾.

"You're going to Hogwarts," Dora beamed.

Ginny was standing with 18 month year old Lily on her hip while 4 year old James and 3 year old Albus stood slightly by her side looking around the large train station and at all the people. Harry and 11 year old, Teddy were standing slightly in front of them, Teddy was holding a trolley with a trunk on and an owl cage.

_"__No," Teddy's voice now said, looking sceptically at the wall in front of them. "It's too solid."_

Everyone laughed.

"It's meant to look solid," Lily smiled. "I'd worry if it didn't."

_"__It's meant to," Harry chuckled; Teddy's eyes flickered to his face before going back to the wall. "We'll do it together, okay?"_

_Teddy, looking slightly more confident, nodded warily before shaking his head._

_"__You really think I'd let you run into a wall?" Harry asked._

"I hope not," Teddy muttered.

"_Actually, you really think I'd run into a wall?"_

"Not willingly," Sirius laughed. "It's a good point though."

_Teddy laughed, before setting his teeth and staring determinately at the wall._

_"__Ready," Harry said, taking the trolley as well._

_"__Yes," Teddy nodded._

_Harry glanced around before they walked toward the wall at a fast walk. Teddy cringed as the wall got closer but kept going with his eyes scrunched closed. When he opened them all he could really see was dense fog but as that cleared Platform 9 and ¾ appeared in front of them. The large red Hogwarts Express sat proudly on the tracks, with students handing out of its many windows._

_As always cats of all kinds wondered around the stations, although some where in cages, owl hooted at each other from their position on top of their owners trolleys._

_"__The Hogwarts Express!" Teddy breathed causing Harry to chuckle. "We did it!"_

The twins, Marauders and Dora cheered.

_Harry laughed at Teddy's excitement._

_Looking behind them they saw Ginny and the three Potter children appearing out of the archway_

_"__Wasn't so bad, was it, Ted?" Ginny asked, as she joined them._

_Teddy shook his head a large grin stretched from ear to ear._

_"__Come on," Harry chuckled. "Let's go get you settled."_

_The family of 6 wondered down the platform until Teddy told them he'd just sit there, pointing to an empty compartment. After putting Teddy's trunk into the corner of the compartment and putting his owl in a safe place, they congregated back on the platform._

_"__Write to us as soon as you can, okay," Ginny told him, sounding a lot like her mother, wrapping Teddy in a hug._

_"__Yes, Aunt Ginny," Teddy said, in a tone that made Harry bit his lip so he didn't smile – it was the tone he and Ron had used so many times when they got tired of Mrs Weasleys fussing._

Ron snorted and Mrs Weasley shot him a look.

_"__Have a good term, okay," Harry grinned as Teddy turned to him. "We'll see you at Christmas."_

_Teddy nodded, wrapping his arms around Harry in a hug before crouching down to look at James._

_"__James?" Teddy asked. "Come on talk to me."_

"Why isn't he talking to you?" Dudley asked.

"He wasn't happy with me leaving," Teddy laughed.

_"__No," James said, crossing his arms._

_Teddy pressed his lips together, shaking his head, his shoulders shaking slightly._

_"__I'll be back at Christmas," Teddy told his younger god-brother. _

_James still said nothing just stared at him until Teddy sighed and turned to Albus._

_"__Bye Al," Teddy muttered hugging the young boy._

_"__Bye Teddy," Albus frowned._

"They don't want you to go," Petunia laughed.

_Teddy ruffled his hair went to say something to James but obviously thought better off it,_

"I decided it wasn't really worth it," Teddy muttered. "I don't even think he was listening to a word a said anyway."

_instead he pushed him self up from the floor and walked toward Lily._

_"__See you at Christmas, Lils," Teddy grinned, hugging her tightly from where Ginny had stood her on the floor._

"Is she speaking yet?" Lily asked.

Harry shook his head, sharing a glance with Ginny.

_Teddy stood up once again as the whistle blew and people began clambering on the train. He turned knowing he'd only get a wave from Lily. He hugged Harry again quickly and walked toward the train but as he was about to put his foot on a young sweet voice drifted toward him._

_"__Teddy."_

"Oh my god/Merlin!" Lily and Petunia yelped as Teddy grinned.

_Teddy span quickly on his heels to face is family, his yes automatically going down to his youngest sibling and only sister._

_"__Did she just –" he began pointing to Lily and looking at Harry, who looked as shocked as Teddy did but he never finished his question as Lily spoke again._

_"__Bye-bye, Teddy," she said, softly._

"Aww," Dora said. "Her first word's Teddy."

_Teddy grinned, dropping to his knees in front of her, "bye-bye Lily," he said, hugging her once again._

_He then jumped up as the second from final whistle went and after telling Harry and Ginny "Her first word was Teddy,"_

"We know," Ginny laughed.

_he went to jump on the train but James had hugged him round the legs._

"There we go," James chuckled.

_"__Much better," Teddy laughed, leaning down to hug James properly. 'See ya, James – cause loads of trouble for your dad. Now, I'm going."_

"Yeah, you keep getting distracted," the twins laughed.

_Ruffling James hair and sending a grin to his parents for all intent and purposes, he got on the train. As he opened the compartment door, Ginny reached down picking Lily up and hugging her, whispering in her a smile on her face._

_Harry wrapped an arm around Ginny's waist before kissing Lily's hair and turning back to Teddy as another boy, who looked like a first year, opened the compartment door, saying something and gesturing a hand to the seat opposite Teddy. Teddy grinned and waved a hand to it as well, the boy sighed, flopping down in the seat._

"New friend?" Dora asked.

"He's okay," Teddy shrugged. "Not my best mate, though."

_A final whistle went and the train began to move out of the station. The Potters waved at Teddy as the train drew out of the station, stopping only when the train had rounded the corner._

Remus and Dora smiled watching their son go on to what they knew would be a great adventure if he was anything like them or his godfather.

"Thank you," Dora smiled at Harry for letting them see a big step in their son's life, Harry acknowledged her with a smile and a nod not drawing more attention than had already since she had spoken quietly.

"Moving on," Harry said loudly, over the chatter that had broken out.

_"__Teddy!" _Ginny called from the lounge in Godrics Hollow as the memory continued. "_Your Hogwarts letters here and it's heavier than usual."_

"Why would it –" Remus began to ask but then his eyes widen and he breathed "Oh."

"Care to fill us in?" Sirius asked.

_"__What?" Teddy asked, sticking his 15 year old head round the lounge door. "Why would it be heavier?"_

_Harry, who had looked up from playing with Lily on the floor, and Ginny shared a look, probably knowing why it was heavier._

_"__Why don't you open it and find out," Harry suggested smiling._

_Teddy opened the letter pulling out the smallest bit of parchment._

_"__**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**__," Teddy read_

**_'Headmistress: MINERVA MCGONAGALL_**

**_(Order of Merlin, First Class)_**

**_Dear Mr Lupin,_**

**_We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to be a Prefect for Gryffindor House._**

_Is this a joke?" Teddy asked_

"Why would they joke?" Lily asked.

_but after a look from Ginny he continued reading._

**_"_****_You are expected to meet in the prefects' carriage at the beginning of the train journey on September 1st to receive information and Patrol rotations from the Head Boy and Girl._**

**_Please find enclosed a document of your jobs as a Prefect, your badge and a list of the necessary books for this year._**

**_Term begins on September 1st._**

**_Yours sincerely,_**

**_Minerva McGonagall_**

**_Headmistress_**

_I'm a prefect," Teddy muttered._

_"__Teddy, that's great," Harry grinned, looking back up at him_

_"__But a prefect," Teddy muttered. "That makes me sound like a good-to-shoes and like Percy."_

"Oi!" Lily, Remus, Ron and Hermione

"Sorry," Teddy muttered.

"That responses wasn't at Percy, Molly," Remus said quickly noticing Molly expression.

"Speak for yourself," Ron muttered.

_"__Your Father was a Prefect," Harry chuckled._

_"__Oops," Teddy said, looking sheepish._

"Oops indeed," Remus chuckled

"_I suppose it wouldn't be so bad but I've gotten in loads of trouble."_

_"__We know," Harry and Ginny muttered together._

_"__If I have to make one more trip, Teddy…" Harry sighed._

"Teddy," Remus and Dora frowned.

"Hypocrites," James and Sirius coughed.

_"__But you're hardworking," Harry continued on on a different topic, "and sometimes honest and good. Plus you're a talented wizard, Teddy."_

_"__Don't inflate his ego too much," Ginny smiled. "He might end up like Percy."_

"Leave him alone," Arthur frowned at his daughter.

_"__What are the other things?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes and indicating the still fat envelope on the chair arm._

_"__Um," Teddy muttered picking it up "Book list," (he handed it Ginny who rolled her eyes) _

Petunia tutted.

"_and something about Prefects." _

_"__What does it say?" Ginny asked._

**_"_****_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_**

**_ROLES_**

**_Prefects patrol the corridors of the Hogwarts Express on the way to school and attend a meeting in the prefects' carriage (the carriage is located at the front of the train and the Head Boy and Girl will be there to greet the Prefects) where you will receive further instructions from the Head Boy and Girl._**

**_Prefects patrol hallways to ensure that other students are not breaking curfew._**

**_Prefects show the first years the way to their dormitories on their first day of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and supervise the decorating of the castle for Christmas as well as other events._**

**_Prefects watch the younger students when bad weather keeps them indoors over break times._**

**_'Oh, what fun,' the twins said scrunching up their noses._**

**_HOUSE POINTS_**

**_Prefects are allowed to take House points away from other students in their own house as a penalty for rule-breaking, but they are not allowed to take points from other prefects or students in other houses. Prefects can give detentions as a form of punishment._**

**_PRIVLAGES_**

**_There is a bathroom with a large, pool-like bath on the fifth floor of Hogwarts Castle that is reserved for prefects and Quidditch captains. It is located at the fifth door to the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered._**

**_'So just be Quidditch Captain,' Sirius groaned. 'Much cooler.'_**

**_Once a student becomes a prefect, they have a better chance of becoming Head Boy or Head Girl_**

**_'You don't have to be a Prefect though,' James added._**

**_THE PREFECT BADGE_**

**_The Prefect badge is in the envelope with the two documents you have received and Prefects are required to wear the badge on their school uniform, however, if the prefect is on his or hear house Quidditch team, he or she is not required to wear the prefect badge on their Quidditch robes_**

**_If a prefect crosses a certain point of abusing his or her powers, they might have their position revoked, you have been warned.'_**

_"__Well, you'll have a fun year," Harry chuckled. "Prefect and your O.W.L's."_

"That's maddening," Remus, Lily, Teddy and Hermione said.

"And yet you all did well so stop complaining," Ron chuckled.

_"__Don't remind me," Teddy groaned._

_"__You'll be a good Prefect, Teddy," Ginny smiled._

_"__Thanks," Teddy grinned, taking the badge out of the heavy envelope and examining it._

_It was Gryffindors House colours, red and gold, with a 'P' for Prefect on it._

_"__I'll be a cool Prefect," Teddy said, still not looking particularly happy about the news. "Not a stuck up one."_

_"__Always a good idea," Harry chuckled. "Stuck up people are annoying."_

"Couldn't agree more," Ron muttered.

_Teddy grinned at him._

"I think Teddy agrees too," Moody grunted.

"Yep," Harry snorted. "Next memory."

_"__Hey,"_ Teddy now 16 year old said as the pensieve began the next the memory and he walked into the kitchen in Godrics Hollow. _"Has the owls arrived yet?"_

"Oh here we go again," Ginny laughed,

_"__Not yet, Ted," Harry smiled glancing up from the newspaper he was reading in the keeping. "It's too soon for the results anyway."_

"O.W.L's," the twins groaned.

_Teddy sighed flopping down next to him on the sofa, an amused smile flittered across Harry face as he looked at his godson. _

"Merlin, I didn't want them," Dora muttered.

"Skipping," Harry chuckled.

"_Have they come yet?" Teddy voice said in the darkness._

"Teddy," Molly sighed.

_Harry's eyes opened to see Teddy standing by the bed, poking him. Teddy stopped when he realized Harry was awake._

_"__Sorry," he grinned. "Have they come yet?"_

Lily laughed.

_"__Ted," Harry groaned, looking at the clock on the bedside table. "It's four o'clock in the morning, _

"Bloody Hell," Ron, James and Sirius moaned.

_at least wait for the average person to be up."_

_"__What times that?" Teddy asked._

_"__9 o'clock," Harry muttered, shutting his eyes again and ignoring the fact that the light was beginning to creepy over the roofs and through the curtains. "Maybe 8."_

_Teddy sighed._

"They'll come when they come," Dudley laughed.

"That lasted a few days," Harry grinned at his cousin who grimaced in pity for him and Ginny. "We're skipping."

"_Get up!" Teddy voice yelled, banging into Harry and Ginny's room. "Get up!"_

"I think they're here," Petunia smiled.

_"__Teddy, what's going on?" Ginny asked, as he grabbed her hand trying to pull her out of the bed._

_"__I think the letter's arrived," Harry chuckled before Teddy could answer, pushing himself of the bed._

"Ya think?" James chuckled.

_Teddy nodded fervently._

_"__We're coming," Ginny laughed, causing Teddy to let go of her hand and run out the door._

_Laughing slightly the two followed the excited and worried 16 year old down the stairs and into the kitchen where an owl was sitting on the island waiting to be relieved of it burden. _

_Teddy was trying to untie the letter from the owl with hands shaking nearly as much as Hermione's had many years before._

"Calm down," Molly smiled.

_Ginny put her hand to her mouth to hide her smile as Teddy let out a shout of victory final releasing the letter, the owl flew off quickly. _

_He opened the letter, now moving slowly, although he was scared of what it had said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the breakfast area his eyes scanned the paper as Harry and Ginny stood leaning on the work surface the owl had just flew of off._

_Teddy didn't speak for several minutes, his eyes repeatedly reading the parchment checking what he had read was right._

"Aw, come on, kid," Remus groaned. "You're killing us here."

Teddy just laughed.

_"__Teddy?" Harry asked but got no reply._

_"__Teddy, how did you do?" Ginny asked softly._

_Teddy looked up grinning at the two of them before yelling "I didn't fail anything!"_

"Well done," Dora beamed as the Marauders and Twins cheered.

_Harry and Ginny beamed at him as he jumped around, he hugged the both, thrusting the parchment at Harry_

"Polite," Dudley laughed

_before blurting out._

_"__Can we have pancakes for breakfast?" he asked, still bouncing around._

_"__Of course," Ginny laughed before turning to her husband, "but Harry what does it say."_

_Harry looked up at her from the parchment he was reading. _

**_"_****_ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS_**

**_Pass Grades: Outstanding (O) Fail Grades: Poor (P)_**

**_Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)_**

**_Acceptable (A) Troll (T)_**

**_TEDDY REMUS LUPIN HAS ACHIEVED:_**

**_Astronomy: A_**

**_Charms: O_**

**_Defence Against the Dark Arts: O_**

**_Herbology: E_**

**_History of Magic: A_**

**_Potions: A_**

**_Transfiguration: E_**

**_Care of Magical Creatures: O_**

**_Ancient Runes: O"_**

"Teddy, well done," Dora grinned, hugging her son tightly.

"Marvelous. Brilliant, Teddy," Remus chuckled.

Teddy grinned and soaked up the praise from his parents.

_"__Teddy, that's fantastic," Ginny beamed, hugging him once again._

_"__Brilliant, Teddy," Harry grinned, ruffling his hair fondly._

_"__Pancake brilliant?" Teddy asked his manic grin still on his face._

_"__With chocolate," Ginny smiled affectionately._

"What's the thing with Pancakes?" Lily asked.

"Teddy favourite breakfast," Harry laughed. "It's become the special occasion breakfast in the house – all the kids love them."

_"__What did you do?" 9 year old James said, walking into the kitchen and sitting down next to Teddy. "Mum never makes pancakes unless it's a celebration!"_

"Well, I think this fits the criteria," Moody said, smiling slightly.

_"__I know," Teddy laughed._

_"__So?" James asked. _

_"__I passed my O.W.L's," Teddy grinned_

_"__Well done, Teddy," 8 year old Albus smiled as he joined everyone. _

_"__You don't have much idea what they are, do you?" Teddy laughed _

"Probably not," James smiled.

_and the two young boys shook their heads._

_"__Just that they're tests," James smirked._

_"__They have to good, though," Albus grinned. "Considering the grins on Mum and Dad's faces and the fact that Mum's making pancakes!"_

Everyone laughed at Albus's logic.

_"__They're important, Al," Teddy smiled at the younger boy. "I needed to pass them."_

"Damn right you did," Sirius laughed as they landed back in the family room.

The sun was still up, due to there being a lot less memories, so the room was bathed in the natural light from the sun shining in the window.

"Might as well have dinner," Ginny smiled.

Sirius nodded happily, "Good idea."

Everyone smiled and made their way to the dining room to call Kreacher and to talk.


	30. Chapter 29 - Birthday Celebrations

"Harry Birthday, Teddy," Harry said when his godson walked in to breakfast on the Wednesday after the finished the memories; he wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Uncle Harry," Teddy groaned squirming.

"When did you get so old?" Ginny muttered walking through the door, smiling at Remus and Dora who were already sitting at the table smiling at their son.

"I'm not old," Teddy said turning to face her.

She smiled and hugged him as well, whispering birthday wishes in his ear.

It was only then he realized that he was just taller than her, although shorter than Harry, and yet he remembered the memories they watched where his face pressed against her stomach when he hugged her. He smiled sadly as she drew back and he looked down at her.

She returned his smile, kissing his check motherly before walking to her chair. Harry smirked, ruffling his hair before he and Teddy made their way toward the other end of the table.

"Happy birthday, son," Remus smiled as his son flopped into the seat next to him and round the corner from Harry's, glad he could be there to say those words.

"Thanks, Dad," Teddy grinned.

Remus' smile strengthened at Teddy's words. Over the last few days, Teddy had been quieter and when he did speak it wasn't to either him or Dora so hearing the word 'Dad' come out of his mouth again was enough to spark a warm feeling in Remus. Something was bugging him even Remus could tell that, had been since they went out to dinner.

"Here, Teddy," Dora smiled, rising from her seat with a gift and hugging him. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks, Mum," Teddy said, knowing he was going to say thanks a lot today but he had never said those to words together, never had a reason to, and he was so happy to spend his coming of age birthday with both his parents and his godfather at his side as it should have been if the war hadn't happened.

"Harry told me you broke your beaters bat, last week after we played," Remus grinned when Teddy had open the gift from his mother and father and look up beaming at them.

"More James broke it," Dora corrected.

"This is great thanks," Teddy grinned hugging them both.

"Have you got any plans today, Teddy?" Lily asked walking round and ruffling his hair.

"No, I don't thi-" Teddy began but with a glance at his godfathers and his wife's face he changed his sentence. "Probably."

Lily and James, who had walked in with her, chuckled glancing at Harry and Ginny.

"Cover your ears," Lily Luna warned walking in and taking her seat opposite Teddy and beside her father.

Harry, Ginny, Lily Luna and Teddy all covered their ears as everyone looked at the four confused. Until James and Albus ran through the door and jumped at Teddy, yelling and shouting at the top of their young lugs. Everyone who hadn't listened to Lily Luna's message cringed and clapped their own hand over their ears.

Teddy sent Harry a pleading look.

"James," Harry said loudly, "Albus, that's enough."

His sons either didn't hear him or they blatantly ignored him, having tried once more before deciding there was no way they were going to listen to him if he acted the father.

"Boys!" Harry's loud Auror voice reverberated around the room over his sons' loud yells.

James and Albus spun around, knowing that their father wouldn't use that tone with them unless he really wanted them to behave and listen

"That's enough," Harry said in his normal calm familiar voice which made his sons relax slightly realizing they weren't actually in trouble. "If you want to yell, go outside. People, your family and our guests, are trying to eat their breakfast in peace."

"Sorry, Dad," James and Albus said simultaneously.

"Where you trying to say something?" Teddy asked his younger god-brother pleasantly knowing his godfather had finished reprimanding his sons. "I couldn't understand due to the volume."

"Yes," James nodded his voice far more reasonable. "Harry birthday."

"Happy Birthday, Teddy," Albus grinned.

"Cheers," Teddy chuckled, hugging both his brothers in one hug.

"Here you go, Ted," Harry chuckled, sliding a box toward him. "Happy Seventeenth."

Teddy grinned at his godfather pulling the box closer to him and unwrapping it. Sitting inside the box was the silver wrist watch with twelve planets moving slowly around the edge.

"Thanks," Teddy grinned, hugging both Harry and Ginny tightly.

"Got in a few fights with your parents over that one," Ginny laughed, as Remus and Dora.

"We got our way though," Dora smiled sticking her tongue out.

"My dear Nymphy, that's not very polite is it," Sirius laughed, entering the room.

"Shut up, Siri," Dora growled.

Later that day everyone member of the Weasley clan joined Teddy and his family at Potter Manor, as well as many of Teddy's friends for Hogwarts for a party that Ginny and Victoire had worked together to make, despite Teddy's insistence that he didn't want a big thing. He spent most of it opening presents and giving his thanks although the grin on his face it was obvious he enjoyed it immensely.

"You didn't really think we'd let you coming of age birthday go without a party, did you?" Ginny had laughed when Teddy saw all his friends and liked family in the house.

"I did," Teddy had grumbled to Harry before saying louder to Ginny. "No, I suppose not."

"You return to Hogwarts on Saturday as well, it's been nice having you home," Harry smiled at his godson fondly who grinned back at him.

"Thanks," he chuckled.

"Teddy!" Victoire called, coming towards them.

Harry ruffled his hair, pushing him toward his girlfriend. He walked away but not before seeing Teddy wrap his arms around Victoire's waist and kiss her gently, he had obviously not realized Harry could still see him or he would have turned red.

Teddy, Victoire, Dominique and Lucy, all returned to Hogwarts that Saturday. Remus and Dora accompanied their son and the Potters to platform 9 and ¾ as Harry knew they would, glad they could do it now and you could tell from Teddy's face that as much as he loved his godfather, he was happy his parents were back.

However he still hadn't been able to think of them as his parents that had been his battle in his head or more he hadn't been able to replace Harry and Ginny as his parental figures and he wondered if he ever would be able to, it just felt wrong. Harry and Ginny, along with his grandmother, had actually been the ones to raise him, to take care of him, they turned him into the person he is today, his parents weren't there when he had a nightmare, that had been Harry most of the times or his grandmother, they weren't the ones to wipe his tears, which Harry, Ginny and his grandmother had done, they weren't there to comfort him when his grandmother died, that had been all Harry, and, although he didn't blame his parents for all that because he knew why the died. Harry and Ginny, he just felt, would always be his parents, the people he went to when he needed something, the people who were his comfort in the dark, the people who he probably be the first to tell exciting news to, not his flesh and blood parents but he's adopted ones.


	31. Chapter 30 - In Memoriam

Harry coughed making a strange noise before he began speaking. "Um, well, I don't actually, um, know what to say - it seems that after so many years of doing this I've finally run out of things."

He fell quiet rubbing his face in thought, he was standing at the front of the Great Hall at the Memorial Ball that was held every year. Nearly everyone who lost someone came and many who didn't.

The Weasleys, the Potters, the Lupins and Sirius sat at a large and long oval table right at the front. Harry was in his Auror robes having come from just in time to make his speech, while the rest of the mourners and celebrators were dressed up, the men in dress robes the women in dresses. Harry's glasses were slightly lopsided and his hair messier than usual, no doubt due to his rush to get here. His face had a cut on it from the work he and his Aurors were doing today, it was so bad so neither Ginny nor Lily had tried to stop him and heal it as he entered the room. He was trembling slightly but only those at the front could see, he had spent the last hour at Azkaban prison. No one cared though that he wasn't dressed appropriately and that he hadn't prepared anything. They just liked, needed, to hear their saviour speak. It was fitting as well having him in his auror robes. Still protecting the,

Ginny sighed as she watched her husband struggle for words as Hermione rolled her eyes. Ginny smiled thinking of what words Hermione would have picked out for the trio to say later in the evening when they had to make a group speech – all part of being in the Golden Trio.

She looked back up at Harry as he began speaking again.

"I've talked about moving on, and how it is okay to do so; how we should live the life our friends, our family, wanted us too, the lives they died so we could have; I asked you to think about how they would want you to remember them and how they would want you to live."

He began pacing in front of the hall, his arms crossed although he did move one hand as he spoke.

"I've talked about loss; grief; war; pain; injuries; death; fear" (he counted each one of on his fingers) "but also happiness; joy; celebration; and family – the importance of it.

"I have thanked you; complimented you, praised you because you all fought brilliantly and bravely to live in this better and happier world."

He paused again, smiling but also frowning at the same time.

"So what now?

"I could stand here and tell you a load of philosophical rubbish, to be perfectly honest, but would there really be much point in that. I bet half of you aren't even listening to me now, anyway.

"Life can suck, I think I've told you that, a fair few times but you do _have _to keep on going, keep on fighting or you'll regret it.

"Everyone says that I am your saviour because I killed the wizard terrorising us, but if you really think about it, I didn't have a choice. You are your hero's, the people who fought even when they didn't have too, people who could have been safe from the sadness and tragedy that war brings."

Ginny rolled her eyes at her husband but a warm and fond smile was plastered across her face it faltered when he stopped speaking again, rubbed a hand tiredly over his face and seemed to think.

**"**Little by little, at some point, I shattered. My heart broken to shreds and I was forced to watch; like dropping glass there is nothing you can do except watch it fragment into a million pieces, there is no time to catch yourself when you are breaking inside. Breaking so much, you feel completely shattered. When you are lost, it comes to a point where you feel hopeless."

They older people out of the large group at the front shared sad looks among themselves thinking about how much Harry had seen when he was young.

"After the war, it was hard to find purpose again for all of us.**"**

There was a general mumble of agreement from the congregation Harry was speaking too.

"But maybe we all have to be shattered. Maybe it is like some kind of test because everyone has battles they fight and my days of being shattered are gone, they're just a memory, they're the past.

"I don't actually know why I even bother, doing this, I mean. Stand here and talk to you all like I know what you're going through because I don't, no one does. I may have lost my fair share of people in life, seen my fair share of horrible things and experienced more than my fair share of terrifying experiences."

Ron snorted obviously taking all those things as an understatement.

"But everyone feels death and loss in slightly different ways and deals with that differently.

"I do realize this speech is rather disjointed" (he moved his hands through the air as though grabbing things) "but I really am just speaking what's in my head, which really is probably the most sincere thing you can get someone to speak. When they aren't thinking before they do so and just let everything out, without wondering how people will react to it.

'It's been seventeen years since the war ended - can you believe seventeen years? We've rebuilt Hogwarts, and many off the fighters either built families or repaired the ones they had already." – Harry glanced at the large table smiling at him, he returned them and continued speaking, now on a role – "We've changed the laws, so our world isn't so prejudice anymore. Werewolves are not discriminated against, and if anyone shows any sign of doing so can be fined." (Many beamed at Hermione) "Being a pureblood doesn't matter at the ministry anymore. Our ministry is corrupt free for the first time. House-elves have to be treated better or again there will be consequences. Our world is far more equal, far fairer.

"The younger generation live in peace; they don't look over their shoulder everywhere they go; they don't keep a tight grip on their wands as all the adults who have fought a war did, and still do."

Ginny glanced down at Harry's pocket to see his wand sticking out of his auror robes when she looked back to his face he was smirking in her direction.

"And I believe my wife had just noticed that my own wand is sticking out my pocket so it's easy to grab."

A chuckle swept through the crowd.

"The younger generation don't know how horrible it is to watch a person die or to fight for survival; they don't know what dead bodies smell like or how it feels to kill people, even if they are evil.

"Considering at the beginning of this speech I told you I had no idea what to say, I seem to have rambled quite a lot. I'm sorry for that" (Harry finally stopped his slow pacing across the hall and turned to look at them all, his feet shoulder width apart, his arms still crossed, a sad look on his, in Ginny opinion, handsome face) "and for everything, for everyone, the war took from you. I'm sorry for your losses."

Everyone rose from their seats and applause filled the hall as Harry stepped down from the raise platform the teachers table usually was positioned on. Ginny walked towards him, kissing his cheek.

"Well done," she smiled.

"Thanks," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Are you alright?" she questioned, laying her hand on his cheek.

"I hate Dementors," Harry muttered, holding her hand to his face before turning his head slightly to kiss it.

Ginny didn't need to reach to wrap her arms around her husband's neck in comfort since she was wearing high heels. Harry's arms wrapped around her waist, accepting the comfort gladly.

"Come on," she said gently, extracting herself and taking his hand pulling him back toward the family table.

"Let's have the Golden Trio up here with their family for the first dance off the evening," an announcer said, just as Harry and Ginny reached the table.

Harry groaned loudly, obviously wanting to sit down after his trip to Azkaban and being on his feet all day. Plus add a scared Lily Luna, who had had a nightmare at one o'clock that morning, and an early start to the list, he was too tired to be bothered with dance.

Ginny took pity on him and they just swayed side to side to the music while some members of the family span gracefully around them, like Bill and Fleur, and others, just like them, swayed.

Teddy know after so many years that he was included in the Potters danced with Victoire while some of the other kids just danced around as kids did. Lily and James span around, Lily laughing happily the whole time, while Sirius, Dora and Remus just sat there laughing at them all.

When the song finished Harry spotted Snape in the corner of the room and nodded to him to which he got a sharp nod in return. He flashed a smile at Draco Malfoy, who was leading his wife Astoria onto the floor, as he passed by their table, causing Sirius, Remus and Dora to look at him – Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

Draco had stopped after Harry had turned around.

"Alright, Potter," he smiled. "Nice speech."

"Cheers, Malfoy," he chuckled.

"Harry, Ginny," Astoria greeted them , smiling.

"Astoria," Harry and Ginny said simultaneous and Harry could see Sirius laughing out of the corner of his eyes, James too was smirking.

"You alright, Harry?" Draco said, his smile slipping on his face. "You're shaking a little."

"I've just got back from a visit to Azkaban," Harry said, flashing a half smile before saying sarcastically. "I love my job sometimes."

Draco chuckled before he and Astoria took the last few steps toward the dance floor.

"Dementors?" Remus said, looking concerned thinking of how they affected Harry in his third year. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Fine," Harry said.

"I'll believe that if you can keep your hand steady," Lily said, frowning at him.

Harry smirked at her and waited a few seconds before raising a steady hand parallel to the table.

"Perfectly fine, see," he chuckled, as Lily smiled slightly.

After a few more dances, some of which they were forced to do, they all were let out of the Great Hall to roam the castle and grounds, due to the fact that the memorial statue was in the courtyard where Harry had been pronounced dead and every place where they knew where someone had died had a tile with their name on, their date of birth, as well as their date of death, which of course where all the same, and 'A Hero'.

Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Dora followed Teddy, Harry and Ginny toward where Remus and Dora had died. Remus' tile read:

_Remus John Lupin_

_10th March 1960 – 2nd May 1998_

_A Hero_

Dora's read basically the same thing:

_Nymphadora Cassandra Lupin nee Tonks_

_4th January 1973 – 2nd May 1998_

_A Hero_

"Bit depressing, isn't it?" Harry managed to chuckle.

"It was your idea, idiot," Ginny smirked, taking her husbands hand as they made their way toward the memorial.

"True," Harry smirked.

"I like it," Lily smiled. "It shows they'll never been forgotten."

"I glad that got across," Harry said, glancing over his shoulder to look at his mother. "It's was what I was trying to show."

The group behind him smiled.

"It worked, Uncle Harry," Teddy grinned, nudging him slightly.

Harry smiled and nodded a few times at his godson.

They spent a long time at the memorial, placing flowers on them as Harry, Ginny and Teddy had done for seventeen years previously before wondering the grounds, the adults reminiscing about their time there.

It was beginning to get dark when they all ventured back to the castle, they where one of the last ones back up there. Hermione and Ron came over to Harry straight away, they didn't exchange any words just stared at each other, nodding a certain points.

"Would you three care to speak aloud?" Ginny asked, rolling her eyes as though this was a natural occurrence.

"Speech time, again," Harry muttered, Ginny bit back a smile at how much he still hated speaking in front of people.

He kissed her cheek, ruffled Teddy's hair before the trio sent a nod to the rest of the adults and made their way onto the raised platform.

"Friends, family … strangers," Hermione began when she was sure everyone was back in the Great Hall, a few people smirked at her greeting.

"We've gathered here every year since 1999, this is our 17th year, to celebrate, mourn and remember but, as you can probably guess, we're starting to run out of things to say."

She stopped speaking and looked at Harry; he made a slight face only visible to the front most tables before speaking.

"We could talk about what people who have wanted but that's different to each person who died and we hope you know what your loved ones would have wanted. We're pretty sure that people like Fred Weasley and the legendary Marauders', James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, would have wanted their to be more joy or pranks in the world" – (James and Sirius smirked, when Remus smiled softly.) – "We've been luckily enough to have this confirmed. While people like Albus Dumbledore, to quote Minerva McGonagall to Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin, would be happier to know that their was a little more love in the world."

"Sounds like Dumbledore," Lily said quietly as she smiled at the three friends at the front, who were looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"We could also talk about whether today, should be a day of celebration or of mourning," Ron said, "but we've already done that and most other things."

"So today," Hermione spoke again with a little more confidence than she had before, "we are going to repeat ourselves by thanking you."

The Weasleys smiled, remembering the last thanking speech these three had given the second year after the war finished.

"Thank you for believing in us, mainly Harry" (she nudged Harry fondly as he rolled his eyes) "Thank you for fighting even during the darkest times and having hope that one day this would end."

She smiled out at the crowd before Harry began speaking, "Thank you to the D.A. for fighting within Hogwarts and giving the Carrows trouble," –Neville caught Ginnys eyes from a few tables away and grinned- "thank you to the Order of the Phoenix for trying to help us even if we wouldn't accept it." (Remus smiled slightly)

"Thank you to everyone who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, as the Ministry dubbed it all those years ago," Ron said, seeming glad that his piece was only small

"This may come as a shock to some of you, as we've only mentioned it once before, we want to thank Draco Malfoy, who didn't give us away when we arrived at Malfoy Manor sometime during March or April; and to Narcissa Malfoy, for lying to Voldemorts face about Harry, a great risk of your life," Hermione spoke directly to the two people sitting slightly in the shadows, by their own choice, she sent them a grateful look before turning to Ron.

"Thank you to my family for going past what was expected to keep these two idiots safe," (he jerked his head at Harry and Hermione, who were on his right) "as you would have done one of us," Ron said smiling brightly at his parents.

"But we want to add something completely knew to the list of thank you's, we want to thank Teddy Remus Lupin," – Teddy raised his eyebrows suspiciously as Victoire squeezed his hand under the table – "for being a ray of light of dark during the months after the war," (Hermione smiled fondly, looking directly at the boy, or man now, in question) "to me, to Ron, and mainly, to Harry."

Teddy's eyes flickered to Harry's as Hermione said his godfathers name, Harry sent him a warm, fatherly smile before speaking, "Thank you all so, so much, and now we've been asked to tell you some quotes that Headmistress McGonagall thinks are appropriate, the first one being; right is right, even if everyone is against it and wrong is wrong, even if everyone if for it."

"Life is cruel; it will always snatch away those who are dear to us, leaving those remaining with maddening grief and desperate sorrow. But if you detach yourself and keep your distance, then though you will not be subjected to the pain of loss, the life you live will not be worth living, for the loneliness will tear you apart," Hermione looked slightly disgruntled at the quote she had just read, giving everyone the impression that they had not had time to read these before.

**"**Letting go is one of the hardest things a person can do. It requires courage, strength, and understanding. Ask anyone who's suffered hardship and they'll tell you - letting go is indeed one of the most difficult things to do. Just letting go, releasing all that pent up fury and grief and guilt and shame. Just letting it all go," Harry said, not looking to impressed either, he and Hermione exchanged a look.

"War. It was something that brought people together, and tore people apart. It brought out peoples true colours. Made them realize who was really a friend, or if they had been fooled all along," (Sirius, James and Remus's jaws clenched angrily as the remembered the rat) "But most importantly**, **it showed who was really important to you. Who you would cry for if they died, who you would miss, and who made your life complete. It made you realize who you can't live without," Ron smiled a little at the end, looking first at his family and then at the two people beside him.

"He told her they would be all right. He lied to her and himself over and over," – Hermione sent the two boys on either side of her evil looks – "because in a place so bereft of hope lying is all you have," Hermione deflated a bit as she spoke the last few words as the trio at the front looked a little depressed.

Harry cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You got to take some changes in love and war, you got to risk losing it all, you got to close your eyes and leap because it might just be worth the fall," he spoke the last bit with a hint of laughter in his voice, thinking of all the times he had leaped.

"A war isn't won if you're your own enemy at the end of it," Ron said, strongly.

**"**War is hell – everyone seems to neglect that small fact," Hermione frowned, looking slight annoyed. "War is glorified in the history books. They don't tell you all the gory details. The books don't tell you about the stench of dead bodies or how horrible it is to watch a person die." (She sent Harry a look wondering if he had heard this quote, since he had said something very similar in his speech) "The books don't tell you what it's like to fight for survival. The books don't tell you these things. All your experience of war comes from the books. And so you wish that the books had told you all these things. Maybe knowing these things could have prepared you better or maybe not. The one thing you wish the books had told you was that 'war is hell'."

"Hermione, did you just insulted books?" Harry chuckled as she finished speaking causing several people, who knew what Hermione was like, to chuckled,

"Shut up, Potter, and continue," Hermione growled causing several people to laugh once again

"But sometimes risks have to be taken to put things right," Harry said with conviction. "Sometimes we must fight for our love, our life, our hopes, our dreams, our souls. We must battle fate, jump through all the hurdles it decides to throw at us to set things right."

"Though the times were dark, sunlight could always burst through," Ron grinned.

"And when we feel most trapped, there is always hope, even if we can't see it," Hermione smiled.

Harry groaned as he looked at the quote he was about to read, "Death is the hardest thing to heal, and the wounds gape open with sorrow and suffering."

"Pain doesn't smile, after all," Ron frowned thinking of Harry after Sirius' death, he had smiled but it had never reached his eyes – Ron had hated seeing his best mate like that. Hermione stood next time, a frown on her own face, thinking vaguely the same thing, as was Ginny.

"Death is but crossing to worlds," Hermione said, bringing herself back to the present, "as friends do the seas; they live in one another still. For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is omnipresent. In this divine glass they see face to face; and their converse is free, as well as pure. This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal."

"For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity," Harry said, a slight frown on his face.

"Family is a remarkable thing," Ron grinned, and the other two parts of the golden trio smiled, their faces lighting up at the words, seeming like they were emitting the golden light which had earned them the name Golden Trio. "The things a person will do for them. The pain a person will suffer because of them. The love a person will feel for them. And most never even realize what an amazing thing they have. Family—there's truly nothing like it."

The trio grinned at the large table in front of them, as they saw many families hugging further back.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift, that's why it's called present. Remember that," Hermione smiled, her face still lit up**.**

"Sometime people bring joy into your lives without you even knowing it," Harry said, his face exactly like Hermione's.

"We are so sorry for you losses and thank you for coming," Ron finished their speech, a smile still stretch wide across his face.

They rest of the evening consisted of a meal and lot more dancing as they more into the celebration part of the evening.

At around twelve, Lily was asleep across two chairs with her head on her fathers lap, her hair already a mess around her face, while the Potter boys leaned their heads on their tables. The rest of the young family members where the same but Teddy and Victoire were dancing on the floor, quite gracefully considering Teddy's clumsiness.

They had celebrated Victoire's 15th birthday earlier in the day. Although Harry hadn't been present he still wished her happy birthday, kissing her forehead, telling her he was sorry and that he loved her as he hurried along to make his speech.

When he had finished, she had caught up to them group walking round Hogwarts hugging Harry round the waist and telling it was okay and that she loved him too. Lily, James and Sirius had proud smiles on their faces as they saw the amount of love Harry had from the family he built up.

Victoire had joined them wondering around Hogwarts and had asked him if he was okay, she obviously seen his shaking when he spoke to her or presented his speech.

With Harry being stuck with his daughters head on his lap, Ginny, Lily and James stayed at the table talking and watching the people dance while the rest of the family either slept, danced or wondered round the hall talking to people.

The ball drew to a close at around 3 o clock on May 3rd, Harry picked up his daughter, while James and Sirius carried the two boys – they had decided not to wake them – when they had to leave. Harry was sure the kids would have a bit of a fit about not saying good bye to their cousins, they would be asleep when Harry left for work, once again early in the morning, and it would be left to Ginny and the family to deal with.

Harry frowned at the thought of more work in the early hours of the morning but was glad he didn't have to deal with his kid's sadness at not saying good bye.

Everyone flopped into beds exhausted that morning and did not wake again till late morning or, in some cases, the afternoon.


	32. Chapter 31 - Back to Life

Harry sighed heavily running a hand across his face. He knew his father, godfather and honouree uncle had been trouble makers in their days at Hogwarts but he had rather hoped that death had calmed them down at least a little bit but James and Sirius were wreaking havoc over Potter Manor. Harry and Ginny had gotten no sleep for days trying to get James Sirius to bed and to stay there. While Lily tried to convince James and Sirius to calm down, a quest that seemed impossible. Ginny had said to Harry and Lily once that it was like having two more children in the place.

"Harry," a voice snapped him out of his home thoughts and Harry snapped up straight at his desk in the Auror Office. He was back to work now and was rather glad he got out of the manor.

Turning his head, Harry was surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing in the door way. There was no need for him to be in the Auror office but Harry began to be suspicious when he saw a shadow looming behind him.

"Draco?" Harry asked, rising from his desk and consciously placing his hand right next to his wand at the shadow following his co-worker.

"Black appeared at the manor," Draco said and Harry almost thought he was talking about Sirius before he gestured the man behind him to remove the hood of his cloak.

"Regulus Black," Harry breathed and nodded to Draco, who took his leave immediately. "Take a seat."

Harry frowned as he went to the cupboard and pulled out the Vertiserum, Regulus returning did not fit with Kreacher's story. He was killed by inferi who were simple people Voldemort had killed therefore they were not his death eaters or himself. He pushed these thoughts from his mind as he felt Regulus' eyes watching him.

"You're a Potter," he stated with an unwavering certainty.

"And what gave that away?" Harry asked politely beginning to walk back to his desk.

"The hair," Regulus said and Harry snorted almost silently: that was definitely a Potter trait. "Well, that and the name plate."

"Good eye, Mr Black," Harry observed, pouring the vertiserum. "May I ask why you went to Malfoy Manor?"

"Only if you tell me something in return."

"That sounds fair," Harry said, leaning back in his chair. "Voldemort is dead, his Death Eaters disbanded and the Horcrux that you fought so hard to gain has been destroyed."

His words were received with a surprised look, "now, I believe you own me some answers. I will tell you more when I have checked your identity."

"I went to Grimmauld Place," Regulus told him. "It was empty."

"Ah, yes, it would be," Harry nodded. "We have relocated to Godric's Hollow, Grimmauld Place has been empty for years."

"You live there?"

"Finish your story."

"Fine," Regulus replied annoyed. "I went to Gummauld place, it was empty. I went to the only place where I knew someone who would listen to me would be: Narcissa. Well, truthfully I tried Sirius' apartment first but someone else was living there."

"Hmm," Harry nodded and then, snapping into procedure, pushed in the vertiserum towards him. "This going to sound a little crazy but you're in 2015 and have been dead for the last for 36 years –"

"Dead!" Regulus yelped, his eyes flickering around the room.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled as he led Regulus into Potter Manor and felt the other man (Regulus had returned at the age of 36) falter slightly in his steps.

Harry smiled back at him reassuringly, "he knows the truth."

At that moment Sirius bonded down the corridor in his dog form with Lily Luna sat on his back. Harry shook his head in amusement but he wasn't worried Sirius would never let anything happen to little Lily or any of Harry's children. He picked his daughter of Sirius and then step to the wall so the two Black brothers could see each other.

As soon as Sirius set eyes on Regulus, he transformed back into himself causing Lily to pout at the disappearance of Padfoot.

"Reg," Sirius said, his eyes wide and his jaw on the floor.

Harry took this as the cue for him to leave allowing the two men to make amends without an audience. He placed his daughter on the ground and took her hand leading back up the corridor. He glanced back as he reached end and saw Sirius pulling his younger brother into a hug. Smiling softly, he tugged his daughters hand and led her into the family room where her mother and grandparents were.

"You're home," Ginny smiled widely at him as he entered the room and he let Lily run off as he leant down to kiss his check.

"Yes," he said unneedingly, "I had an arrival that I needed to bring back," – she perked up interested – "Regulus Black."

"Harry, dear," Lily said when they were eating dinner that night around the overflowing dining table, "I was thinking perhaps it's time we tried to get back to normal lives."

Harry looked around the crowded table and had to agree. They'd added as many chairs as was possible and it was hard to eat without nudging someone else. Plus, he himself was missing the little cottage in Godrics Hollow and he knew Ginny was missing it as well.

"That's probably a good idea," Harry agreed, giving her a small smile and he saw Ginny sigh in the corner on his eye – yes, she definitely wanted things calmer and back to normal. "Well, I suppose we could start getting you house's and jobs. Dad –" James headed jerked towards his son still relishing in being called that – "you still wanting to be an auror? You as well Dora?"

Lily frowned at the idea of her husband being back in the line of fire but James placed his hand over hers.

"I think," he said slowly to his sons raised eyebrow, "that I've done enough fighting for now."

Harry smiled at him and nodded. He sometimes thought that.

"Well I'm still up for it!" Dora bounced and Harry chuckled.

"I've looked into it," Harry spoke, "and you will have to retake the training," – Dora groaned loudly – "but it's only a formality to make sure that you're still fit and able and skilled enough to do the job. I'll be overseeing everything and though generally you would have to wait until August till you can begin, I can try set it up so you can get it over with now."

Dora grinned at him.

"I was also looking through the paper this morning, Remus," Remus turned from smiling at his wife to look at Harry. "They're looking for a new teacher at Hogwarts in September – I mean it's not Defense but…you could go back into teaching. You were amazing at it! We also need to, at some point, discuss the matter of Teddy though that can be left till he comes home from school."

Remus and Dora shared a look – they hadn't considered what would happen when Teddy came home for the summer. They'd hopefully be all set up by then but would he want to come with them or stay with Harry? Remus cleared his throat and continued with only the job offer.

"What subject is it, Harry?" he asked and Harry smiled at him sadly as though he knew Remus was purposely ignoring the aspect of Teddy.

"Anciet Runes?" and Remus' head perked up – he and Lily had enjoyed that subject together at Hogwarts. "Mum, Angelina would love to talk to you about becoming a healer. Sirius…?" (Harry trailed off – he wasn't really sure what Sirius would do or his Dad if he wasn't becoming an auror.) "I seem to remember there's a few vacancies in the Magical Games and Sports department that you and Dad could look into?"

They both perked up and Harry chuckled knowing their brains had gone straight to Quidditch.

They continued of this for the rest of evening and Harry took Dora to the Ministry to sign some papers so they could get the ball rolling on her training.


	33. Chapter 32 - Burden too Great

2 months later and Teddy had returned from Hogwarts. Everyone had set up their own lives and Sirius ever had a girlfriend. No one was really sure how that happened but he seemed happy so they weren't really going to question it. Lily and James had taken over one of the many house that the Potters had leaving the Manor empty and Harry and Ginny happy in the cottage with the kids. Regulus was pleased to be back in Grimmauld place and had ever convinved Sirius to move back with him. As for Remus and Dora, they were trying to adjust with having Teddy in the house and Harry to not having him especially after all the times he'e be called up to Hogwarts in the last two months.

Teddy hadn't managed well going back to Hogwarts after all he'd seen his godfather get up to there and the amount of harm that had befallen him. He played up and Harry began to regret allowing him to see everything, clearly he was still too young to deal with it. He'd had many meetings with Flitwick over the last couple of months trying to find a way to help and settle Teddy back down but the young boy with filled with so much confusion and anger that it was difficult to. All part of Harry not being able to settle down with Teddy over with his parents rather than in Godric's Hollow.

He wasn't adjusting there either and would often just appear through the Potter fireplace. Thus why Harry was sat at the kitchen counter with the 17 year old trying to talk some sense into him.

"C'mon, Ted, what's the problem here?" Harry asked. "I thought you were happy to have your parents back and live with them? This is what you wanted – we didn't force you there."

"I know," Teddy frowned, "bus I just can't settle there! I don't feel like it's home!"

"Give it time, it's a new place for you – it _won't _feel like home for a while."

"I'm hurting them, I can tell," Teddy moaned covering his face with his hands and Harry placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They understand, trust me they do," he sighed. "You're going to need some time to adjust – we all do!"

Teddy looked up at him, "is this weird for you?"

Harry stared at his brunette for the moment godson and debated the truth, "of course it is. You don't think I don't find it off of how empty your room is? Or the fact that I can never hear you and the kids laughing together? Yeah it is weird but you're meant to be with your parents."

The boy nodded but it relaxed him to know that he wasn't the only one finding the whole situation weird. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Teddy spoke again in a dejected voice:

"Mum's pregnant."

Harry almost spat out his drink. It wasn't that surprising – they'd never had the chance to bring Teddy up and really have the parent child bond, not to mention that Remus hadn't passed the werewolf onto Teddy. They'd be great parents…

"Oh, Teddy," Harry sighed, knowing what the teen was thinking. "That doesn't mean they don't love you."

Teddy nodded but avoided his eyes.

"They just want a second chance," Teddy murmured.

"They deserve it though don't you think?" he received another nod. "Go home, Ted, talk to your parents but remember you're always welcome here."

"Thanks, Uncle Harry," the teen gave his godfather a tight hug and slowly followed his advie skucking towards the fireplace to floo back to his parents.

At the moment Teddy disappeared, the phone rang causing Harry to jump. The phone very rarely rung especially now Petunia had an owl. He hurried quickly to answer it – anything to take his mind off the conversation with Teddy.

"Hello?" he picked the phone up off the hook.

"Harry?" Dudley's voice sounded over the phone. "I have big, important news."

Harry chucked, leaning against the wall, "I'm all ears."

"I asked Soph to marry me!"

Pushing off the wall in surprise, Harry almost dropped the phone.

"You, what?" he exclaimed. "How did that go down – you haven't been together very long."

"Don't be such a sour puss!" Dudley laughed. "She said yes! I mean the weddings not going to be anything fancy like yours and Ginny's, we've just going to go down to the registry office with the family – you'll come right? You, Ginny and the kids. Mum's inviting Aunt Lily and Uncle James."

It was still weird, Harry found, hearing Dudley refer to having an aunt and uncle.

"Of course! We wouldn't miss it – though I do need a date, Dud!"

"We don't know that yet," Dudley scoffed and Harry laughed.

"Well let me know and I'll attempt to get it off work."

"Great!" Harry could almost picture the grin on Dudley's face. "I've got to go – got to get to work!"

They hung up after saying goodbye and Harry turned to find Ginny standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

"You used the phone!" she laughed. "I was beginning to think that was a waste of money!"

The next day found Harry in his office with Dora across the desk. She'd spead through her tests and trainging faster than was possible for a new recruit with Harry pulling every string possible to get her back to where she was before her death. She seemed happy, glowing and now Teddy had mentioned it, Harry could see the beginnings of a tiny bump though he could understand why he hadn't noticed with her usually being in her auror robes.

"Harry, c'mon, it's my day off! What's this about?" Dora playfully complained staring at him across the desk.

"You have something you want to tell me – either as your friend, the godfather of your son, or as your boss?"

"Teddy told you," she sighed looking away and moving her hands towards her stomach knowing straight away what he meant. "He didn't take it well. I assumed he went to you."

"He did and can you really blame him?" Harry frowned – he didn't want to upset Dora but surely she understood why Teddy 'didn't take it well'. "He's struggling with this – the situation, moving, all the memories I regrettably dupped on him-"

"He wanted to know that!" Dora defended Harry from himself.

"I know he did – but he hasn't managed them very well, you've come with me to the meetings with Flitwick," Harry sighed. "I just want to check everythings okay? I'm worried about him. He's feeling a bit lost and replaced."

Dora looked away from his penetrating green eyes – eyes that her son often mimicked.

"You can go home now," Harry smiled before she could speak and turned his attention back to the paperwork pilled on his desk.

Catching the obvious dismissal, Dora bade him goodbye and left the office.


	34. Chapter 33 - The End

The night the newest edition to the family was born – Teddy stayed at Hogwarts even as Lily, James, Sirius, Harry and Ginny flocked to the hospital. He hadn't gotten comfortable in his home with his parents before he went back to Hogwarts and then he stayed there (as Head Boy he was proud to say) during Christmas and Easter. He stopped acting out though finally coming to terms with all his godfather had been through after many deep chats with the two who had been with him.

It was a long night but eventually Dora gave birth to a beautiful little girl that they named Louisa Andi and named Lily, James and Ginny godparents. Lily cried and hugged her son tightly.

Harry had adjusted easily to his parents being back in comparison to his godson. He was older perhaps was the reason. They were more friends than anything – at least frienships he was far more respectful too. They didn't mind the relationship: it was better than none.

"She's beautiful, Dora, she really is," James smiled at his old friends wife and she beamed back in return still bubbling even in her exhasition.

"Teddy?" she asked looking towards Harry who shook his head and looked at floor.

"I told him," Harry assured them, "but he didn't respond – Vikky got back though, said he wasn't coming…. Sorry."

Dora deflated slightly – she wanted to see her boy hold his sister. Remus frowned.

"I'm going to go up there," he told his wife. "See if I can convince him."

With that Remus strode out the room feeling glad he'd applied and got that teaching job at Hogwarts so he could just go and have a chat with his son.

It was a while but eventually Remus returned with the teen following along behind him – his turquoise hair a tad less vibrant than normal.

"Hi, Mum," he smiled wearily. "How you feeling?"

She beamed at him response, gesturing him closer, "better now you're here! Now come see your sister!"

Teddy felt a wave a guilt wash over him and shuffled over to the bed to look at the ting creature in his mum's arms.

"Pretty," he muttered smiling at her. "What did you call her?"

"Louisa –"

"Louisa Lupin?" Teddy questioned with a little laugh. "That's just cruel!"

"Teddy," Remus groaned but Dora continued smiling.

The rest of the well wishers had snuck back out into the waiting room. With Ginny and Lily on a hunt for coffee, Harry, James and Sirius sat down to wait.

"You and Mum not going to try catch up with them, are you?" Harry joked and James shot him a look.

"Hate to tell you, _kid_," he chuckled, "but you're it for us."

"You don't regret –"

"Of course, we regret not getting to see you grow up," James cut him off, "and yes I would love to get to actually be a dad and not just have my son jump from 1 to 30 in, literally for me, no time at all. But, nah, me and your mum have agreed we would have kids now."

Harry frowned and bumped his dad gently on the shoulder feeling that he was missing out on what a great feeling it was to actually raise your children.

"Besides," James continued after a few minutes, "we can just kidnap yours!"

Harry laughed and James grinned proudly at the sound. Sirius groaned for them to shut up so he could get some 'shut eye'.

"Not for long – we'll only have Lily at home after September," he reminded his father though he wasn't too keen on sending his younger son off to Hogwarts. James Sirius had been bursting to go and to cause some havoc for the teachers but Albus was more nervous and quiet about it – no doubt due to James teasing about animals and ghosts that were there to eat him.

"If you get bored, come over to ours," Lily's voice sounded from behind him and he spun around. "You leave your poor old parents alone far too often, Harry."

"You're not old, Mum," Harry chuckled as the ward door opened and Teddy appeared. "Hey, kid."

Hundreds of people had come back over the time of Dora's pregnancy and by Harry's approximation – you could never be too sure how many people died at the hands of Voldemort or his Death Eaters – everyone had returned now. That should be the end of it. The Department that had been working on the why everyone was coming back had come up with nothing – that's for future witches and wizards to discover though they believed it had something to do with Haryy being 17 at the time of his death and it was just before the 17th anniversairy of the Battle of Hogwarts that people began returning. Either way, the wizarding world had settled back into peace even if Teddy Remus Lupin spent more nights at his godfathers than he did at his own parents.

_There we go! I just let the story flow where it wanted and apparently having Teddy not fit back in with his parents was where it wanted to go. The story went away from the original Potter fluff it was meant to be but ah well. I hope you like the story and hope I didn't miss anything out during my editing like typo's but, lets be honest here, I problem did especially since my spell checker turned off halfway through the document. _

_Sorry I didn't give an explanation of why they've come back but truthfully I don't have one! _

_Thank you SO much to anyone who stuck with this the whole way even though it's taken me such a long time to write this. Congratulations to you __J__hope it was worth the wait!_

_Please review._

_I now have to upload this lot – this is going to be fun! xx _


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